Gifted Education in the Schools
All public school systems in Georgia must offer gifted services in order to receive the state’s per-student funding for gifted students, in accordance with the state law that governs gifted education (PDF).
Counties have a choice of delivery models, and implementation of gifted services is left up to the governing boards of each county (or city) system. Visit the local system pages on this site to learn more about the specific programs offered.
State law prohibits one type of gifted service: early entrance to school. By law, a child must be 5 years old or older to begin kindergarten in a Georgia public school, and must be 6 or older to begin first grade. This means that if a child is bright enough to merit a grade skip (grade acceleration is the term educators use), they must nevertheless complete kindergarten and begin first grade with their age peers. They may be able to advance into second grade after their first-grade school year has begun, or may complete the entire year of first grade and skip second grade.
Gifted Atlanta 
could you please send the list of gifted elementary schools
I’m not sure what you’re asking for. Here in the metro area, we do not have public elementary schools that exclusively serve gifted students. There are some private schools that target gifted students. Those are listed on the Private Schools page of this site.
Hi Dori, it’s not clear to me why a student evaluated in late kindergarten for skipping first grade has to attend one or more days of first grade at the beginning of the year before making the skip? I haven’t found an answer to that yet. Is 1st grade attendance somehow mandatory?
Hello. Thanks for writing. This is a great question. I don’t know the answer with certainty, but I can guess at the answer, based on what I do know. What I know is, Georgia law doesn’t allow children in public schools to skip from kindergarten into first grade. Therefore, my guess is that the extensive paperwork that’s required for a grade skip can’t be submitted until the child is enrolled in first grade.
While we’re on the topic, I will say that it can take a while for the county office to process a grade skip request, so it may take a while before the student is approved to advance to second grade. (I can share more about this privately if you contact me directly through the Contact page.)
How can I have my child evaluated for gifted and talented class? Who do I contact? Can I get a phone number and/or email address?
Hi, Simone. Your child would be evaluated by the school they attend. What county are you in?
She is not in a public school. I’m in Fayette County
In that case, what is the gifted and talented class you’re trying to have her evaluated for? Generally, the only reason to have a child evaluated for giftedness is to get them into the gifted education provided by their public school.
That’s exactly what I’m talking about. I would like for her to go into the public school but in the gifted program
I see now. Thanks for clarifying. Students get evaluated for giftedness after they enroll in the school system. The evaluation is typically done during the fall semester. In a student’s first year in a public school system, it will usually be a few months before they actually start receiving gifted services. Once a child has been identified as gifted, they maintain that status for as long as they remain in the school system — they don’t have to be tested again. Information about Fayette County’s gifted program, including their evaluation process, can be found here: https://www.fcboe.org/Page/5590
Thank you so very much for the information
You’re quite welcome. If you have questions as you get into the process, feel free to reach out via the contact page on this site.