Gifted Education Services

The Brandywine School District recognizes the rights of students from all cultural groups and across all economic strata to an education that provides for the maximum development of their potential. This includes students with the capability to perform at higher levels compared to their peers. This right also extends to students who are twice exceptional and may need support, intervention, and guidance to develop academically, socially, and emotionally. Identified students may require services that offer opportunities for acceleration and enrichment beyond the grade-level curriculum.

Brandywine School District defines gifted education as services that provide learning opportunities centered on the cognitive and affective needs of students who exhibit above average ability to reason and think academically, commit to tasks, and apply analytical creativity to solve problems. The instruction is differentiated and focused on the social and emotional needs of students who demonstrate gifted behaviors. The coursework incorporates compacting, problem-solving, and critical and creative thinking designed to provide opportunities to strengthen abilities to think and work like experts in the discipline.

In the Brandywine School District, gifted services are offered in specific schools for grades K-8. Students may be recommended for gifted education services at any grade level and typically continue to receive gifted education services from year to year, provided their needs are being met. Students identified for gifted education attend the school listed for their grade level; bus transportation is provided for students receiving gifted education services who live in the Brandywine feeder pattern. Brandywine School District staff work intentionally to ease transitions between schools for students and families.

Grades K-3 Mount Pleasant Elementary School

Grades 4-5 Claymont Elementary School

Grades 6-8 P.S. duPont Middle School

Bus transportation is provided throughout the Brandywine School District for students receiving gifted education services regardless of their home feeder pattern. Teachers and counselors help students and families ease transitions between schools. Students may be recommended for gifted education services at any grade level and typically continue to receive gifted education services from year to year, provided they are meeting with success.

Referrals for Gifted Education Services

Students Entering Kindergarten in 2026-27

All children must be registered for kindergarten with their feeder pattern elementary school to be assessed.
All children registered for kindergarten in a Brandywine School District elementary school by September 30, 2026, will be assessed for gifted services. Families registering early will be contacted in March 2026 to schedule.
As part of the registration process, families will be asked to schedule their student for the Naglieri General Abilities Test. For more information about the assessment, visit the Naglieri website.
Parents who are not registering their children at a BSD school may contact BSD in March 2026 to inquire about scheduling the kindergarten assessment.
Testing sessions will begin on April 1, 2026, and will continue throughout the summer.
Please note that students must be 5 years old by August 31, 2026, to register for kindergarten in BSD for the 2026-27 school year. Kindergarten Early Admission Requests may be available for students who turn 5 by October 31, 2026. Contact the registration team for more information.

Students entering grades 1-8 in 2026-27

The referral period for all students entering grades 1-8 for the 2026-27 school year is open from December 1, 2025, through January 31, 2026. All students are eligible to be referred for review.

Referral and Identification

Brandywine School District is committed to helping all students reach their potential. After a student is referred using the online referral form, referred students will attend a Morning of Activities at Brandywine (MOAB). The MOAB session format allows teachers and administrators to meet your student face-to-face and observe your student completing several fun and engaging tasks. Observations, achievement data, and performance information—along with referral forms and parent checklists—will guide the review team’s recommendations.

What to Expect After the Referral

Referred BSD students entering grades 1-5 ONLY: Based on referrals submitted, each child entering grades 1-5 will be assigned to participate in MOAB activities at Mount Pleasant Elementary on one of four dates during the school day: February 24^th, February 26^th, March 3^rd, or March 5^th. Once assignments are made, families will receive an email with specific details for their student. The permission slip is included online with the referral form. *Students cannot be reviewed without the permission slip.

Should your child be unable to attend their assigned review date, they will be invited to the Saturday MOAB session, held on March 7^th.

Referred students not attending a BSD school entering grades 1-5 ONLY: Attend an elementary school MOAB event at Mt. Pleasant Elementary School on Saturday, March 7, 2026, from 8:30am-12:00pm. The snow date is March 21, 2026.

All referred students entering grades 6-8 ONLY: Attend a middle school MOAB event at P.S. duPont on February 7, 2026, from 9:00am to 12:00pm. The snow date is February 21, 2026, from 9:00am-12:00pm.

Notifications will be sent via email by the end of April, indicating the final recommendation of the review panel. If services are recommended, additional paperwork will be included with the email notification. These documents will need to be completed to process enrollment in the appropriate school.

The referral process for the 2026-27 school year is online:

Click here to complete the online referral form*

All completed referrals must be received by the end of the day on January 31, 2026, to be considered for further evaluation for the 2026-27 school year.

*It is preferred that the online form be completed. If a paper referral is necessary, contact gifted services. The form must be scanned and emailed to giftedservices@bsd.k12.de.us by the deadline.

