Welcome to the LWSD-GEAC Community!
We are the Gifted Education Advisory Council - a non-profit organization run by family volunteers, to support the needs of the highly capable community in Lake Washington School District.
RSVP for Siblings: Unique Concerns, Opportunities, and Simple Support Strategies with Emily
Join us in our webinar and learn about an often-overlooked topic – siblings of gifted and twice exceptional children.
Siblings of children who are gifted and twice exceptional play important roles in their families and often experience similar concerns and opportunities as parents. This interactive session will present some common issues that siblings experience and share a handful of simple, practical strategies for parents, teachers, and other professionals to help minimize sibling concerns and maximize opportunities to build close bonds between siblings.
Executive Functioning and Support for Gifted and Twice Exceptional Students
Webinar with Dr. Mike Postma
We enjoyed having many of you join our event on May 21st on Executive Functioning, where Dr. Postma shared an incredible amount of information as well as tips and recommendations on how to best support our kids.
The recording of the event will be available for you to revisit on our website until May 30th and move into our Member Space after that.
Come work with us!
Did you know - we are still looking for motivated community members to join us! The following positions are still open:
President
Treasurer
VP Grants
VP Advocacy
VP Membership
VP Events
Please reach out to learn more about these positions, we’re excited to meet you!
Changes to the Hicap service models have been announced
LWSD has released the new service models for their elementary Hicap support which will be implemented starting with the 2025/26 school year. The changes affect all students and are most impactful for those who currently receive Hicap pull-out services, either in the form of K5HC math/reading or Pull-Out Quest.
K5HC has been cancelled. Starting in the new school year, students with a K5HC designation will receive Hicap services in the classroom, which are called Classroom-Based Services, or CBS. CBS will be delivered by the classroom teacher through differentiation.
POQ has been cancelled. All students in grades 2-5 carrying a Pull-Out Quest designation will be moved into Full-Time Quest services with the beginning of the new school year. POQ students who are currently in 5th grade will start MSQ in the fall.
Please find the official district information here on the website of the Accelerated Programs Department and on their FAQ to the changes.
The district hosted two webinar-style information sessions to hear and respond to questions about the changes to the service models. Find a recording of the first information session below.
Please watch the recording of the Accelerated Programs Department’s information session about the Hicap service model changes on January 29th.
Gifted 101 by Carol Lewis
Do you have questions about characteristics and challenges of gifted and twice exceptional students?
Carol Lewis joined us on October 17th 2024 in Redmond Elementary and talked about the basics of giftedness and twice exceptionality (2e). Please take a look at the presentation to refresh your memory, find answers to questions we couldn’t address, or if you missed the talk and want to learn more.
And please reach out with any questions you may have!
Let us know what you think!
We’d love to hear from you!
Do you have questions or concerns? A highlight from your student’s classroom? A thought on the new hicap hicap identification process?
Let us know!
Meet other families
at
your school!
School Rep Network
GEAC is creating a network of school reps that helps facilitate community building and connection with other families at your school.
Want to get in touch? Contact us at schoolreps@lwsdgeac.org!
Membership
Our community becomes stronger with more diverse, independent voices and we graciously ask that you consider strengthening our GEAC community. As a dues-paying member you will support our larger community and receive exclusive benefits. In addition, we also hope that you consider joining our board as either a Member-at-Large or in an elected position.
Our Mission
Community
We foster communication and connection among families in the highly capable learning community, spread across LWSD. We offer information about and/or access to relevant education and support opportunities for parents, students, and educators in the highly capable community.
Enrichment
We support highly capable student learning in the classroom, making available funding for enhancements including, but not limited to, curriculum resources, enrichment opportunities and professional development for staff.
Advocacy
We advocate for the needs of highly capable students before families, the LWSD School Board, and the LWSD administration, and supporting broader advocacy efforts on behalf of the highly capable community.