DESERT VISTA GIFTED PROGRAM Amie Hickel and Mark Kulik Gifted Student Counselors

How Did You Get Here?  Students are identified as Gifted by scoring in the 97 th percentile on a standardized test.  Some here took the TUHSD sponsored test at McClintock High School.  Others may have previous tests or will test Gifted after starting high school (PSAT, etc.)

Haven’t Taken Gifted Test?  Final chance is Sat, Jan. 10, 2015  McClintock High School  Online Registration –: html –Or call for more information

Desert Vista Open Enrollment? * online open enrollment applications are available on our district website. *Applications must be submitted online by February 1. *Turn in a complete DV registration packet to DV by Feb. 2.

Counseling Services

Gifted Student Services  Specialized Counseling Services –2 counselors  Focus on College Readiness –Test preparation –College visits –Scholarship opportunities –Honors Professional Internship- Juniors and Seniors only

Gifted Services Continued  The Gifted Counselors work with students during scheduled meetings, as well as during unscheduled, informal meetings. They also regularly share information with students and families through written and electronic means. Counselors are available for meetings, consultations, and telephone conversations with students, parents, teachers and administrators as needs and interests arise.  Gifted students have unique academic, social, and emotional needs, and benefit from specialists with training and experience with their respective groups of students (teachers, counselors, administrators etc.).

Continued  Counselors and Teachers are trained to identify and meet the unique needs of gifted students. DV gifted counselors work on a proactive basis to help students deal with some common issues:  Perfectionism  Anxiety  Underachievement  organizational/time management concerns.  In addition, a gifted program can provide direction for students and parents seeking opportunities and resources outside the school day and year.  Internships  Clubs and Extra-curricular  Whole Campus/Student Approach

Desert Vista Course Offerings  18 Advanced Placement (AP) Courses  82 Honors and/or Dual Enrollment Courses *There are no classes offered exclusively for gifted students. Desert Vista offers many Dual Enrollment, Advanced Placement, and Honors level courses. If gifted classes were offered, only a limited number of sections could be scheduled.

DV Freshmen Honors Classes – Multiple Methods Used for Honors Placement:  Prior honors placement or  8 th grade Teacher recommendation- signature on registration form or  Grades (A’s or B’s) or  Assessment Review: 7 th, 8 th or HS AIMS (Meets or Exceeds) or equivalent passing score on the new assessment, Top quartile on STAN 10 (75 th percentile or higher), or review of other standardized and/or state testing

Honors Placement Guide 1.Know your strengths 2.Know your time commitments 3.Increased rigor due to common core – more critical thinking and student engagement, less memorization and rote learning 4.Know your expectations – do you NEED straight A’s 5.Reference the Honors Placement Guide handout provided

Hard-To-Find Courses DV Offers  Honors Calculus 3/Differential Equations  Honors Linear Algebra  Honors Advanced Biotechnology 3-4  Honors Physics 3-4  Organic Chemistry  Honors Spanish 9-10  Fine Arts Academy  4 year Engineering program  Computer Programming – AP and 5-6 level

Class Rank/Grades  GPA is unweighted but class rank is weighted.  Rank order is: –1. Honors core classes (Hrs Eng, math, etc.) –2. core classes (regular Eng, math, etc.) –3. Honors non-core (adv. music, Speech, etc.) –4. non-core regular (reg. music, P.E, etc.)

Class Rank Change Reminder  Beginning Fall 2010, all classes taken in middle school receive credit, and are calculated in GPA, but do NOT earn rank points.

GPA/Class Rank Current Sophomore: Rank #8 GPA honors classes Current Sophomore: Rank #214 GPA honors classes

GPA/Class Rank Graduated Senior: Rank # 20 GPA honors classes

GPA/Class Rank Graduated Senior : Rank #177 GPA honors classes

Desert Vista Accomplishments  20 Ntl Merit Scholarship Semifinalists  Over 100 college visits at Desert Vista this semester.  Classes of admitted to 250, 232 and 280 different national and international schools, colleges and universities, respectively.  The Class of 2014 was offered a district record of over $30.2 million in scholarships.

Additional Accomplishments Over 130 DV graduates currently in ASU’s Barrett Honors College—most in the USA 90% of DV graduates the past two years who started at U of A returned for their sophomore years.  US News and World Report nationally ranked high school

 Want a head start as to what our current students and parents see?  “Like” us on facebook   Visit the Desert Vista website and counseling page. 