Berkeley Lake Focus Program

TEACHERS:  

• Carolann Brown
• Janie Doroff
• Debbie Jackson
• Molly Stanton

The Gwinnett County Public Schools gifted education program serves students by providing academic challenges for those who are intellectually advanced.  The gifted program is called FOCUS at the elementary level, PROBE at the middle grades and QUEST in high school.  The program is designed to help each child reach his or her full potential.  Students participating in the program receive additional instruction during their school day.  This instruction may be in the form of a gifted education resource class, cluster group class, and/or content based class.  The classes offer accelerated learning and enriched academic curriculum experiences that focus on and extend Gwinnett County Public Schools' Academic Knowledge Skills.

The gifted curriculum stresses 5 areas:  

• cognitive skills
• learning skills
• research and reference skills
• communication skills
• metacognition

Fundamental to Gwinnett's curriculum for gifted students are learning experiences that develop the use of thinking skills and processes.  Instruction that develops thinking skills enables students to apply the skills and make informed decisions, to understand and apply concepts, to make reasonable judgments and to define, create and implement strategies for solving problems.