Curriculum

GATE

For qualified students, the GATE program will embed and accelerate the skills of the Diocesan Consensus Curriculum. The National Association of Gifted Children Programming Standards are also followed as they focus on the social, emotional, and academic needs of our GATE students. The goal of the GATE program is to address the learning needs of gifted and talented learners by differentiating the curriculum through academic challenge, extension, inquiry, creativity, interest, and inventive critical and higher level thinking and questioning. Grades 2-5 meet once a week per grade for a day of learning.

SGGS has a GATE student identification committee comprised of certified, gifted-endorsed teachers. The identification process for rising Grades 3-5 occurs at the end of each school year. After the GATE Committee has reviewed the scores on the spring Scantron Performance Series testing and overall grades, those students who have a National Percentile Rank of 85 or above will be referred for further evaluation on the Renzulli Scales for Rating the Behavioral Characteristics of Gifted and Talented Students. Letters will be sent to newly identified students in June of that school year.

The identification process for Second Grade students occurs after the first quarter of second grade. This timing allows for students to be assessed on Fall Scantron Performance Series testing. The GATE Committee reviews the Scantron scores (85 National Percentile Rank in either Reading or Math) in addition to First Quarter grades, and may then refer students for further information gathered from the administration of the Renzulli Scales for Rating the Behavioral Characteristics of Gifted and Talented Students. Parents receive notification of their child’s acceptance to join our Grade 2 GATE program in the Second Quarter.

For new students to SGGS in Grades 2-5, if documentation is provided that their child has been identified as a gifted learner through a prior school system’s identification process or through private psycho-educational testing, their student will be admitted to GATE.

The GATE teacher will push into the First Grade classrooms once a week for a lesson to develop talent through interactive lessons.

Requirements for participation :

• Grade 2- Students must maintain 3s (meeting grade level standard) in all content subjects (Math, Reading, Writing/Language, Science, and Social Studies), and a 2 or 3 in Self-Discipline and Work Habits.
• Grades 3, 4, 5: Students must maintain a 90 or above in all content area subjects (Math, Reading, Writing/Language, Science, and Social Studies), and a 2 or 3 in Self-Discipline and Work Habits.
• GATE student report cards are reviewed after each quarter. If the above requirements are not met, the student is put on probation for the following quarter. Report cards are again reviewed at the end of the probationary quarter. If the above requirements are not maintained, the student will exit the program for the remainder of the school year. The student will be reassessed at the end of the school year (along with his/her grade level peers) for eligibility in the upcoming academic year.
• If at anytime a parent(s) feels the rigor of the GATE program is not in their child’s best interest, they may request that their child exit the program.

It is important to note that differentiation in every classroom will be a focus at SGGS so that every student’s unique differences are addressed on a daily basis.

In addition, the following programs are offered for remediation and enrichment:

Pathways to Learning
The Pathways to Learning Program is a support pull-out program for struggling learners with a focus on student ability rather than learning differences. An ongoing partnership with the Pathways teacher, classroom teacher, and parent(s) is established with the purpose of helping a student succeed in both the Pathways class and the regular classroom.

Eligibility for the program requires that the student have a qualified complete battery of psycho-educational testing. In addition, recommendation by the classroom teacher and/or performance below grade level will also be considered in student placement.

Students are included, to the maximum extent possible excluding the language arts block, in the regular classroom setting. They are members of their age-appropriate homerooms and are incorporated fully with those classes for religion, core curriculum subjects, art, music, library, physical education, lunch, and recess.

Learning Resource
In Pre-K and Kindergarten, a resource teacher screens students for learning weaknesses and provides extra help to strengthen student skills.

Title I Resource for Reading and Math
A reading/mathematics resource teacher is on staff at Saint Gregory the Great School to provide support to the classroom teachers. Students identified with a need will be able to receive extra support.

High School Credit Courses
For those students who have the prerequisite courses and meet eligibility criteria, high school credit courses are offered in World History,  Spanish I, Geo-Science, Algebra I, and Geometry. Credit is dependent upon the final average and final exam score.

STREAM Activities
Activities combine science, technology, religion, engineering, art, and math with inquiry/project-based learning to challenge our students to use critical thinking skills and problem-solving strategies with an inquiry-based, experiential curriculum that

• relates to real-world applications
• encourages critical thinking, problem-solving and teamwork
• goes beyond minimum competencies
• reflects Diocesan, state, and/or national standards

JK – integrated into learning activity at least once a week
Grades K-5 receive a challenge enrichment activity once a week in the classroom. Many lessons will be integrated into the science curriculum using the Nancy Larson Science materials.
Grades 6-8 receive hands-on learning integrated into cross-curricular lessons.

 Life Skills Program Grades 4-8

All sixth, seventh and eighth-grade students participate in a weekly Life Skills class taught by our School Counselor that focuses on character development, as well as, other “real life” skills that they may use to be successful academically, socially, and emotionally in their future endeavors. This course is designed to help middle school students think about their academic and personal goals, ambitions, emotions, and feelings. It is about examining and exploring character, and learning and practicing positive values and character traits. 

The curriculum is created through combining several relevant and meaningful resources designed for Middle School Students. Some of the values and competencies covered include: