Program Design
The Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District recognizes that all students need to be provided with an academic program that is challenging and engaging. For highly capable students, the district participates in the State's Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program, which serves students in grades four through twelve. Students who meet the criteria represent the top 5% of students across the nation. State law requires that GATE students receive qualitatively different instruction.Elementary Program
Elementary students who are identified as gifted may be served either in their home schools or through magnet programs. In either case, students receive qualitatively different instruction. This may be provided through the enrichment strands of the language arts and mathematics programs, special projects, variations on class assignments or accelerated instruction. Typically, GATE students who remain in their home schools are grouped in clusters to meet their instructional needs. Students who opt to attend the magnet programs are assigned to classrooms where all students qualify for the GATE program. Golden Elementary School houses the magnet program for schools in the El Dorado attendance area; Woodsboro Elementary School houses the magnet program for schools in the Esperanza attendance area; and Tynes Elementary School houses the magnet program for schools in the Valencia High School attendance area.
Middle School Program
Each of the five middle schools in the district has a GATE program that serves identified students. Depending on the number of students in the school and the number of students participating in the GATE program, the configuration of the GATE program may vary from school to school. For example, in some schools, students may be grouped within classes. In other schools classes composed mainly of GATE students may be established. In any case, placement and activities will be appropriate for the studentrs language arts and mathematics abilities. Middle school students who are identified as gifted may attend their home middle school or the middle school GATE magnet program at Kraemer Middle School. Students who opt to attend Kraemer are provided with GATE-only classes for three of the seven periods of the day. These include language arts, science and social science. They will be placed in the mathematics class that is appropriate based on placement tests and teacher recommendation.
High School Program
Each high school serves GATE students through Honors and Advanced Placement classes. These courses, which are also open to other high achieving students, are generally offered in language arts, mathematics, science, social science and foreign language. A high school GATE magnet program has been established at Valencia High School. Students who attend the magnet program are placed in honors and AP classes for which they qualify and are grouped together for science classes. GATE students at Valencia High School are eligible to participate in three specialized programs: the International Baccalaureate (IB) program, the Val Tech program and GATE Independent Research.