Welcome to Our New Director
The GT Department is excited to welcome its new Director, Jennifer Lemoine. Jennifer Lemoine’s career in education spans over 20 years as an educator, leader, and advocate in schools with diverse populations. She brings her passion for the unique learning and social/emotional needs of gifted learners to the DPS team. Jennifer is a National Board Certified Teacher in Exceptional Needs, has a master’s degree in Curriculum and Supervision, holds endorsements in Gifted Education and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners, and is completing a doctoral program at the University of Denver in Curriculum and Instruction: Gifted Leadership. Jennifer believes in educating the whole gifted child which includes both affective and academic needs with a lens on equity and inclusion. She is looking forward to collaborating and partnering with a passionate team of educators to serve a diverse population of students and their families. She hopes to increase awareness and support of gifted learners’ characteristics, needs, and build community connections. When not working with or advocating for gifted learners, Jennifer enjoys spending time adventuring with her family.
Welcome to our New Managers
We would like to send congratulations to our new GT Managers – Dr. Meryl Faulkner and Michelle Slovak McKinsey. Click here for their personal bios about their experiences and all they will contribute to DPS Gifted and Talented!
Spring testing nominations are now available for submission. All nominations received between December 1st through April 8th will be scheduled for the spring testing cycle.
The spring testing window for in-district students will occur at a child’s school between April 15th-May 13th. Out of district/home/private school students will be tested on a Saturday (Date TBD). Testing will not be available prior to this window.
Please note: Students cannot be tested twice with a cognitive test in one calendar year (For instance, a student tested in the fall of 2021 would not be eligible to test again until the fall of 2022). During the fall semester, students enrolled in Kindergarten, 2nd, and 6th grades are tested with the NNAT as part of the universal screening process; those families do not need to submit this form.
We cannot test Pre-K students (the testing systems do not norm correctly until age 5). If you are interested in ECE services, please contact the ECE Department or individual schools participating in advanced kindergarten programming.
Nominate your child for magnet testing.
Downloadable application- English
Nomination forms (available in Amharic, Arabic, Burmese, French, Nepali, Russian, Somali, Spanish, and Vietnamese)
It is the goal of DPS to provide all of our students with appropriate academic services. When there is a disagreement on matters pertaining to the identification, evaluation and eligibility for gifted services the appeals process may be initiated.
Written appeals based on one of the following criteria may be sent to the Gifted and Talented Department:
Written appeals must include:
For the 2021-2022 school year, appeals must be completed and sent to the giftedandtalented@dpsk12.org email. In the email subject, please list as Test Results Appeal and Your Child’s Name.
The Gifted and Talented Department’s Appeal Team will notify you of receipt of the appeal. Starting in January, appeals will be addressed on a weekly basis. Additionally, extra testing considerations may be unavailable or delayed. We cannot guarantee that extra testing that is granted will be completed by the end of first round School Choice.
All appeals will go before the Appeal Review Team, and you will be notified of the decision by email. The team may contact you for additional information if necessary. The decision of the Appeal Review Team is final.
Are you a parent/guardian of a newly magnet eligible student?
Are you looking for information about what magnet eligibility means?
Are you interested in knowing more about magnet programming and School Choice?
Watch this Magnet Eligibility Informational video to answer these questions and more!
Members of the GT Family Advisory Group will:
The advisory group will meet once every two months for 1.5-2 hours
Save the Date for upcoming evening meetings (5:30-7:00 pm)
If you are interested, please go to the online form: https://tinyurl.com/yywmj9sq
Phone: 720-423-2056
Email: giftedandtalented@dpsk12.org
Mailing Address: 1860 Lincoln St, 8th Floor NE, Denver, CO 80203
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dpsgifted/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dps_gt
The programming plans for the 2021-22 school year are now available!
Gifted and Talented Teacher/Point of Contact
As of May 2019, the Gifted and Talented department no longer houses activities.
For questions related to Destination Imagination, please email Minda McGurk at denverdico@gmail.com
The Gifted and Talented team is focused on leading the nation in providing equitable, high impact gifted programming.
We strive to ensure that gifted and talented students are engaged, rigorously challenged and supported to reach their full emotional, intellectual, and creative potential. By equipping students to become successful, critical, compassionate, and collaborative individuals, we are preparing them to become leaders and citizens of the 21st century.
We provide services to gifted/high potential students and their families. Gifted and Talented Services oversees gifted and highly-gifted identification in the district. Gifted identification begins at the school level with the GT teacher and ends with a district level identification team review process. In addition, we support and monitor each schools’ gifted programming in order to support best practice for gifted learners.
