Special Needs

The Gwinnett County Public Schools gifted education program serves students in grades K-12 by providing academic challenges for those students who are intellectually advanced. The classes offer enriched academic curriculum experiences that focus on extending the Gwinnett County Public Schools’ core curriculum, the Academic Knowledge and Skills. Students are identified and placed in gifted education based on criteria established by the Georgia State Board of Education. Students who transfer from gifted education programs within the State of Georgia have reciprocity into the Gwinnett program. Students who transfer from out-of-state must meet Georgia requirements. Parents should notify the school when registering their child that he/she was identified as a gifted education student in their previous school.

Teachers or parents may refer a student to the local school’s gifted referral committee.

The procedures for identifying and placing students in special education classes are governed by the rules and regulations approved by the State Department of Education. Referrals for Special Education are made through the Student Support Team (SST) process at the local school. Parents who are concerned about their child’s achievement should contact the teacher. Any child who receives special education services in elementary school will have an IEP meeting to determine what services will continue in middle school.

Students may be able to participate in the Academic Assistance Program to recover up to two Fall semester course failures and summer school to recover Spring or additional Fall semester failures. The number of courses that a student is able to recover may be limited. Additionally, summer intervention is recommended for students who have not passed state or district assessments required for promotion.

Retests for these state and local assessments will be provided at the end of summer school for selected grade levels.

The Student Support Team exists to help classroom teachers identify, plan, and recommend alternative instructional strategies for a student who is showing difficulty either academically or behaviorally. The team is a committee composed of counselors, teachers, administrators, and other key personnel. Parents are invited to attend SST meetings. The team will meet one or more times during the school year to review and consider all available information about an individual student. Anyone can refer a student. If parents have a question concerning the referral process, they should contact a classroom teacher.

Pinckneyville Middle School wishes to meet the needs of all our students and families. If any family member needs assistance or has any questions regarding mobility-impaired issues or handicapped access, please contact the front office.

The Stewart B. McKinney/Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youth Act ensures the educational rights and protections for children and youth experiencing homelessness. It provides legal protections for the children and youth in homeless situations to enroll in, attend, and succeed in school and preschool programs. In accordance with this law, Gwinnett County Public Schools affords homeless children and youth equal access to the same free, appropriate public education, including a public preschool education such as Head Start, Even Start, State Pre-K and Title 1 Preschool Programs as provided to other students. Homeless children and youth will have access to education and other services that they need in order to have an opportunity to meet the same challenging state student academic achievement standards to which all students are held. Please contact the school for further information.

Morning tutoring is offered by all teachers each Wednesday at 8:15, and students must arrive prior to 8:25 in order to attend. All other days of the week, students must obtain permission from their teacher prior to that morning. Individual teachers will schedule these additional tutoring days as needed.