Gifted/Talented
Upcoming Events & Announcements
If you are new to the district and your child has previously been identified as gifted, please let us know by contacting your campus administration. If possible, please bring any G/T information from the prior district.
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Gifted/Talented Awareness Week is April 6-10, 2026. Here are some ways to celebrate. We hope you will join us for the watch party on Tuesday night! Email Ellen Gay if you have any questions.
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For further information, please contact Ellen Gay, G/T Specialist, at [email protected].
About Us
Medina Valley Independent School District provides a gifted and talented program that is academic in nature and is designed to enhance the educational opportunities for students exhibiting exceptional academic abilities. Programming options are coordinated at the campus level with support of the G/T Specialist.
Teachers in the district have met the G/T state requirements in order to provide differentiated instruction that utilizes the following instructional strategies: curriculum compacting, tiered assignments, flexible grouping, and independent research projects. In addition, the GT Specialist will support teachers through a job-embedded coaching model.
Our Mission
Our mission is to provide an innovative & challenging learning environment that offers our highest achieving 
students the opportunity to grow academically and think critically & creatively about complex issues, as well as develop advanced products & performances in hopes that they will use their abilities to be leaders and valuable contributors to a diverse and competitive 21st-century society.
students the opportunity to grow academically and think critically & creatively about complex issues, as well as develop advanced products & performances in hopes that they will use their abilities to be leaders and valuable contributors to a diverse and competitive 21st-century society.Assessment & Identification Process
Gifted and talented students are identified according to the state’s definition of giftedness.
“A gifted and talented student is a child or youth who performs at or shows the potential for performing at a remarkably high level of accomplishment when compared to others of the same age, experience, or environment and who exhibits high performance capability in an intellectual, creative, or artistic area, possesses an unusual capacity for leadership, or excels in a specific academic field.” Texas Education Code, Subchapter D, 29.121
The identification process consists of three steps:
- Referral of students for the program
- Permission to assess obtained from parent
- Assessment of students using appropriate assessment instruments
- Selection of students using a district profile for whom the gifted program is an appropriate educational placement
Data is collected from multiple sources to determine possible placement in the gifted program. The following assessments are utilized:
- General abilities surveys
- Cognitive ability assessments
- Achievement assessments
Per the Texas State Plan for the Education of Gifted/Talented Students, Section 1.5.1C: Data collected from multiple sources for each area of giftedness served by the district are included in the assessment process for gifted/talented services (19 TAC §89.1(2)).
MVISD will utilize a universal screener for all 2nd graders in the district to identify those who are potentially gifted. If any indicators are present, the student will be referred for further testing.
Referrals for G/T identification assessment can be made based on the following dates. Please contact your child's teacher, campus G/T contact, or a G/T Specialist to refer a student.
Information for transfer students, who were identified as Gifted by their previous district, will be reviewed throughout the year based on when the student transferred into the district and when the identification information is received from the prior district.
Contact Information
For more information see the documents below or contact:
Ellen Gay
G/T Specialist
Important Documents
G/T Options
Elementary Students
- Differentiated coursework in core curriculum areas
- Advanced level product & enrichment activities
- G/T Specialist support
- G/T students in grades 1-5 are cluster grouped
- UIL competitions
Middle School Students
- Honors courses
- UIL competitions
- CTE & Electives to embrace problem solving and critical thinking skills
- Collaborative advance level product
High School Students
- Pre-AP/AP courses
- Dual Credit courses (allows students to earn college credit)
- UIL competitions
- CTE & Elective classes that align with student interests
- View the HS course catalog for further explanation of advanced-level courses
- Guidance counselors available to help with course selections to meet student goals
Press a link below to visit some past virtual showcases