Gifted and Talented at East Salem Elementary

Lauren Cundiff

Greetings,

The cornerstone of Salem City Schools plan for gifted students is that classroom teachers differentiate lessons as they cover the material they are teaching.  This means that teachers take the basic material, and “adjust” its difficulty level up and down to meet the needs of each individual student in the class.  This is a tall order, but we can assure you that Salem teachers do a superb job with meeting their students’ learning needs.  As Salem City Schools gifted education specialists, it is our job to support teachers by advocating for and providing support to their efforts to meet the needs of the most able learners in their classrooms.  We do this by providing additional materials, resources and lesson components to teachers, designed to expand and challenge these unique learners’ minds.  Much of this collaboration is “invisible” to most children, but it is happening!

The more visible part of our job with your child, however, will be our co-teaching in classrooms or our group work with these advanced/gifted learners by pulling them to join us for small group enrichment. The work we do in group will depend heavily on teacher (and student) requests, but, generally, will support the Profile of a Graduate model recently adopted by Salem City Schools.  We will utilize materials designed specifically for gifted students to promote higher-level thinking and we will provide an open environment for students to reflect and respond in more in-depth ways.

The areas in which students excel vary as much as the students themselves. We offer a wide range of opportunities and experiences to meet the student’s individual needs and are always looking for new ways to do just that.

Below is our contact information. We welcome your questions, concerns, kudos and collaboration

lcundiff@salem.k12.va.us or 540-444-0849

Generally, Mrs. Cundiff serves gifted students at East Salem on Wednesdays and Thursday mornings.