OLSAT Update

The 2017-18 OLSAT will be administered during Trimester 2. Please check back in late November for registration details.

The OTIS-LENNON SCHOOL ABILITY TEST (OLSAT) assesses student's verbal, nonverbal, and quantitative abilities. IUSD will continue to offer the OLSAT for community members as an optional, fee based component of the MCM process. Students in 3rd-7th grades may take the OLSAT one time each year. Students do not need to take the OLSAT to be considered for GATE. OLSAT scores are not used for APAAS placement. The OLSAT is intended to be taken without any preparation. IUSD only offers OLSAT to students currently residing within the Irvine Unified School District boundaries.  

GATE Parent Meetings & Book Club Kick-off

The first GATE parent meeting of 2017-18 will be held next week. These meetings are intended to promote open communication between district administrators, school staff, and parents. Each year our GATE parent meetings host a parent book club open to all interested community members. GATE Site Representatives are encouraged to attend each meeting. Book Club discussions will be held during the first hour of the meeting and the last 30 minutes will be reserved for general parent site representative business and discussion. Our Book Club 2017 Selection is Grit by Angela Duckworth.

This year's schedule
Wednesday, October 11th: You do not need to read any portion of Grit for this first meeting!

Wednesday, November 15th: Discussion on Part 1

Wednesday, February 21st: Discussion on Part 2

Wednesday, April 25th: Discussion on Part 3

Book club discussion questions will be sent out one week prior to each meting. Each meeting will be held  at IUSD’s Learning Center, Room 5, from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. (3387 Barranca Parkway, Irvine, CA 92606). These meetings are intended for adult attendance only. Childcare will not be available. 

Looking forward to seeing each of you,

Kara Rydman

Resources from the Gifted and Advanced Learner Parent Night | September 2017

Thank you for attending the recent GATE Parent Night. We had an outstanding turnout and filled the Portola High School Theater! Meeting Summaries and Presentations have been posted on the district website. Connect via this link and open the bar titled "Parent Meetings."

2017-18 CAC-GATE Board Introduction

The Community Advisory Committee of Gifted and Talented Education (CAC-GATE) serves as an important vehicle for parent and community involvement in the educational program of gifted and advanced learners. The executive board is comprised of parent and teacher representatives from  our district. Thank you to the community members and teaching staff that are serving on the board this year. We are pleased to share with you the CAC-GATE Board's mission and goals. This year we will provide several community events aligned to our mission. Events will be communicated via email and blog posts and will be posted on our district website.

CAC-GATE BOARD 2017-2018

Kara Rydman	KaraRydman@iusd.org	District Coordinator
Kristy Chao	KristyChao@iusd.org	Teacher Representative
Mary Olson	MaryOlson@iusd.org	Teacher Representative
Emily Lasala	EmilyLasala@iusd.org	Teacher Representative
Seth Grossman	sethgrossman@hotmail.com	Parent Representative
Yvonne Mansouri	v_mansouri@hotmail.com	Parent Representative
Anuradha Raghavan	anu.raghavan@gmail.com	Parent Representative

Board Mission
The CAC -GATE Board will promote and facilitate an effective partnership between the teachers, administrators, and families who are involved in the education of gifted and talented students.  The Council will work to:

• offer resources, information and support to parents so they can act as partners in their child’s education.
• provide a forum for district personnel to get feedback from parents of GATE Program students in order to assess the effectiveness of existing programs and plan for continuous improvement.
• promote awareness of gifted and talented education among teachers, administrators, policy makers, and community members.
• advocate for resources to meet the objectives of the GATE program.

Board Goals

• Provide an orientation for parents of GATE students, as well as regular updates regarding program implementation.
• Provide learning opportunities for staff, parents, and community members.
• Provide opportunities for GATE students to share products and achievements with parents in a variety of ways.
• Seek community resources to supplement the core and differentiated curriculum.
• Establish partnerships between the GATE program and business and community organizations.

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From https://www.khanacademy.org/sat

Gifted and Advanced Learner Parent Night | Thursday, September 14, 2017

Portola High School Theater (1001 Cadence, Irvine, CA 92618)

6:00 p.m. Session 1 : An Introduction to IUSD’s GATE Screening Process

7:30 p.m. Session 2: An Introduction to IUSD’s GATE Program

*Meetings are intended for adult attendance only. Please arrange for childcare to attend this evening event.

Dear Parents,

The Community Advisory Committee for GATE (CAC-GATE) serves as an important vehicle for parent and community involvement in the educational program of gifted and advanced learners. The committee is comprised of parent representatives from each school within our district. CAC-GATE hosts general parent community meetings to promote open communication between district administrators, school staff, and parents. Meetings also provide parents with information and opportunities related to gifted education. All of our CAC-GATE parent nights are open to all IUSD parents.
This month we will be hosting our first CAC-GATE Parent Night of the new school year. This parent meeting will provide general GATE program information.

• Session 1 is intended for all parents new to GATE. This includes third grade parents, new IUSD families, and the parents of older students not currently in the GATE program. This session will provide a detailed overview of the Multiple Criteria Measures process we utilize in IUSD to screen all third through seventh grade students. This will include a description of each screening measure, qualification criteria and the parent notification process. A short question and answer session will also be held at the end of the meeting.

• Session 2 is intended for parents of current GATE students. This session will provide an overview of IUSD’s GATE program model including program options and our instructional approach in grades three through eight. A short question and answer session will also be held at the end of the meeting.

If you are unable to attend this parent meeting, all information regarding our screening process and program models can be found on our Gifted & Advanced Learners | IUSD.org website. Additionally, we post presentation summaries on the website after the meeting.

Coordinator Welcome 2017.2018

Dear Parents,

Welcome back to school for all returning families, and welcome to those of you that are new to IUSD. It is my pleasure to share with you the GATER Blog. The GATER blog, formerly an electronic newsletter, is intended for our GATE families and other community members interested in the education of Gifted and Advanced Learners. Through the GATER we will share information about IUSD's program as well as other information and resources to support you as you raise your child.

If you are just joining this communication, please enjoy past editions of the GATER. All editions from last year are available in the archive located on the right panel of this blog.

This year you can look forward to blog posts sharing parenting resources, general information about our screening procedures and service models, as well as opportunities to join us for parent events.

I hope you enjoy the new format of our Gifted and Advanced Learner communication source. Please share this link with other community members. Anyone can join the blog and receive email notifications for postings by entering an email address in the box at the top right corner of our main page. Perhaps I will see at an upcoming parent meeting!

Sincerely,
Kara Rydman
Gifted and Advanced Learner Coordinator