Students are eligible for exceptional education programs if they meet the criteria outlined in Florida Board of Education Rule 6A-6.03019, FAC. These criteria focus on a learner's need for the gifted education program, general intellectual functioning, and various behavioral and intellectual characteristics. Gifted students come from all backgrounds with special abilities ranging across a wide spectrum of achievement. Gifted students require special conditions to meet their educational needs.  The overarching goal of gifted education is to empower gifted children to become independent, lifelong learners who are prepared to assume leadership roles as active participants in a world of rapid change and complexity.

Our students who are gifted have learning needs that go beyond what is traditionally offered in the regular classroom.  The nature of their abilities, demonstrated or latent, requires differentiated learning experiences and opportunities for them to maximize their potential.  Teachers need to develop the depth and quality of their students’ experiences while adjusting the pace to meet individual needs.  These experiences may be addressed in a differentiated curriculum that may involve the modification of content, process, product, and/or the learning environment (Tomlinson, 1999).