Gifted & Talented

Gifted & Talented at Arvada High School

The mission of the Gifted and Talented (GT) Center at Arvada High School (AHS) is to support the unique social, emotional and intellectual needs of our gifted learners by providing appropriate academic challenges, giving students an opportunity to engage with like-minded peers, encouraging exploration into areas of curiosity and passion, and nurturing healthy communication and self-advocacy skills so that students become self-directed, responsible citizens, launching productive and fulfilling lives.

Advanced Learning Plan

AHS develops an Advanced Learning Plan (ALP) to guide programming for every identified gifted student.

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GT Offerings

Ninth-Grade Seminar

Ninth-Grade Seminar is a new addition to the GT Center. Typically, all incoming freshmen at Arvada High School are assigned to a study hall in lieu of an off period during their first year. GT students will now be grouped together to use this time to target students’ specific needs.

This class will help ninth-graders prepare to navigate high school as a gifted learner. Focus will be on themes of identity, community, advocacy and curiosity. This will also enable students to identify a core community of support within the building so they can start high school strong!

Mentoring opportunities

Leadership opportunities are now available to Arvada High School (AHS) upperclassmen. GT students in grades 10-12 may apply to serve as mentors for the freshmen class. These students will assist in the seminar and provide an additional point of contact for students throughout the school day. These students represent the values of the GT Center’s mission and work actively to have a positive influence on the AHS community.

Student mentors will receive 0.5 credit on their transcript per semester of service, as well as an impressive bullet point to include on their future resume or college application.

Additional opportunities

Academic pathways

Arvada High School (AHS) offers a variety of "academic pathways" to help students hone in on classes that will support their particular interests. There are three categories of pathways:

Performing arts

AHS offers several performing arts opportunities to students, which tend to be of particular interest to GT students. GT facilitator Ms. Rael is also the choir teacher and the director of the annual spring musical. Check out all the offerings.

Advanced Placement

AHS also offers a variety of advanced placement courses for all grade levels. These classes are for advanced students seeking accelerated content with the intent of earning college credit. Credit is granted when the student scores 3 or above (out of 5) on the AP test distributed at the end of the school year. AP can be a helpful way to get ahead on credits, but they do require a fee and do not always transfer depending on the academic program or university.

For those seeking more challenging content without necessarily the college credit, AHS also offers many honors courses at every grade level.

It is recommended students talk to a member of the GT team or their AHS counselor before registering for the following school year so we can best support their goals!

For full offerings, see the registration guide.

Meet the Team

Meet the Team

Gifted & Talented in Jeffco

The Jeffco Public Schools Gifted and Talented (GT) Department’s vision is to Actualize Learners’ Potential for gifted and high-ability learners through a focus on access, equity, inclusion and diversity. All students deserve an education that provides meaningful growth academically, socially and emotionally.

Each year, every second grader in Jeffco takes The Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) which measures reasoning skills with different types of verbal, quantitative and nonverbal questions. The results of this test inform teachers which students may be identified as gifted and talented.

What Is A Gifted Student?

GT students are learners between the ages of four and 21 whose abilities, talents or potential for accomplishment are so exceptional or developmentally advanced that they require special educational programming. Children under five who are gifted may also receive early childhood special educational services.

Gifted students include students from all backgrounds who have exceptional abilities or potential. Gifted students are capable of exceptional performance, production or learning behavior and have one or more of these areas of giftedness:

Areas of giftedness

Intellectual abilities
Specific academic skills
Creative or productive thinking
Leadership abilities
Visual arts, performing arts or musical abilities
Physical skills

The 2024 Fall GT Center application is now open.

Learn More About Gifted & Talented in Jeffco