Kindergarten - 5th Grade

Students enrolled in kindergarten through fifth grade will receive gifted services in several ways: inclusion, during the daily RTI (Response to Intervention) period, flexible grouping, cross grade grouping, and multi-age classes according to the gifted student’s need. Several magnet school programs are also available to those students interested in the arts, science, an Inquiry and Discovery School, International Baccalaureate Program (candidate school), as well as dual languages English/Spanish or English/Navajo.

Based on the gifted student’s needs, the following instructional strategies will include: differentiated instruction, flexible pacing, content acceleration, grade acceleration, tiered lesson planning, and a Personal Education Plan(PEP).  Personal Education Plans are only available for students kindergarten through fifth grade. 

Processes include critical and creative thinking skills, discovery learning, open-ended problem solving, faster pacing, and choice of learning activities which will be incorporated into the content of the Arizona Academic Standards.

Personal education plans are required one per academic year.  The form and instructions can be found at the links below.

Personal Education Plan (fillable pdf) 
Personal Educational Plan Screencast

Additional Clubs and After School Activities

Chess Club, Robotics, Odyssey of the Mind

6th - 8th Grade

Middle school students are grouped in grade level classes with other gifted students for English and Mathematics.  Honors courses are available in Science and Social Studies.  The curriculum is designed to meet or exceed the performance objectives at the proficiency level in the Arizona Academic Standards.

In addition to the groupings noted, FUSD also provides several academy programs which focus on student interests and strengths in either the verbal, quantitative, and/or non-verbal areas.  These academy programs continue to foster executive thinking skills (decision-making, planning, forecasting, monitoring), metacognition, community problem solving, open-ended questioning, varied group interaction, greater variety and evidence of reasoning.

Sinagua Middle School features the MITe program (Institute of Technology and Engineering), Puente de Hozho Language Academy, and the International Baccalaureate Program (candidate school).  MITe is a STEM program built on MATH, SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, and TECHNOLOGY for students with interests and high aptitudes in these areas. The Puente de Hozho Language Academy is an innovative language program to promote bilingualism through the study of either Spanish or Navajo for students 6-8 grade at Sinagua Middle School. 

Mount Elden Middle School has the APEX Honors Pre-AP Academy (7th & 8th grades) and the APEX Pre-AP Academy Preparatory House (6th grade). Mount Elden Middle School also has the Alpine Leadership Academy (an expeditionary learning program) and while not considered a gifted program supports the interests and aptitudes of the non-verbal qualified gifted student with leadership skills and community interests.

Additional Clubs and After School Activities

Native American Club, Chess Club, Oceanography, STEM/Science, Robotics, Art, National Junior Honor Society, Coding Club, Swim Club, Running Club, Wrestling, Volleyball, Cross Country, Basketball, Soccer