Because Sycamore Community Schools is committed to meeting the appropriate educational needs of its students, a broad spectrum of specific opportunities is offered so that learning opportunities are matched with student abilities.

Gifted students are different from their chronological peers because of advanced and unique cognitive and psychosocial development.  The goals of acceleration are to adjust the pace of instruction to the student's capabilities, to provide an appropriate level of challenge, and to reduce the time period necessary to complete traditional schooling.

The history of gifted education in Sycamore Community Schools stretches back to 1977. The original program, one of the earliest in the state, was a direct result of research of parents, administrators, and teaching staff who studied several models of delivery. At that time, the decision was made to begin gifted programming at Edwin H. Greene Intermediate School.

Over the past 30 plus years, there have been a variety of revisions as new research dictated new directions. While Sycamore’s gifted services are still evolving, it has developed gifted services starting in grade 3 through advanced language arts and math instruction.  This continuum of gifted services is provided until grade 12.

Gifted students in grades K–2 are also served through class and small group enrichment with extensions offered over the course of the year.