The Learning Enrichment Center is designed to meet the needs of gifted students in the Warren County School District.

But what about gifted students that are too gifted for the LEC?

A proposal to address the needs of students categorized as “highly-gifted” was given the green light by the Curriculum, Instruction and Technology Committee last week.

Andrew Pollard, a teacher at the LEC, pitched the concept to the committee.

“This proposal came out of an organic discussion about some needs of our gifted kids,” he said.

Pollard explained that approximately 75 percent of the general population fall between 85 and 115 on an IQ test. An additional 14-15 percent fall between 115 and 130.

The 130 mark typically qualifies a student as gifted.

“When looking at it from an education perspective, it does not mean that this kid has that amount of knowledge,” he said. “IQ tells you how a kid learns.”

But the LEC has 12 to 14 students who fall in the “highly gifted” category in grades 3-5, with IQs over 145.

“What we are proposing is compaction and acceleration,” Pollard said. “We would like to use our current curriculum and compact it for these kids.”

He explained that would result in these students working one-on-one with a certified teacher to “allow them to move through the curriculum at a whole lot faster pace.”

Citing prior research, Pollard said students in such an environment can gain 1.5 years of academic growth in one year.

The program would be appropriate for third-grade students, he opined, “who have the ability to learn Algebra. In no way is a third-grader socially ready to be in a classroom eighth graders. Finding a peer group for them is really difficult.”

The solution?

“What we would like to do is have these kids in a five-day-a-week program instead of a one day program,” Pollard said. “We can do this at no extra cost from a staffing perspective.”

Board member Mike Zamborik asked how young students were tested for gifted designation.

“We’ve tested kids before they’ve entered school,” Pollard said. “We as a district, in kindergarten. Right now we have one kindergartner. IQs generally aren’t steady until kids are eight.”

With the proposal only covering grades three through five, board member Marcy Morgan asked “what happens when they get into sixth grade?”

“The intent here, this is a pilot,” Pollard said. “This is to see ‘Can this work?'”

The district would likely need to look at additional grades in the future, he said.

Of the highly gifted students in the district, Interim Director of Pupil Services Ruth Nelson said “they aren’t being supplied what they are needing educationally. (This is) something we would like to try as a pilot and see what it takes us. (We) have to think developmentally.”

Superintendent Dr. William Clark said the district must still receive the consent of the Pennsylvania Department of Education to institute such a pilot. He said he is “not sure what this would look like on their (PDE) end.”

He said the proposal is before the board not for approval but for a general blessing. With state approval in hand, the pilot would then likely require board approval.

Clark said he is “hoping the state will let them take a unique route.”