Gifted Education

     The LCPS Gifted Program underwent a redesign in SY 2021-22. Now, all students who receive gifted services will do so at their home school. Here at Evergreen Mill, I am spearheading enrichment programs through the four LCPS gifted service vehicles: FUSION, DCI, SEARCH, and EDGE.

Click here to view the SY23-24 LCPS GIFTED PROGRAMS WEBINAR

The four gifted education programs at Evergreen Mill are:

SEARCH for K-3 Students - Push-In Lessons Begin the First Week of School

  • Grades K-1 - 25-minute, biweekly, hands-on SEARCH lessons focus on the five thinking keys - perceiving, reasoning, connecting, creating, and evaluating. 

  • Grades 2-3 - 50-minute biweekly SEARCH lessons build and expand on the five thinking keys (perceiving, reasoning, connecting, creating, and evaluating). Lessons are frequently tiered for increased challenge while maintaining accessibility for all learners. Collaboration is central with partner or group work.

FUSION for Identified 4th-5th Students - Two Hours Weekly - Starts w/o 9/5

  • Two hours of pull-out enrichment for 4th and 5th grade students who have been formally identified for gifted services. FUSION, formerly FUTURA, bolsters critical thinking, creativity, and communication skills through collaborative, exploratory, real-world activities.

  • FUSION alternates annually between two themes: Innovation and Leadership. For SY23-24, the theme is leadership, so we'll be investigating leaders, learning about leadership skills and traits, and being leaders in our school community.

DCI - Differentiated Classroom Instruction - for Identified 4th-5th Students -  Starts w/o 9/5

Weekly enrichment for 4th and 5th grade students who, during the gifted identification process, exhibited advanced performance in Language Arts or Math. Students will receive services through a combination of push-in (in their classroom) or pull-out (in the gifted resource room) format.

EDGE - Empowering Diversity in Gifted Education - for Select 2nd-5th Students - Starts w/o 9/18

EDGE is designed to identify and nurture potential in 2nd-5th grade students who are from historically underrepresented populations. 

  • Grades 2-3 - Meets for 30 minutes weekly in the gifted resource room. (2nd grade EDGE starts in late January/early February).

  • Grades 4-5 - Meets for 45 minutes every other week in the gifted resource room.

For further information about these programs--or about the LCPS gifted identification process--please see the separate links listed on the left side of the EMES gifted education home page.  

4th and 5th Grade Referral Form can be found here (Under Notifications)

ENGLISH

SPANISH

Click here to visit the LCPS Gifted Education Website

LCPS Gifted Education Brochure (slightly outdated but still useful)

Meet Mrs. Rombach

Mrs. Rombach

Howdy, Team Python!

     I’m Mrs. Martha Rombach (pronounced Rom – Bok), and I'm on cloud nine about returning for my third year as the one and only Gifted Resource Teacher at Evergreen Mill. The truth is, it's simply incredible to teach and to collaborate with your children. The cherry on top is that I'm doing so in the same school where my five children spent 15 consecutive years as proud Pythons--and I kept busy volunteering as everything from room mom to PTA president. How cool is that?!

    For those who haven't met me yet...I'm a purple-and-gold waving James Madison University alum. Before arriving at Evergreen Mill, I spent nine years teaching 6th and 8th grade English and Communications. Shout out to my prior students and colleagues at River Bend and Eagle Ridge. Before my middle school years, I taught kindergarten at Hamilton Elementary and helped open Creighton's Corner Elementary. I'm a career switcher who previously held writing, promotion, and public relations jobs with the Richmond Times-Dispatch, People Magazine, Yankee Magazine, and Allergan Pharmaceutical. My gifted endorsement is through the University of Virginia's Curry School of Education.

     My husband, Mike, and I are blessed to be the parents of five really cool humans--all former Pythons! There’s Shelby, 29, an AWS account rep and adventure-seeking dog mom based in Buena Vista, CO. Then Cullen, 27, a Seattle-based newlywed (married to another former Python), Washington Post software developer, and Magic the Gathering gamer. Middle child Bryan, 25, an all-season athlete, lives in Seattle, WA, and works as a hardware engineer with Amazon's Project Kuiper. Cady, 23, UVA Class of '22, is a publicist based out of Brooklyn,NY, and an independent bookstore groupie. Sean, 20, is a world-traveling Virginia Tech Hokie who's studying urban planning and sustainable living.

     Outside of teaching, I’m an outdoor enthusiast who enjoys hiking, kayaking, biking, birdwatching, gardening, exploring national parks, and traversing off-road trails in my top-down orange Jeep. I love reading, cycling with CycleLuv, checking in on former students, rooting for the Steelers, and collecting Funko Pop figurines (I visited their Everrett, WA, headquarters this summer to make Funko Pop figurines of my "kids.")

GIFTED SERVICES:

     The LCPS Gifted & Talented Program underwent a redesign two years ago. Now, all students who receive gifted services do so at their home school. I am spearheading enrichment programs through four vehicles: FUSION, DCI, SEARCH, and EDGE.. Forty-five minute SEARCH lessons are delivered biweekly to all K-3 classrooms. FUSION (formerly FUTURA) features multiple weekly push-in and pull-out enrichment sessions. DCI, or Differentiated Classroom Instruction, provides once weekly enrichment for 4th and 5th grade students who, during the gifted identification process, exhibited advanced skills in Language Arts or Math. EDGE, a targeted, biweekly program, is designed to identify and nurture potential talent within historically underrepresented populations. For further information about these programs--or about the LCPS gifted identification process--please see the separate links on my EMES web page.

I'm elated to be a member of the exceptional team at Evergreen Mill. If we haven't met yet, stop by and say hello during an EMES event. Please tell me all about your awesome Python!

Check back regularly for monthly updates and newsletters. Most importantly, communicate with me anytime with questions! I'm here to help. :)

Connect with Mrs. Rombach:

Email Martha Rombach

PS - Clicking on the green type will take you to an outside web link.