Alpine School District to go ahead with second grade gifted testing
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- Parent Carly Ferrin speaks during the public comment portion of the Alpine School District board meeting held at the district office in American Fork on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023.
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- Parent Jessica Young speaks during the public comment portion of the Alpine School District board meeting held at the district office in American Fork on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023.
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- Parent Justin Sorenson speaks during the public comment portion of the Alpine School District board meeting held at the district office in American Fork on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023.
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- Parent Jerevie Canlaf speaks during the public comment portion of the Alpine School District board meeting held at the district office in American Fork on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023.
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- Parent Elizabeth Fosson reads a letter from teacher Jenny Earle during the public comment portion of the Alpine School District board meeting held at the district office in American Fork on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023.
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- Parent Angelica Ferris speaks during the public comment portion of the Alpine School District board meeting held at the district office in American Fork on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023.
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- Parent Jeana Swapp speaks during the public comment portion of the Alpine School District board meeting held at the district office in American Fork on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023.
Since the cancellation of the Alpine School District’s third grade gifted program was announced in mid-January, parents of students have been researching and speaking at school board meetings during public comment in an effort to keep the program. On Thursday, the district sent out an email to parents stating it would go forward with testing second graders for the third grade Advanced Learning Lab program, also called ALL, in order to assess the needs of such students.
At the school board meeting on Feb. 7, parents Justin Sorenson, Jerevie Canlaf, Carly Ferrin, Jessica Young, Elizabeth Fosson (who read a letter from teacher Jenny Earle), Angelica Ferris and Jeana Swapp gave their thoughts about how the third grade ALL program helped their children and why they felt it needs to stay in place.
Ferrin emphasized the importance of an advanced program for children by relaying her brother-in-law’s experience growing up in the gifted program, despite coming from a poor, dysfunctional household.
“Three children from the same household (had high academic potential), but only one was placed in an academically appropriate environment with skilled, dedicated teachers who loved him and used every opportunity to push him to grow,” Ferrin said. “As an adult, he attended medical school and is now a radiologist. He left the government subsidized housing and food stamps forever. He escaped poverty because he had teachers (who believed in him). But despite their high potential, his two sisters (who did not have the opportunity to join a gifted program) both dropped out of high school.”
When Young asked the audience who was at the meeting to show their support for the program despite not having the opportunity to speak, several more parents raised their hands.
Following the last parent’s remarks, board member Sara Hacken invited parents who were supporting the ALL program to step outside with Analis Ruiz, executive director of equity, inclusion and student support, who gave further explanation as to why the board decided to cancel the program for further study.
A little over a week later, parents received an email from the district apologizing for any inconveniences caused by the earlier decision and announced that it decided to go ahead with testing second graders for the third grade ALL program in the fall.
At first, only parents who had registered their children to be tested before the cancellation was announced received the email, although it was supposed to be sent to all second grade parents, according to Swapp. Parents came together and spoke with the district and the email was then delivered to every parent with a second grader.
“Moving forward, we are faced with the challenges of providing equitable access and resources across the district, including services and programs. In response to the needs of our students, we are reopening the second-grade testing window. The data from the 2nd grade testing will help us determine what is viable as an interim solution for 3rd grade A.L.L. Services while we work with a committee on the restructuring of Gifted and Talented Services in Alpine District,” the email from the district stated.
Questions that will be answered by the results of the exams include finding out how many students in the district qualify for third grade gifted services, how many third grade gifted classes are able to be offered, which towns most of the students are from, and what gifted services can be given in the meantime until the new gifted program is installed in 2024.
Parents wanting to register their children for the exam can do so for free through a Google Form link in the email. Yet “due to high demand, we are temporarily pausing registration to allow us to adjust available testing locations. Registration will resume Wednesday, February 22 at noon. Thank you for your understanding,” the link said when clicked on.
So far, second grade testing will be available at seven different elementary schools in the district from March 6-10. Parents and guardians of students who passed the exam will be given notice at the end of April.
The district anticipates that between May and October, the board and its restructuring committee will have developed a few different models for the new gifted program. Between October and November, they will ask for public input and announce the final decision in December.
Testing will occur between January and February 2024, and the new program will be implemented the following August.