All referrals must be submitted directly to Gifted Services and should not be returned to buildings. No referrals will be accepted from any source after the referral date.

For Questions and More Information Contact:

giftedservices@bsd.k12.de.us

Defining Giftedness in BSD

Defining “Giftedness” in BSD

National Association for Gifted Children Definition of Giftedness (2018)

“Students with gifts and talents perform—or have the capability to perform—at higher levels compared to others of the same age, experience, and environment in one or more domains. They require modification(s) to their educational experience(s) to learn and realize their potential. Students with gifts and talents:

Come from all racial, ethnic, and cultural populations, as well as all economic strata.
Require sufficient access to appropriate learning opportunities to realize their potential.
Can have learning and processing disorders that require specialized intervention and accommodation.
Need support and guidance to develop socially and emotionally as well as in their areas of talent.”

State of Delaware Definition of Giftedness (2020)

"Gifted or Talented Student" means a child enrolled in a Delaware public school who has been identified by a professionally qualified person or persons as meeting the following definition of gifted or talented:

A child capable of high performance with demonstrated achievement and/or potential ability in any of the following areas, singularly or in combination:

General intellectual ability;
Specific academic aptitude;
Creative or productive thinking;
Leadership ability;
Visual and performing arts ability; or
Psychomotor ability.”

Brandywine School District (BSD) Definition of Gifted Services

When we review students for traits of gifted learners, we use Dr. Joseph Renzulli’s model of giftedness, which requires the combination of three critical traits:

Services in BSD are needs-based, and there is no quota applied. While the majority of student needs can be met through differentiation of regular education classroom services, gifted services are designed for students whose needs are beyond what the typical classroom can provide.

Parents/guardians may remove their student from Gifted Education Services at any point during the school year and return to their feeder pattern school. Reasons for removal might include academic, social, or personal concerns; each situation is unique and will be reviewed individually.

Unique Services in Delaware

Unique Services in Delaware

Brandywine School District is the only district in the State of Delaware that offers self-contained gifted services. This means that gifted services students receive specialized services during all instruction in mathematics, reading, science and social studies. Providing services this way underscores the district’s commitment to ensuring that all students have the opportunity to achieve their full potential.

Additionally, BSD is dedicated to ensuring that a student’s background does not limit access to gifted services. The identification process is designed to ensure that we provide equitable opportunities to students regardless of socioeconomic status, language, race, ethnicity, gender, and disability.

Locations:

K-3: Mount Pleasant Elementary School
4-5: Claymont Elementary School
6-8: P.S. duPont Middle School

The Identification Process

As a needs-based service, gifted identification runs outside the online state school choice process. A student who completes the online state school choice process to attend Mount Pleasant Elementary, Claymont Elementary, or P.S. duPont Middle School will be placed into general education classes and must still proceed through the gifted referral process in order to be considered to receive gifted services.

Entering Kindergarten: Universal Screening

Testing for the next school year begins on the first day of the fourth marking period and families may select from testing sessions provided throughout the summer. All students who register for kindergarten in Brandywine School District by September 30th will be assessed for gifted services unless a parent/guardian declines the review. Students who meet the cut score on the assessment will be recommended to receive services for the upcoming kindergarten school year. For students registering outside of the Brandywine School District for elementary school, families should register in the feeder pattern elementary school and then email giftedservices@bsd.k12.de.us to schedule an assessment appointment.

Entering grades 1-8: Referral Process

Brandywine School District recognizes that children develop gifts and talents at different ages. To accommodate this, an annual referral process is used to identify any students who should be reviewed for services. The window for referrals opens each year on December 1. At that time, all information for referring a student will be posted to the district website and anyone (parent/guardian, teacher, staff, student) may refer a student for review; students may be referred over multiple years. Please note the posted deadline for submissions, as referrals cannot be reviewed after the posted deadline.

All students entering grades 1-5: After the referral period closes, Morning of Activities at Brandywine (MOAB) events are scheduled for students. Students who attend a BSD school will attend a MOAB session during the regular school day. Students who do not attend a BSD school will be invited to attend a MOAB session held on a Saturday morning in March. Each student referred will receive the appropriate invitation via email with details. All of the MOAB sessions will run the same: students engage in fun tasks that promote reasoning, thinking, and collaboration. Following MOAB, a panel of gifted services teachers and administrators gathers to review evidence collected for each student. Gifted behavior rating scales, student work evidence, standardized testing data, and class grades are used to determine whether services are needed. After panel reviews are completed for all referred students, parents/guardians are notified by email of the panel decision. Notification is made via email by May 31st. All panel review decisions are final; however, students may be referred for review annually.

