Academic Rigor Marston pursues rigorous academic standards for all students. The Common Core standards offer intensive opportunities for all students to write and think critically across the curriculum. Our goal is that all students will graduate with the habits of mind to become lifelong scholars, critical thinkers, innovators, leaders, and global citizens. Qualifying for GATE Cluster and Seminar Programs All SDUSD second graders are given the Raven's Progressive Matrices, a non-verbal assessment of cognitive reasoning. Students who score in the 99th percentile are considered profoundly gifted and identified as seminar. GATE cluster students are those who score in the 98th percentile. Over 30% of our student population at Marston is GATE identified. Unfortunately, funding for class size reductions for seminar and GATE cluster classes was eliminated with the last round of budget cuts. While all students are placed in math courses based on achievement, GATE students are grouped in humanities blocks for English and history. Marston follows the district's traditional model A, which requires 50% of all students in a GATE cluster or seminar class be GATE identified, even though our GATE classes are typically 100% GATE students. We have one seminar class at each grade level. Our GATE Team Alex Nguyen, Marston's administrator of our GATE programs Christina Kwik, Marston's parent representative to our district's GATE Advisory Committee Many of our teachers have advanced degrees and specialized training in their areas of expertise, and our GATE humanities teachers have GATE certification, which requires specialized training in differentiating instruction to provide depth and complexity, and meeting the social and emotional needs of gifted students. Beth Bowers (7 and 8) Wendy Ellerman (8) Pam Hashimoto (7) Krista Hayenga (6) Joan Linden (7) Linda Ponsford (7) Renee Thomas (8) Mark Wilkinson (6) GATE Teaching Strategies GATE teachers strive to provide depth and complexity through:
Not all highly gifted students "shine" in humanities, their talents may be in math, science, music or other areas. Opportunities for student choice, creative expression, and college preparation include:
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