The Cave Creek Unified School District has adopted the Total School Gifted Cluster [TSGC]  program to fit the needs of children who qualify for gifted services.  The cluster classes are designed to keep those students who have been identified as gifted in the same classroom for a full day.  The curriculum is differentiated for those students who are accelerating, so that they may continued to be challenged in a creative, stimulating and thought-provoking manner.  These students will continue on a path of high achievement while developing the ability to be forward thinkers.  For more information on TSGC, please click here.

We qualify students as gifted based on the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) and determine giftedness by the percentile each student scores.  To qualify as gifted each student must receive a 97% in one of the  three areas tested on the CogAT:  verbal, non-verbal and quantitative reasoning.  It is our district's policy that we will also service those students who achieve 96%, but they will not be identified as gifted.

Some examples of verbal reasoning include the child's ability figure out the context of a sentence, analogies or vocabulary.  The non-verbal test measures the child's ability of visual and spatial relationships and how they correlate to geometric shapes and figures.  The quantitative test measures the child's ability to reason numerically as well as problem solve.

Each year CCUSD blanket tests all second-grade students during the school day in February.  Referral testing for other elementary grades [through 5th grade] occurs in our district three times per year [fall, winter and spring].  Both teachers and parents may refer students for testing.  A child may not be retested on the same test within a 12 month period.  Parents may opt for outside (private testing) as long as the state of Arizona recognizes that test to qualify the student for gifted services. Please check the Arizona Department of Education's website for further information [click here to access the ADE's gifted page]. 

At the secondary level, 6th-12th grade, CCUSD offers a variety of honors programs that lead to our Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs at Cactus Shadows High School.  For more information on these programs, please feel free to contact the counseling department at CSHS or our IB Coordinator, Mrs. Pam Menton at pmenton@ccusd93.org. 

As a district, we work collaboratively with parents, students, administration and teachers to ensure our gifted students' needs are met in the classroom.  If you have any further questions, concerns or comments, please contact Danielle Evans, Director of Research, Planning & Assessment at  devans@ccusd93.org.