All students entering grades 6-8: After the referral period closes, a Morning of Activities at Brandywine (MOAB) is scheduled on a Saturday morning in February. All referred students entering grades 6-8 will attend the same MOAB date; an invitation will be emailed with event details. This session has students engage in fun tasks that promote reasoning, thinking, and collaboration. Following MOAB, a panel of gifted services teachers and administrators gathers to review evidence collected for each student. Gifted behavior rating scales, student work evidence, standardized testing data, and class grades are used to determine whether services are needed. After panel reviews are completed for all referred students, parents/guardians are notified by email of the panel decision. Students entering grades 6-8 receive notification via email by March 15th. All panel review decisions are final; however, students may be referred for review annually.

Students Currently in 5th Grade: Additional Universal Screening

In alignment with best practices for equitable gifted identification, a second round of universal screening is administered. BSD selected the Naglieri General Abilities Tests as an unbiased screening measure to screen all 5th grade students in the district. Any student meeting the cut score on the assessments will automatically be recommended to be referred for review for services the following school year unless the parent/guardian declines the review. These students are then reviewed during the MOAB process outlined above.

Gifted Services are not available in combination with the Immersion Program or International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme. The Immersion Program and IB Programme are both included as part of the online state school choice process.

For more information about Immersion Programming visit: http://brandywineschools.org/immersion. Note: students who leave the Immersion Program may not be eligible to rejoin Immersion in future grades.
For more information about the International Baccalaureate Programme visit: http://brandywineschools.org/IB

The Immersion Program is available in combination with the IB Programme at Talley Middle School. In this case, families must elect to continue in Immersion and also be admitted to IB through the online state school choice process.

If your child completes the gifted services review process and is recommended to receive services for next year, the parent/guardian makes the final decision about gifted services. All three options provide fantastic educational opportunities for students to flourish; it is recommended that families review each offering and determine which will be the best fit for the individual child.

Immersion programming is currently provided at the following sites:

Grades K-5: Claymont Elementary and Lancashire Elementary
Grades 1-5: Maple Lane Elementary
Grades 6-8: Talley Middle School
Grade 9-12: Brandywine High School

IB programming is currently provided at the following sites:

Grades 6-8: Talley Middle School
Grades 9-12: Mount Pleasant High School

For students who register to attend a BSD school mid-school year:

Students who enroll in BSD outside the gifted referral window are considered for evaluation based on prior gifted identification and services.

If records show previous gifted services, the Naglieri assessments are given as an initial screener.

Students who meet the cut score proceed to a panel review. During this process, additional data will be requested to provide a holistic view of the student. The panel review team uses this information to decide whether gifted services are needed at this time.
Students who do not meet the cut score can be referred in the next window, opening December 1st.

Students without prior gifted identification must wait until the referral window reopens on December 1st.

Please contact giftedservices@bsd.k12.de.us for more information

Twice Exceptional Students

From NAGC:

“What’s not often well-known or well-understood is that students who are gifted may also have a special need or disability— just as students with disabilities may also be gifted. The term “twice-exceptional,” also referred to as “2e,” is used to describe gifted children who have the characteristics of gifted students with the potential for high achievement and give evidence of one or more disabilities as defined by federal or state eligibility criteria. These disabilities may include specific learning disabilities (SpLD), speech and language disorders, emotional/behavioral disorders, physical disabilities, autism spectrum, or other impairments such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Like other gifted learners, 2e students are highly knowledgeable and talented in at least one particular domain. However, their giftedness is often overshadowed by their disabilities, or these students may be able to mask or hide their learning deficits by using their talents to compensate. Sometimes a twice-exceptional child’s special education needs are overlooked until adolescence or later, or are never identified throughout his or her life.

Twice-exceptional children often find difficulty in the school environment, where organization, participation, and long-term planning play a role. They can be highly creative, verbal, imaginative, curious, with strong problem-solving ability, and a wide range of interests or a single, all-consuming expertise. However, at school, they may have difficulty keeping up with course rigor, volume, and demands--resulting in inconsistent academic performance, frustration, difficulties with written expression, and labels such as lazy, unmotivated, and underachiever. All this may hinder their excitement for school and be detrimental to their self-efficacy, self-confidence, and motivation.”

Having a 504 or IEP does not exclude any student from being considered for BSD gifted services. Teachers certified in gifted education are trained to differentiate instruction to meet a variety of learner needs. As such, gifted services educators provide any necessary 504 or IEP accommodations or modifications that a gifted services student may need; special educators may also provide instructional supports needed based on the IEP.

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Gifted Education Services

Defining Giftedness in BSD

Unique Services in Delaware

The Identification Process

Twice Exceptional Students