HORIZONS Gifted & Talented

The HORIZONS Program of Cypress-Fairbanks ISD is dedicated to providing quality instruction to meet the needs of gifted and talented students. The HORIZONS curriculum is firmly embedded in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills objectives, the state mandated curriculum of the Texas Education Agency. We recognize that gifted and talented students require differentiation of their curriculum in pace, depth, or complexity to provide an appropriate level of challenge and to allow students to reach their full academic potential.

We believe students in the HORIZONS program benefit academically and emotionally when given opportunities to develop effective inter- and intrapersonal skills related to their giftedness; to develop advanced, self-directed learning skills; to internalize advanced processing skills; and to develop original products of relative complexity and sophistication.

We believe students learn best when provided multi-sensory instructional services which are both age and ability appropriate. In addition, we believe these students need instructional time to work with age peers, to work with intellectual peers, and to work alone in independent study.

We believe the instructional program for gifted and talented students should challenge and stimulate students to excel as independent, responsible, contributing members of society.

The Cypress-Fairbanks I.S.D. HORIZONS Program, along with parents, teachers, and administrators, will recognize and support the unique academic, social, and emotional needs of the gifted to enable HORIZONS students to develop their talents and gifts to their greatest potential in the classroom and community.

• Ensure that the curriculum includes appropriate levels of extension, enrichment, and acceleration to improve students’ intellectual curiosity
• Offer a wide variety of learning opportunities that encourage students to refine their creative and problem-solving skills
• Provide teachers with current philosophy and methodology for gifted education
• Establish communication with parents to create partnerships that promote their children’s social and emotional well-being and confidence as students.

The HORIZONS Parent Advisory Committee serves the CFISD community as a resource to offer a forum for dialogue and dissemination of information regarding issues of interest for parents/guardians of students identified as gifted and talented.

View the HORIZONS Parent Advisory Committee page.

• Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented
• Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted
• National Association of Gifted Children
• Hoagies Gifted Education

New and currently enrolled students in grades 1 – 11 may be referred for the HORIZONS program any time. Referrals must be received by the last school day in November in order for students to be assessed in early spring. 

Those interested in referring students should review the information on this page, especially:

• Program Overview
• Parent Information
• Testing for HORIZONS Program

Please contact the elementary counselor or secondary director of instruction for your students’ campus for more details.

The due date for referral/parent permission to request mid-year 2024 screening is November 30, 2024.  Parents may request screening by accessing the online acknowledgement in the “Gifted and Talented” link located in the CFISD Parent Portal:

Visit: https://launchpad.classlink.com/cfisdparents

The link will open for submissions on Monday, Aug. 19, 2024.

Exiting from the HORIZONS Program
The District shall monitor student performance in response to gifted and talented program services. If at any time the selection committee or a parent determines it is in the best interest of the student to exit the program, the committee shall meet with the parent and student before finalizing an exit decision.

Students at the secondary level who enroll in K, AP, Dual Credit, or HORIZONS courses are expected to follow both entry and exit criteria established for these courses.
In order to re-enter the program, the student who has been administratively exited must be retested and qualify for the program by meeting the most current gifted/talented qualification standards. If a student has been administratively exited from the program, the student or his or her parent has the opportunity to request reassessment no more than one time in elementary school, one time in middle school, and one time in high school.

Furloughing from HORIZONS
The district may place on a leave of absence, or furlough, from the HORIZONS program any student who is unable to maintain satisfactory performance or whose educational needs are not being met within the structure of the gifted and talented program. A furlough may be initiated by the District, the parent, or the student. 

A student must be enrolled in a minimum of one HORIZONS course to be considered active in the program.

In cases of furlough, the student will not participate in any HORIZONS courses for a
specified reason(s) and for a specified period of time, yet the student will not be
removed from the program.

At the end of a furlough, the student may reenter the gifted and talented program, be placed on another furlough, or be exited from the program.

The identification process must be re‐initiated if a student exits the program.