Gifted, Talented program receives positive review

DECATUR — The Decatur School District’s gifted and talented program was given a good review after recently being monitored by the Arkansas Department of Education, according to Decatur superintendent Larry Ben.

The Department of Education monitors each school district’s gifted and talented program every three years, and Decatur’s program was recently passed and approved, according to gifted andtalented teacher Melissa Mitchell.

Mitchell is new to Decatur this year and spends half of her time as the gifted and talented teacher and the other half as the school’s remediation teacher, which is paid for through federal funds.

Decatur’s gifted and talented curriculum includes enrichment classes for all students in kindergarten through second grade. Students in third through sixth grade that are identified as gifted are pulled out of the classroom for 150 minutes a week, andhigh school gifted and talented students are served through pre-advanced placement and advanced placement classes, Mitchell said.

Decatur’s sixth grade gifted and talented students competed in their first quiz bowl this October. Students have also been working on projects such as PowerPoint presentations on famous gifted and talented people and creating utopian societies. They are looking forward to competing in the Science Olympia this spring, Mitchell said.