Email: gl_splantz@gallialocal.org      Phone: 1-740-379-9085, extension 10024

• Brandy Marcum-Kirby, Elementary Gifted Intervention Specialist & Coordinator.  

  • Program: CHAMPS servicing Grades 3-5 (see below and tab for more details)

  • Email: gl_bmarcum@gallialocal.org

  • Schedule: Monday-Hannan Trace Elementary; Tuesday- Addaville Elementary; Wednesday-Southwestern Elementary; Thursday- Vinton Elementary; Friday's floats one day a month at each school

• David Holliday, Middle School Gifted Intervention Specialist & Coordinator

  • Program: TAG servicing grades 6-8 (see below and tab for more details)

  • Email: gl_dholliday@gallialocal.org

  • Schedule: Monday- South Gallia Middle School, Tuesday-Friday at River Valley Middle School

Greetings from your Gifted Director,

I  have worked for the district in Gifted Education since the 2000-2001 school year. I had twelve years prior experience working as a special education intervention specialist in West Virginia. I  am a District Administrator who advocates for children and supports our school  personnel.

Please see below for descriptions of Gifted Services  along with  viewing tabs to each level of service (elementary, middle school, and high school) offerings. You will find information and forms located below under the tab on the website . It will include: District Policy for the Identification and Services for Students Who are Gifted: Information for Parents; Gifted Testing Referral Forms; CHAMP Referral Program Nomination Form; TAG Referral Nomination Form; and Withdrawal from Gifted Program Service Form, Board Policies and Procedures : IGBB, Programs for Gifted and Talented Students. For parent gifted advocacy information and membership, see our hyperlink to Ohio Association for Gifted Children under  the resource tab below.

I would welcome anyone who has questions regarding gifted services or identification in the Gallia County Local Schools to view the information located below on our pages/tabs or contact  me at district office, or one of our  Gifted Department personnel.  

Thank you, Sandra Plantz

High-ability students need gifted education programs that will challenge them in regular classroom settings, along with accelerated and enrichment programs to make continuous progress in school.

• According to one report on high-achieving students, more than 7 in 10 teachers of these students surveyed noted that their brightest students were not challenged or given a chance to “thrive” in their classrooms. [1] Additionally, gifted students need gifted programming in many cases because the “general education program is not yet ready to meet the needs of gifted students” (p. 9) due to lack of general educators’ training in gifted education and the pressure classroom teachers face to raise the performance of their struggling students. [2]

• It’s more than just giving students a challenge in classrooms: Gifted programming positively influences students’ futures. Several longitudinal studies have shown that gifted programs have a positive effect on students’ post-secondary plans. For example, studies found that 320 gifted students identified during adolescence who received services through the secondary level pursued doctoral degrees at more than 50X the base rate expectations. [3] In a follow-up report on the same study participants at age 38, 203 participants, or 63%, reported holding advanced terminal degrees (master’s and above). Of these, 142 (44%) held doctoral degrees and 8 of these 142 had more than one doctoral degree. As a benchmark for this accomplishment, the authors of this study compared these rates to the general U.S. population, noting that only approximately 2% of the general population held a doctoral degree according to the 2010 U.S. Census. [4]

• Additionally, in a study looking at gifted students who participated in talent development through competitions, the researchers reported a long-term impact on these students’ postsecondary achievements, with 52% of the 345 students who participated having earned doctoral degrees. [5]

• Further benefits of gifted programs have been shown that students who had participated in gifted programs maintained their interests over time and stayed involved in creative productive work after they finished college and graduate school. [6]

• A sample of 2,409 intellectually talented adolescents (top 1%) who were assessed on the SAT by age 13, and provided services through a talent search program, was tracked longitudinally for more than 25 years. Their creative accomplishments, with particular emphasis on literary achievement and scientific-technical innovation, were examined and results showed that distinct ability patterns identified by age 13 foreshadowed creative accomplishments in middle age. Among the sample, participants had earned 817 patents and published 93 books, one had been awarded the Fields Medal in mathematics, and another had won the John Bates Clark Medal for the most outstanding economist under 40. [7]

Gifted Education Services in Gallia County Local Schools:  SEE GRADE BAND TABS

Gifted Policies & Plan/ Forms/ Information: SEE INFO & FORMS TABS