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Cuyahoga Falls presents early gains in new gifted program, plans family events and assessments
Summary
District gifted intervention specialist reported enrollment and new activities for gifted learners, including honors ELA sections, arts residencies, Power of the Pen competitors advancing to regionals, a 24-math initiative and 424 written education plans issued.
Heather, the districtgifted intervention specialist, told the Cuyahoga Falls Board of Education on Feb. 26 that the districthas quickly expanded services for advanced learners and is rolling out family- and school-level events to sustain that work.
The specialist said the district reintroduced honors ELA for grades 6'2, with "four sections of eighth grade, three sections of seventh grade, three sections of sixth grade for a total of 202 enrolled students in honors ELA classes." She said the program mixes formally-identified gifted students and other high achievers using a rubric that draws on multiple data points.
The expansion aims to add rigor and spread successful curriculum pieces into general education classes, the specialist said, while listing recent enrichment activities and next steps.
The nut graf: The presentation described concrete programming and outreach the district says is already affecting studentsfrom hands-on theater and songwriting residencies to competitive writing and math eventsand outlined a schedule of family nights and tournaments to keep families and teachers engaged.
Board members heard these highlights and asked follow-up questions about family outreach and how the new work ties to broader curriculum decisions. The specialist described four main areas of activity:
- Arts and writing residencies: Honors middle-school classes participated in a playwriting residency with DeBama Theater and a songwriter residency tied to the Maltz Museum; students produced songs and plays submitted to regional contests. The specialist said the theater program selects roughly 10 plays in northeast Ohio for production and that results are pending. She said the songwriting recordings and a writing contest submission will be used as classroom exemplars regardless of contest results.
- Power of the Pen and writing: Eight eighth-graders and three seventh-graders competed; four students (Ben, Hayden, Avery and Brooklyn) advanced to regionals, the specialist said.
- Math 24 program: The elementary-level "24 math" fluency game has drawn about 75 students so far; the specialist described a structure where middle-school volunteers act as table leaders and an April 5 tournament at the high school is planned.
- Screening and written education plans: The district administered an Iowa Algebra Aptitude Test to help identify readiness for algebra and reported that "424 written education plans" (WEPs) have been issued to date.
The specialist described teacher-facing resources (Google Classrooms with PD materials and AI tools, a gifted newsletter) and family-facing events: a gifted family night split between elementary and middle school and a proposed Poetry Month challenge and Young Authors event for grades 3'5 scheduled for April. She said recorded family sessions (for example, a virtual high-school course-selection presentation about AP/CCP pathways) have been posted on the district website.
Board members praised the work and asked how teachers and parents would access materials; the specialist said materials and newsletters are posted online and that she regularly visits schools to run recess- and lunch-time programs. Superintendent remarks and board discussion emphasized support for social-emotional work for gifted students in addition to academics.
The board did not take formal action on the presentation; the specialist closed by asking whether members had questions and thanking the board for support.
Ending: The specialist asked for questions and the meeting moved on; the district plans the April math tournament and family nights as its next public-facing steps for the program.
