At Whittier, we believe that all students have academic talent. We also recognize that students vary in their needs throughout the day, in different subject areas, and over time as they grow from kindergarteners to 5th graders. Students with advanced learning needs may require learning experiences that are deeper, more complex, or at a faster pace.  Our goal at Whittier is to use our rigorous IB programming to ensure that all students discover their unique talents and strengths, while also ensuring that our students receive a differentiated curriculum to feel truly challenged all day, every day. Achieving that goal requires a lot of teamwork and collaboration!

We are very fortunate at Whittier to have a staff of incredibly talented teachers who work in collaboration with our team devoted to advanced learning needs. Our team consists of:

·     Colleen Bergh,  Differentiation Specialist/Talent Development Site Lead

As the Differentiation Specialist my role is to support K-2 teachers in meeting the needs of ALL learners.  I provide professional development, co-plan, co-teach, and provide resources to teachers to differentiate learning.  As the Talent Development Site Lead I support program development for students with advanced learning needs, as well as talent development opportunities for all students.  I am the contact person for information regarding Advanced Learning for K-5 grades.

Throughout the year, our team will be working with students and teachers to provide consistently challenging learning opportunities for students with advanced learning needs. We’ll be offering our parent community a few opportunities to learn more about advanced learner programming at Whittier this year and we’d love to see you there. A couple of upcoming opportunities are: