Gifted and Talented
(SAIL/GT Honors) Program
Charleston County School District provides programs for Gifted and Talented students to challenge them with rigorous, complex class work and research. Gifted students may demonstrate high performance ability or potential in academic areas. Administrators, parents, teachers, and students may make referrals.
Philosophy
The Charleston County School District (CCSD) is committed to an educational philosophy that recognizes the unique value, needs, and talents of individual students. CCSD’s Gifted and Talented (GT) Program is designed to challenge and stimulate the academically GT student through a teaching approach that enriches and accelerates the learning of core content according to the state’s curriculum standards.
The mission of the program is to maximize the potential of GT students through an appropriate curriculum responsive to individual learning rates, styles and complexity. All instruction occurs in environments that encourage and nurture inquiry, flexibility, critical thinking, and innovation.
Program Goals
The ultimate goal of the GT Program is to foster in each student a desire for excellence, compassion for others, and a sense of individual responsibility to self, the school, the community and a changing society.
- Identifying and placing all CCSD academically GT students in grades 3-12 according to the mandated specifications of the Education Improvement Act of South Carolina (Regulation 43-220).
- Providing each GT child opportunities for intellectual stimulation through group interaction with others of similar academic abilities and a curriculum of experiences and activities outside the limits of the regular classroom.
- Empowering each gifted child to recognize and fully utilize his or her specific unique talents and to strive for excellence while contributing to self and others.
Gifted and Talented Contacts:
Denise Zacherl
Learning Specialist for GT Curriculum and Development
937-6471; 937-6595 (fax)
denise_zacherl@charleston.k12.sc.us
Suzette Scarlett
Temporary Secretary
937-6446; 937-6595 (fax)
suzette_scarlett@charleston.k12.sc.us
Stephen Driscoll
Charleston Advanced Placement Strategies (CHAPS)
937-6379; 937-6595 (fax)
stephen_driscoll@charleston.k12.sc.us