The Renaissance Highly Gifted & Music Academy at Highland Lakes focus on highly gifted learners. & Our signature music program supports those who have a passion for developing diverse musical talents.       Serving grades 1st - 8th		The Renaissance Highly Gifted & STEM Academy at Canyon Springs focus on highly gifted learners. & Our signature STEM program supports those who have a passion for the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering & Math.     Serving grades 1st - 8th
(Tour power points are also posted on this page)

Qualified students are those who have met the published eligibility requirements, and who have applied and been accepted to attend the Highly Gifted Renaissance Academies. In this learning community of supportive and collaborative peers, students are expected to take responsibility and ownership for their academic achievement and personal growth framed by their strengths and interests.

Program Philosophy

The Highly Gifted Renaissance Academies focus on gifted learners’ needs and interests. Learning opportunities focus on mastery; higher order and critical thinking skills; community engagement; personal development and responsibility.

• have the opportunity to differentiate the curriculum
• move along the learning continuum as quickly and appropriately as possible
• design instruction through assessments and teach the “whole” child
• know that quality learning takes time but realizes superior results

Overview

The Highly Gifted Renaissance Academy curriculum is specifically designed to respond to gifted learners’ characteristics of precocity, intensity and complexity. Acceleration of basic content experiences, inquiry as a fundamental tool for encouraging learning, use of open-ended activities and questions that encourage further exploration, development of creative products to stimulate use of higher level thinking and problem-solving processes and extensions to pique interest around substantive content.

Our academic goals for students:

1. Acquire a solid foundation in the content areas of mathematics, language and communication arts, social studies, and science.
2. Work at an advanced level within these content areas.
3. Produce work within these areas that reflects individuality and creativity at a level that is advanced in relationship to other students of the same grade.
4. Use technology as a productivity, creativity, communication and collaboration tool. (International Society for Technology in Education Standards)

Our cognitive and affective goals for students:

1. Problem solve; think creatively, critically and logically; and make connections between ideas.
2. Acquire the knowledge and skills of learning and organizing.
3. Acquire advanced research skills to gather, analyze, and apply information and ideas.
4. Acquire the knowledge and skills to communicate effectively both within and beyond the classroom.
5. Acquire the knowledge and skills to make decisions and act as a responsible member of a community. 

Is Renaissance The Best Fit For My Child?

Students who tend to be the most sucessful in our Renaissance Academies tend to be:

• Intense and inquisitive learners

• Analytical thiners
• Creative problem-solvers
• Highly motivated

Students in the program typically work one grade level above, and apon promoting form our middle school will have some high school credits. These include:

• Math (posibly multiple courses depending on their track)
• English Language Arts
• Spanish (if students choose Spanish as an elective in middle school)

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2016-17 Handbook(PDF)

(This wil be updated in the 2020-21 school year)