The Las Brisas Gifted Academy opened in the Fall of 2022.All students attending the academy, regardless of gifted identification, will benefit from gifted instruction from gifted trained teachers daily.
Las Brisas is home to the district’s new Renaissance Highly Gifted and Global Studies Program. This self-contained program is for qualifying students in grades third through sixth, and offers an immersive project and problem-based environment focusing on global cultures and languages.
Our gifted academy also hosts our Bright Beginnings Programs, servicing gifted identified students in grades preschool - second grade, allowing them a solid and enriching beginning for their learning journey.
Our school also has programs and services for math acceleration, STEAM enrichment, and gifted homeroom placement outside of these programs.
The Las Brisas Gifted Academy is the only school in the Deer Valley Unified School District that provides the full continuum of services for gifted and talented students. We are proud to house Bright Beginnings and Renaissance programs for our students. A range of services exist for all students including math acceleration, pull out enrichment, and gifted homeroom placement. All students enrolled at Las Brisas are instructed by teachers trained in gifted education, and have access to STEAM, PE, music, and art through their special areas rotation.
Deer Valley Gifted Services expanded our programming beginning in the 2022-23 school year at our Las Brisas campus. Your child qualifies for the Bright Beginnings Early Learning program if they scored at the 90th percentile or higher in one of the state approved areas of giftedness.
Our Bright Beginnings program provides hands-on learning opportunities for our early childhood learners in grades Pre-K to 2nd Grade.
Pre- K:
Deer Valley's Gifted Pre-K Academyat Las Brisas provides an enriched academic foundation for gifted and talented learners. The Gifted Pre-K Academy serves as a foundation for nurturing the development of our youngest scholars who require advanced learning opportunities. The Gifted Pre-K Academy environment is structured to provide a personalized approach to learning within socially appropriate contexts. Instruction is hands-on to promote discovery learning and FUN!
Kindergarten:
Qualifying students are placed in a Bright Beginnings Kindergarten classroom with children of similar abilities. Students participating in Bright Beginnings are taught by a gifted endorsed teacher. During their time in Bright Beginnings Kindergarten, students work and learn at a pace commensurate with their advanced abilities. Instruction is project and problem-based to support critical and creative thinking within an inquiry learning environment.
1st Grade:
The primary age experience within the Bright Beginnings classroom is enriched to ensure growth and development. Primary age students explore enriched and advanced content. Students benefit from a thematic approach to learning, fostering depth and complexity across each of the core content areas. Students participating in Bright Beginnings class are taught by a gifted endorsed teacher.
2nd Grade:
Students participating in Las Brisas' K-2 Bright Beginnings Program automatically progress to the next grade throughout their K-2 academic journey. At the end of 2nd grade, students will be re-assessed to determine future gifted programming options for third grade and above. The programming options may include Gifted Cluster, SAGE, Walk-Up Math or Renaissance placements.
The DVUSD Renaissance Highly Gifted Academy provides an all-day differentiated learning experience addressing the individual needs of highly gifted students in grades 1-8. Deer Valley's Renaissance Academies are located at Canyon Springs (1-8), Highland Lakes (1-8), Las Brisas (3-6), and Hillcrest Middle School (7-8).
Renaissance is an acceleration-based program that allows students to acquire a solid foundation in the content areas of mathematics, language/ communication arts, social studies, science, and technology literacy. Students earn high school credit in ELA, Math, and Spanish at the close of their 8th grade year. Learning opportunities include engagement in higher order and critical thinking skills; personal development and responsibility; and community and peer involvement. Qualified students are those who have met the published placement qualifications, and who have applied and been accepted to attend the Renaissance Academy.
Students must score 90+ in all 3 areas tested and with 280 points or higher as an overall total score on the CogAT assessment. Students also must pass the application process.
All students in the Las Brisas Renaissance Academy are in a full day gifted classroom with a highly qualified, gifted endorsed teacher. Math and ELA are accelerated, Science and Social Studies are enriched, and STEAM and Global Studies projects are daily activities. 5th and 6th Grade students also receive Mandarin instruction.
In Deer Valley’s Walk-Up to Math model, 3-6 students "walk-up" to the next grade level's gifted cluster math class. The Walk-Up to Math classroom emphasizes hands-on learning with opportunities for authentic application. Students receive enriched, enhanced, and accelerated math instruction taught by a gifted endorsed teacher.
Students enrolled in the Bright Beginnings and Renaissance programs at Las Brisas Gifted Academy have multiple opportunities to experience global languages and cultures. This is done through integration in the classrooms in our problem and project-based learning units and through world languages and cultures classes offered multiple times each week. Each year the school will be staffed with world language teachers to offer our students direct instruction in one or more languages. These languages will/may change based on staffing and program needs. The goal is to have our students learn about and appreciate other cultures as well as learn some language skills in the elementary grades that will prepare them for high school language classes.
As part of the Las Brisas Renaissance Academy, 5th and 6th Grade students (Renaissance ONLY) will receive Mandarin instruction as part of our unique emphasis on global languages and cultures.
