Gifted: We’ve all heard the term. Perhaps we even fall into that category or know people who do. And of course, parents often suspect their child is gifted long before it’s confirmed.

“I knew Lexi was different than other children at a very early age,” says Kristy M. (last name withheld by request), referring to her daughter who attends Orange County’s Lake Sybelia Elementary School. “As an infant, she always reached every milestone early and ahead of her peers. While other children were communicating and attempting to speak in complete sentences, Lexi was having full conversations with myself and other adults.”

As Kristy eventually learned, Lexi was indeed gifted—but what does that really mean? According to the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC), gifted individuals display an exceptional ability to reason and learn, but the legal definition varies by state. In Florida, it’s defined as “one who has superior intellectual development and is capable of high performance.”

The emphasis should be on capable, because being able to perform at a high level doesn’t necessarily mean it will happen. Per the NAGC, numerous factors can lead to gifted minds going to waste, and the lack of a suitable, challenging education is chief among them. Fortunately, the school districts of all four Greater Orlando counties—Orange, Seminole, Lake and Osceola—offer gifted or exceptional-education programs for K-12, and private schools are an option, too. Have a gifted child? Think you might? Here’s how local schools can help him or her succeed.

Orange County

Orange County is Greater Orlando’s crown jewel, and based on input from local school systems, Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) is the area’s quantity leader when it comes to gifted education.

Shari Bobinski, OCPS senior manager, media relations, says the county’s schools are currently home to 13,491 gifted (aka exceptional education) students, including 5,103 in elementary school, 4,050 in middle school and 4,338 in high school.

Bobinski says that students get screened for gifted potential at the request of a teacher or parent, and all second graders go through universal gifted screening. “Students who pass screening in either situation move on to a full cognitive evaluation with a school psychologist,” she says, and parents can submit private evaluations for review. To ensure they don’t leave any gifted children behind, OCPS uses what’s called a Plan B process to identify students in underrepresented populations, including those who are learning English as a second language or come from low-income families.

After students are identified as gifted, they receive an educational plan (EP) that adds depth and complexity to their curriculum. Gifted-resource educators get special support, too, in the form of in-person and virtual development opportunities with OCPS’ Instructional Coaches for Gifted. The live sessions are recorded for playback and shared via the school system’s intranet for teachers who are unable to attend.

Bruce and Elmarie Mortimer, who have gifted daughters in third and fifth grades, are among the parents who voice appreciation for Orange County’s gifted education efforts. “Both our girls have been part of the OCPS exceptional-education program since first grade,” says Elmarie. “We are thankful that their respective teachers realized the need for additional challenges.”

“The gifted program at Lake Sybelia Elementary School is taught by Ms. Deirdre Kelly and allows my daughter to meet and expand her skills with other children like her,” says Kristy M. “This allows their gifted brains to think in ways the traditional classroom does not.”

“It’s not, per se, an elevated teaching of more difficult math or English,” says Tracy Weiss, who has sons in fourth and sixth grades, “but a creative outlet of sorts to help them think outside the box and continue to ask questions at an elevated level of thinking.”

Seminole County

Mark DiConsiglio and Michelle Ferren, cluster administrators for Seminole County Public School’s (SCPS’) Exceptional Student Support Services, report 5,222 students enrolled in their program as of February 29.

“Either a parent or the teacher may initiate a request for an initial evaluation to determine whether a student is gifted,” says DiConsiglio. If the child’s academic record warrants a full evaluation, the school seeks parental consent to have a licensed/clinical school psychologist test the student to decide eligibility, or parents can opt to submit an independent evaluation for review. Students deemed to be gifted then receive an EP.

SCPS’ exceptional-education programs allow students to learn at an accelerated pace with in-depth exploration of topics, say DiConsiglio and Ferren. Options can include original research, independent studies and special classes, among others. “At all levels,” says DiConsiglio, “gifted support is also offered through the advanced rigor of magnet programs, honors, advanced placement and [International Baccalaureate] coursework.”

One aspect of Seminole’s gifted-education efforts involves cluster classrooms, such as the one used at Carillon Elementary School. “This means that students identified as gifted are placed with their peers and other high-ability learners in one or two classrooms at each grade level,” says Zenaida Rollins, a gifted-resource and media teacher at the school. “When gifted students are in a class with students who share similar traits, they seem able to accept and understand their own learning differences.”

DiConsiglio and Ferren also note that, in 2015, SCPS received a $2.4 million federal grant from the Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Student Education Program to support Project ELEVATE, which stands for “English Learner Excellence eVolving through Advanced Teacher Education.” The goal is to provide specialized services for more students by ensuring alternative methods for gifted identification.

Lake, Osceola and Private

Just 704 students are currently identified as gifted in Lake County Public Schools (LCPS) according to Judy Miller, LCPS director of Exceptional Student Education.

“Students may be referred to the school screening committee by the school personnel, parent(s), student’s peers or through district screening procedures,” says Miller. “Members of the student’s community and others who come in contact with the student away from the school may also make a referral.” LCPS conducts districtwide screening annually, but school-specific screening is ongoing. To qualify for gifted services, a child must demonstrate a need for a special program, and he or she must display a majority of gifted characteristics and pass a standardized intelligence test. An independent evaluation in conjunction with a teacher-completed gifted checklist will also be considered.

Gifted students’ curriculum, says Miller, “may include but is not limited to opportunities for problem solving, problem-based learning, application of knowledge and skills, and other effective instructional strategies.” Furthermore, LCPS’ exceptional-education teachers are trained to provide coursework based on each gifted student’s specific educational characteristics.

The School District of Osceola County declined requests for information, but their website offers basic details about their exceptional-education program. As in Orange, Seminole and Lake, access to Osceola’s gifted resources is dependent upon an evaluation involving an intelligence test, with qualifying students receiving an EP tailored to their needs. Additionally, gifted elementary-school students have access to a shared gifted center, to which they are transported from their primary schools.

All four Greater Orlando counties are home to private schools with gifted-education offerings, too. Orlando Family’s most recent overview of local private institutions can be viewed online at OrlandoFamilyMagazine.com/Camps-Guides/Private-Schools. Use the provided contact information to learn more about a given facility’s gifted program.