THE HIGH S CHOOL G IFTED

P ROGRAM OUTLINED BY V IRGNIA B EACH C ITY P UBLIC

S CHOOLS AND IN ACTION AT
OLHS .......................... 1

Septem ber

2012

M EET

THE OLHS 9 TH
GRADE GIFTED CLUSTER
TEACHERS ....................

S TAYING

INFORMED THE
PRACTICAL AND THE THEOETICAL ............................. 3

THE COUNTDOWN TO
S UMMER...RESIDENTIAL G OVERNOR S S CHOOL .......... 4
G IFTED S TUDY B LOCKS
LET S LEARN! ............... 4

OLHS Gifted

PARENT AND STUDENT G IFTED ADVISORY BULLETIN

Allison Graves, GRT
Allison.graves@vbschools.com
648-5550 ext 57946

GAB

Many parents and students believe that gifted services stop once high school
begins. Virginia Beach is refining the high school model so that the delivery of
gifted services continues to reap the benefits seen in earlier grades, ensuring
that high school gifted students receive rigorous and relevant course work.

The High School Gifted

Resource Program
Years ago the high school gifted services
were primarily geared towards social and
emotional development . Delivery of services was concentrated through study block
enrichment programs like SPARKS and
Think Tank.

While those programs are still offered; the

delivery of services does not stop there.
The refinement plan for high school aims to
address three primary goals:
To differentiate curriculum and instruction to provide opportunities for
rigor, challenge, and enrichment for

intellectually gifted students to meet

their emotional, social, and intellectual
needs.
To promote awareness of the unique
needs of gifted students among parents, school staff, and the community.
To provide effective staff development opportunities for teachers, counselors and administrators.

Many of the changes happening in the gifted program at Ocean Lakes High School
are aimed at achieving these goals.

Cha, Cha, Changes

This year we are bringing on two new cluster teachers. In addition to the ninth grade cluster
teachers featured in this newsletter, we will by joined by two tenth grade teachers, Jennifer
Leary (chemistry) and Jessica Scheible (Honors English 10). (Academy students have been
scheduled in clusters since the academy began, and academy teachers receive professional
development devoted to working with gifted learners.)
We are excited to see how these changes will help our program grow!

Meet the cluster teachers

OLHS is proud of its 9th grade instructional cluster.
These teachers focus on the social, emotional, and
academic needs of in-zone gifted students .
World History I
Geri-Lynn Ewald
I earned a Bachelor of Science DeI have been teaching for 9 years; this
gree in U.S. History from Northern
is my sixth year at OL. I graduated
Arizona University (in Flagstaff,
with a B.S. in Ecology and EnvironAZ), a Bachelor of Arts Degree in
mental Science from Michigan Tech
Asian Studies at
and a M.S. in Secondary Education
The University of Maryland (Asian
from ODU.
Division - from their
campus located in
We must create an openI have some
Japan), and a Master of
exciting ideas for
ness to fly, to be chalEducation Degree with
this year. I am
lenged, to grow
a focus on Secondary
looking forward
Education from the
for...gifted
and
talented
to our canoe trip
University of Arizona
children.
with the Chesa(in Tucson, AZ).
peake Bay FounJOHN F. FELDHUSEN (1992)
dation this NoI have 12 years of
vember and tackling some sort of
teaching experience. I joined the
composting project as an extension
OLHS Dolphin family in September
to the gardens we started last year
of 2006 after teaching at Princess
with our culinary classes.
Anne High School. My previous

H IGH S CHOOL
C LUSTERING :
WHAT IS THAT?

Biology
Laura Wood

Algebra II/Trig
Susan John
I graduated from Kempsville High
and received a BA in Accounting from James Madison University.
Two weeks after graduating from
JMU, I started my first Calculus
class at ODU where I finished up my
teaching certification.
I started my teaching career at OL
the same year that OL opened and
have been here ever since. I have
taught a variety of math courses but
prefer to teacher Algebra 2 Trig.
I am married and have two sons,
Dylan and Tyler, who are both in
middle school this year and play
soccer and basketball. Besides
spending free time watching them
play, I enjoy reading, watching
mindless TV shows, and the beach.
I'm excited about the gifted cluster
because I hope the pace of the
class will allow me the time to utilize
the TI Navigator and discovery/
hands-on activities more often. I am
accustomed to teaching gifted students because I have taught in the
Math and Science Academy for over
6 years.

In addition to teaching at OLHS, I

am a mom, a fitness instructor, and
an environmental enthusiast.

