Gifted & TMA

Students are grouped in “Suites” of similar age although they may not be working at the same “grade” level.  Students’ abilities vary among subject areas and can be grouped differently for each subject.  The “suite” concept allows for greater differentiation to meet an individual student’s needs.

The curriculum is differentiated and individualized to meet the special needs of gifted students with maximum concern for the varying degrees of “giftedness” which exist in such highly qualified students.  Using a variety of teaching styles, interdisciplinary and collaborative methods, our teachers encourage the development of problem solving, creativity and critical thinking skills.  Our students are of above average ability, creative and task committed.

The Dean, Lydia Gibb, is an expert in the field of Gifted Education.  She has presented to the New England Conference on Gifted Education for the past 20 years and led numerous workshops around the state of Connecticut.  Dean Gibb also trains and updates faculty and staff on current pedagogy in gifted in education.  Faculty is hired based on their ability to be creative, able to differentiate for gifted students and think out of the box like our students.

Talcott has had a long collaboration with the Connecticut Association for the Gifted, both in volunteer, provider and official roles.  Several Talcott administrators have served and continue to serve in roles on the Board of Directors, Vice President and President.  Talcott contrinbutes to the Minds In Motion enrichment days statewide, and is prominently featured at the annual New England Conference for Gifted and Talented.  

We have also had a long and rich history working with the National Research Centers for Gifted and Talented and the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut.  Talcott's work with gifted students has been a part of the fabric of successful models for enrichment, and helped build the science education strand at Confratute.  In working with the State Department of Education, Talcott has contributed to the State of Connecticut CONN-CEPT series of educational strategies and has served on the state G/T task force.