Gifted 1st – 12th

San Tan Charter School’s Gifted program offers tuition-free, 1st-12th grade. Our Gifted Elementary and Middle School students enjoy self-contained gifted classes with cluster groupings. Our Junior High and High School program offers advanced classes, extensive electives, and academic competitions.

San Tan Charter believes that early identification of giftedness is best. Prior to identification, most gifted students face a daily academic and social struggle that can impede their emotional, creative and intellectual development. It is essential to bring these students into the Gifted Program early, so that appropriate instructional methodologies can be employed to assist their personal development. San Tan implements a multi-faceted approach for gifted identification.

  • Students identified as Gifted in Kindergarten receive individualized instruction in the advanced Kindergarten class.
  • The self-contained Gifted Elementary program runs from 1st grade through 4th
  • The Gifted Middle School program begins in 5th grade and maintains the self-contained model while incorporating classroom/teacher changes between subjects and choice of elective courses, intended to prepare the student for High School expectations.
  • The Gifted Junior High and High School program begins in 7th grade and is tailored to each student through Honors/Advanced Placement courses, academic competitions, and an extensive electives catalog.

At San Tan Charter School, our Gifted Elementary and Middle School program resides at our Recker Campus while our Junior High and High School Gifted program resides at our Power Campus.

Qualifying Gifted students enjoy the support and challenge that a peer group of similar academic interests and abilities provides. The goal of this program is to provide students who have advanced intellectual, academic, and/or creative thinking skills the opportunity to dynamically interact with teachers who specialize in Gifted education.

All teachers within the Gifted classroom are highly qualified gifted endorsed or working towards gifted certification. Each gifted student will have a Roadrunner Roadmap™, which will address their specific academic and emotional needs.

Gifted Elementary Curriculum Includes:
Imagine It! – Language program, enVisionMATH – Mathematics program, Words Their Way – Spelling program, Music, Art, Physical Education (PE), Health, Standards-Based Science and Social Studies, Character Counts – Six Pillars of Character, and Measures of Academic Progress® (MAP®) Testing.

Gifted Middle School Includes:
Preparation for secondary school through self-contained gifted classes with block schedules and changing classrooms. Students chose one elective per year and the school assigns one quarterly exploratory elective. Academic competitions and community involvement activities increase.

Gifted Junior High and High School Includes:
Gifted students continue receiving accommodations, enrichment, and rigor for all courses.  Advanced core classes support our secondary Gifted students through Honors/Advanced Placement and Dual/Concurrent enrollment.  In addition, we have a catalog of Electives and Academic competitions geared for the Gifted student.

Gifted Qualification and Placement:

San Tan Charter School adheres to the Arizona State Mandate for Gifted Education which requires gifted education services to be offered to all students in grades K through 12 who score at or above the 97th percentile in one category or 95th percentile in two or more categories of verbal, quantitative, and/or nonverbal battery using the Arizona State-Approved Gifted Test List.

San Tan Charter School administers a state approved test (Cognitive Abilities Test) annually. San Tan Charter provides a screening for all second graders, unless they decline testing, at mid-year to determine qualification for the self-contained gifted program.

Parents are welcome to request their child be tested for $50.00. Referrals for students with handicapping conditions or limited English proficiencies may be processed by a school level multi-disciplinary team. Formal evaluation may occur only after the administration has received written approval from a student’s parent or guardian.

If you feel you have a Gifted student who has yet to be tested for Giftedness, please review our Gifted Information page to learn more about our Gifted Identification Process and Placement.  In addition, see how our Gifted Community is supporting our students, families, and school programs.

If you have any questions about our Gifted Program, please call us at 480-222-0811, or email Michelle Tischer.