English 9 Honors
Katie Anderson
While my last name is often Midland on documents and on the
webpage, I really am Mrs. Andersonat least according to the officiate at my summer wedding. I like to
run half marathons with my family.
I graduated from W&M with a BA
in English. This is my 5th year teaching, but my fourth year at my alma
matter, OLHS. I have taught the 9
honors English class for all four
years. I love the curriculum and the
students.
Im looking forward to unraveling a
new novel, Anthill and working with
the students to create exciting analyses of the work we read.
Parents can help by staying
in touch with me and checking the class website (http://
teacherweb.com/VA/OLHS/
Anderson). Also, encourage your
students to get extra help if they
need it!

teaching positions were in Arizona,

Washington State, and Japan. In my
career, I have had the privilege of
teaching AP U.S. History, U.S.
History, Japanese Language Courses, American Government, and
World History I and II.
My husband currently flies jets for
the U.S. Navy. We have three children who are the light of my life!
Im excited about teaching the gifted
cluster this year because the accelerated pace of the class will allow us
to investigate the course content in
more depth and to spend time examining primary documents and
studying
historiography.
One of my goals is to acquaint the
students with writing DBQs
(Document Based Questions) and
other historical essays that they will
encounter in future AP courses.
This is going to be an exciting year
in the World History 1 classroom!!

Gifted students receive some of

their instruction within the cluster classroom from a cluster
teacher who collaborates with a
gifted resource teacher to plan
thematic, interdisciplinary, differentiated lessons and units.
Cluster grouping provides an
opportunity for cluster teachers
to plan and deliver specialized
instruction to small groups of
gifted learners, who ultimately
benefit from the interaction with
their intellectual peers.
Cluster grouping helps classroom teachers meet an individual
gifted student's needs more efficiently and more adequately. In
the context of the high school
gifted program, cluster grouping
enables the gifted resource
teacher to feasibly work with all
gifted learners on a regular basis
and to provide concentrated support to classroom teachers in the
differentiation of curriculum,
instruction, and assessment.
Cluster grouping places gifted
students with students who have
similar strengths, such as high
academic ability or nonidentified gifted students who
regularly pre-assess out of or
show mastery of certain skills. In
a cluster classroom, the grouping
of students is fluid and instruction and assignments are differentiated to meet the instructional
needs of all of the students. Gifted students, like all students,
need learning at an appropriate
challenge level to meet their
educational needs.
(From VBCPS High School ResourceCluster Program Rationale)

Staying Informed
Features On Our Digital Blog
A quick guide to utilizing the resources available on the Gifted GAB

THE OLHS GIFTED IDENTIFICATION TESTING

o December 7, 2012
(all requests must be in by 11/19/12)

May 10, 2013

(new VBCPS
students after January 1, 2013 only)

Virginia Beach City Public

Schools uses the profile approach in determining whether a
student is in need of a differentiated education beyond that offered
by the schools regular curriculum. Students may be referred for
testing by staff members, parents,
other students, and the student
himself. Once a request has been
submitted, the GRT will begin the
paperwork necessary for the referral to be processed. Parent input,
teacher narratives, grades, scores
on standardized tests, and student
work samples are reviewed by the
committee. A determination is
made by the committee for placement in the VBCPS gifted program.
Gifted identification from other
school districts, including the
Department of Defense schools,
does not automatically transfer to
VBCPS. While participation in a
gifted program in a previous
school division is taken into consideration as part of the whole
picture, it does not automatically
confer gifted identification in
VBCPS. Please note: If your
child was previously identified for
gifted services in Virginia Beach,
that identification stays with the
student in VBCPS schools until
graduation, even if the family
moves out of Virginia Beach (e.g.
military transfer) and then returns
to VBCPS a few years later.

In an effort to minimize our programs environmental impact and cut down on paper waste,
parents and students can rely on Mrs. Gravess program blog for up-to-date information.
Sometimes navigating a digital resource can be difficult, and while the hope is that the OLHS
Gifted GAB is organized in a user-friendly format, the hope is that this guide helps you use the
blog as fully as possible.
The home page is a rolling blog
that will detail time sensitive
information about scholarships,
parent workshops, and student
opportunities

Curious about gifted testing?

Need to submit a referral for
gifted testing? This page will
provide you with all of the
information you need.

Wonder whats happening

in the cluster classes, or
want more information
about a strategy your child
is using? Visit this page.

These pages tell you about Mrs.

Graves and what she does.

Be sure you subscribe with your

email. That way you can get
email alerts when new, potentially
time-sensitive, information is
posted.

Building a College Admissions Resumeits all in a study block!

Most universities are looking beyond applicants GPAs and SAT scores. Help your child build
a resume that reflects his or her interests and talents. Beyond the Summer Residential Governors School Programs, there are a number of volunteer and enrichment experiences available
to motivated gifted students.

For more information about the

referral process, please consult: www.vbschools.com/
curriculum/gifted/referral.asp or
contact Allison Graves, GRT at
allison.graves@vbschools.com.

In addition, we offer two humanities courses that focus on service learning. Think Tank and
SPARKS courses will begin in the spring. These courses will expose participants to independent
study and service learningtwo qualities admired in college applicants. Contact me or visit our
blog if you are interested in learning more!