Home
Employment
School Committee
Superintendent's Office
Teacher Links


Quick Links



District News


Did you know that in the 2010 academic year...

  • ...Bangor High School was selected as one of the nation's top high schools by Newsweek based on its high AP test performance?

  • ...a Bangor student was the national winner of the Stockholm Junior Water prize for research?

  • ... a Bangor student was a national finalist in the Poetry Out Loud competition in Washington D.C.?

  • ... a Bangor student earned the national gold medal in First Aid / CPR at the Skills USA competition?

  • ...a Bangor High School teacher was named a national AP Teacher of Excellence by the Siemens Foundation?

  • ...a Bangor High School athlete was named Miss Maine Softball?

Gifted & Talented Programming

Paul Butler, Director of Gifted & Talented and Title I

73 Harlow Street    Bangor, Maine 04401   (207)-992-4170         Driving Directions

Pinwheels from Fruit Street SchoolSince the full adoption of gifted & talented (G/T) program requirements by the Maine Department of Education in 1991, the Bangor School Department has been a leader in the G/T programming across Maine.  

Bangor opts for "exceptional need" programming at the early primary level; for students whose academic development extends two years or more beyond their grade peers, consideration is given to the strategies (cross-grade groupings, specialized materials, small group tutorial support) that will most appropriately continue to accelerate the individual student.  Such decisions are a collaborative effort of the classroom teacher, the building principal, the Director of G/T, and the parent(s).

Formal screening, identification as Gifted and Talented and recommended programming options take place in the spring of the third grade year. All students take the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test (7th Edition), and these data are coupled with other objective (TerraNova3 & BSD curriculum) and qualitative (student characteristics screening) data to determine G/T identification in the area of General Intellectual Ability, which remains through grade 8.

Bangor believes in an accelerated group instructional model beginning in grade 4 at Fairmount School and Mary Snow School.  Under this model, both G/T-identified as well as non-identified students can elect to participate in Accelerated Language Arts and Accelerated mathematics, classes that meet daily during each school's instructional blocks. In addition to students who are identified through the G/T screening process, the class is designed and paced for students with high levels of ability, achievement, interest, and independence in the content area(s).  Both courses are designed to cover three years of content area standards in two years.  G/T endorsed teachers instruct the courses and also serve as coordinators, offering their instructional expertise to classroom teachers and monitoring student progress. Click here for the 4/5 Accelerated Program Overview.

Beginning in grade 6 and continuing through grade 9, G/T identification focuses on Specific Academic Aptitude, with student performance on national and state assessments along with  grades serving as the primary factors in G/T identification. Similarly, the instructional model expands with offerings of accelerated courses in science and social studies at the two middle schools and a wide array of Honors and AP course offerings at Bangor High School.

One indicator of Bangor's strong G/T program is the scope of the Advanced Placement (AP) Program at Bangor High School which, in many ways, is viewed as the culminating experience for students in an achievement-driven school system.  Bangor High School offers 18 AP courses with 37 sections, and 2009 AP Examination data reveals that nearly 85% of course participants opted to take the exam in their course(s).  In addition to participating in high numbers, the AP scholars at Bangor High School consistently outperform their state peers and many earn college credit for scoring 3, 4 and 5 on AP examinations. It is the belief of the Bangor School Department that AP courses appropriately meet the needs of G/T students as they manage high-level content and build college-readiness skills.