Did You Know…
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What elected leaders need to know about gifted education – Dr. Jean Chandler :: The Post and Courier
The SC Dept of Education has released the 2011 SC School and District Report cards, and Palmetto Scholars Academy received an Absolute Rating of “Excellent”, the only school in the SC Public Charter School District to do so.
To view the entire results, click here. To download the full PDF, click here.
Our School…
What is Gifted?
Gifted individuals are those who demonstrate outstanding levels of aptitude (defined as an exceptional ability to reason and learn) or competence (documented performance or achievement in top 10% or rarer) in one or more domains. Domains include any structured area of activity with its own symbol system (e.g., mathematics, music, language) and/or set of sensorimotor skills (e.g., painting, dance, sports).
Why Gifted Education
The needs of gifted students go beyond the standard classroom activities. It is difficult to generalize gifted students because of their characteristics which are personal and unique to each student. This group of students have an increased pace in which they learn and complete work, they learn more rapidly, exhibit a greater depth of understanding concepts, need time for in-depth exploration and investigation, and ask challenging questions.
Typically, their interests are advanced and beyond their peers, which increases the need of participating in a grouping environment where they have the ability to interact with their same aged peers with similar intellect. Providing an early and appropriate educational environment allows gifted students to use their exceptional ability in constructive ways. According to research, intellectually gifted children will not be happy and complete until they are using intellectual ability at a level approaching full capacity.*
Educators are challenged with developing curriculum that will be challenging, enlightening, and intriguing to students of different abilities, and still maintain a sense of community within the classroom. At Palmetto Scholars Academy, we are focussed on delivering that higher challenge to engage our students to the intellectual level that each of them desire.
PSA was formed by a group of parents and educators seeking a unique educational experience for high ability students. They wanted a school setting that provided academic challenge in all subjects (not just math and English language arts) and met the social and emotional needs of Gifted students.