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Briarwood E.L. Museum Web Site STUDENT WEBS:
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Overview
The Briarwood Enhanced Learning Center is one of six elementary centers for gifted students in the Shawnee Mission School District. Identified students are bussed to a center one day each week. During the day in E.L., students spend time working on individual projects that focus on their areas of strength, as well as whole group or teacher-planned activities. The Briarwood E.L. Center The Briarwood E.L. Center has two full-time teachers, as well as a paraprofessional who is at the center two days per week. The center serves approximately 50-80 identified gifted students from five feeder schools: Briarwood, Corinth, Santa Fe Trail, Tomahawk and Kansas City Christian. Identified students attend the center from 8:30-2:30 one day each week by grade level, with Kindergarten through 3rd grade attending on one day, fourth graders attending another day, etc. One day each week is reserved for the E.L. teachers to work with teachers in the home schools, to test and evaluate students, and hold IEP (Individual Education Program) meetings. Identification of students for the program is based on both evidence of exceptionality and need for services. Data is gathered from a number of sources including parents, teachers, test scores, examples of student work, and a student interview. Additional testing, such as an I.Q. test or academic achievement test, is sometimes done. Generally, identified students demonstrate test scores near the 99th percentile in both ability and achievement. When students are identified for the Enhanced Learning program, an Individual Education Program (IEP) is written. The IEP includes annual goals based on the student’s strengths and talents. These goals might prescribe curriculum modifications within the general education classroom or set guidelines for activities/projects the student will work on at the E.L. Center. The IEP for each student is updated annually and new goals are written at that time. The curriculum for the Shawnee Mission gifted program focuses on five areas: Thinking skills (such as critical thinking, creative thinking, problem solving), Investigative skills, Interpersonal skills, Technology, and Self-actualization. Teacher–planned activities may incorporate several areas in one broad unit of study. Some previous units explored at the Briarwood Center include archeology, Latin, inventions, paleontology and an student-created online museum. The Enhanced Learning program provides direct services to students only one day per week, but modifications in the general education classroom are also necessary to meet the special needs of these students. These changes might include a faster pace of instruction, less repetition, and more challenging material or in-depth projects. The Enhanced Learning teachers work with classroom teachers in modifying the curriculum to provide these students with meaningful and challenging learning experiences. |