Maryland Honors Seventeen Schools For Gifted and Talented Programs

Schools Will Be Recognized During Gifted and Talented Education Month in February

BALTIMORE  — Maryland will honor seventeen schools with the Excellence in Gifted and Talented Education (EGATE) School award next month. This award recognizes top elementary, middle, and high schools with outstanding Gifted and Talented programs.

Now in its ninth year, the EGATE awards spotlight gifted and talented programs aligned with the Maryland Criteria for Excellence: Gifted and Talented Program Guidelines and Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR ) 13A.04.07 Gifted and Talented Education. Each EGATE school submits a comprehensive application which provides documentation of 21criteria of excellence under four program objectives: student identification, curriculum and instruction, professional development, and program management and evaluation.

“A robust gifted and talented educational program moves our students above and beyond their goals and helps enrich their already outstanding levels of talent and performance,” said Dr. Karen Salmon, State Superintendent of Schools, “I applaud the accomplishments of each of these schools and their students, and look forward to seeing what else they can achieve.”

Seventeen schools will be awarded with the designation of EGATE Schools, and 115 individual awards will be presented to students, teachers, local school and school system administrators, and university professors from across the state. Awards also will be given to winners of the Maryland Coalition for Gifted and Talented Education’s Student Essay Contest.

In the years since the award’s conception, 68 different schools from 10 school systems have earned  EGATE status. Members from the Maryland Advisory Council for Gifted and Talented Education, as well as local school system personnel review and score the EGATE applications, which document the school’s gifted and talented program activities over a 27-month period. 

This year’s new EGATE schools will be recognized during Maryland’s Gifted and Talented Education month at a reception and awards ceremony on February, 5 from 6–8 p.m. at North County High School in Glen Burnie.

EGATE schools receive a citation from the Governor, and the EGATE banner to display on their school buildings and websites. They will also be honored at a meeting of the Maryland State Board of Education and host celebratory visits from Advisory Council members and MSDE staff in the spring. These schools will serve as models for other schools that want to achieve this status.

More information on the EGATE School Awards Program is available at http://marylandpublicschools.org/programs/Pages/Gifted-Talented/index.aspx.  Schools interested in applying for the 2019 EGATE program must submit applications to MSDE for review by Monday, November 25, 2019.

The 2018 EGATE schools are:

Baltimore International Academy, Baltimore City Public Schools

Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women, Baltimore City Public Schools

Belmont Elementary School, Baltimore City Public Schools

Capitol Heights Elementary School, Prince George’s County Public Schools

Central Elementary School, Anne Arundel County Public Schools

Davidsonville Elementary School, Anne Arundel County Public Schools

Federal Hill Preparatory School, Baltimore City Public Schools

Folger McKinsey Elementary School, Anne Arundel County Public Schools

Glenarden Woods Elementary School, Prince George’s County Public Schools

Glenmount Elementary-Middle School, Baltimore City Public Schools

Hampden Elementary-Middle School, Baltimore City Public Schools

Longfields Elementary School, Prince George’s County Public Schools

Montpelier Elementary School, Prince George’s County Public Schools

North Bend Elementary-Middle School, Baltimore City Public Schools

Springfield Middle School, Washington County Public Schools

Vansville Elementary School, Prince George’s County Public Schools

Woodhome Elementary-Middle School, Baltimore City Public Schools