Advanced Learners Guidelines: 

Rincon Valley’s goal is to ensure academic and social emotional growth for all our students, whether academically challenged or gifted. We identify our gifted students at the beginning of third grade through a multi-step process which includes the Raven Progressive Matrices, STAR Reading and Math scores, and parent and teacher evaluations. The District Gifted Identification Committee analyzes this information and identifies those students who meet the criteria, informing teachers and parents when the decision is made. 

Instruction for gifted students takes place in the regular classroom with a differentiated approach to learning opportunities. By pre-assessing students to learn their readiness levels, classroom instruction is differentiated based on students’ academic and social/emotional needs. All students receive a grade-level curriculum, which is then differentiated by the classroom teacher to ensure an appropriate level of challenge, intellectual growth, and a growth mindset. Differentiation uses such strategies as flexible grouping, compacting of curriculum, varying levels of critical thinking, tiered assignments, independent work, use of prompts for depth and complexity and universal themes.

Teachers are provided with on-going opportunities to receive professional development focused on meeting both the academic and social/emotional needs of gifted students and differentiated instruction.

In addition to differentiated instruction in the classroom, RVUSD also provides and supports other enrichment opportunities outside of the school day in the areas of music and Odyssey of the Mind.