Gifted Services

Overview of Program

The Harris County School District is committed to the belief that every student has a right to receive an education based on individual needs.  The Harris County Board of Education recognizes the need to provide Gifted education services for students who have the potential for exceptional academic achievement in grades K-12. The development of standards and guidelines for comprehensive programs and services for gifted students in the system's schools emerged from state legislation. The Georgia General Assembly funded a position in the Georgia Department of Education in 1958 to assist local school systems in the development of programs for the gifted.  Since that time the program has expanded to all Georgia school systems and now serves approximately five percent of the state's school population.

Harris County School District's Gifted Education Program assures that the educational environment provides students the opportunity to extend competencies in the areas of cognitive skills, learning skills, research and reference skills, communication skills, and meta-cognitive skills beyond the experiences of the regular classroom. The description of a student qualifying for gifted education services in Georgia may be found in the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (20-2-152).  This section defines services for students classified as intellectually gifted.  The description has been expanded in Harris County Schools Policy:  Gifted Education (IDD.1) Local policy IDDD.1 states in its definition that "a student who demonstrates a high degree of intellectual, creative and/or artistic ability(ies), possesses exceptional leadership skills, or excels in specific academic fields and who needs special instruction and/or special ancillary services to achieve at levels commensurate with his or her abilities." The policies and procedures for providing educational services to the gifted students attending Harris County schools are in accordance with Georgia Department of Education Rules 160-4-2-.38.

Identification of gifted students shall be nondiscriminatory with respect to race, religion, national origin, sex, disabilities or economic background.