Parents, students urge Unionville-Chadds Ford to keep middle-school gifted English classes

Several parents, students and teachers pressed the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District on Thursday to preserve dedicated middle-school English instruction for gifted students rather than moving services into Hawk Time or relying on whole-class differentiation.

Elizabeth Crick, a parent and a secondary-school teacher who lives in Pennsbury Township, said the district’s plan places unreasonable expectations on teachers to meet gifted students’ needs through differentiation and asked the board to “do what’s right” and continue offering AT-level English classes so those students may “benefit meaningfully from the rate and manner of instruction” cited in Chapter 16.

Two seventh-graders who spoke — Sohanna and Naho (students in the AT literacy and nonfiction-writing courses) — described the pull-out classes as essential for accessing appropriate enrichment and peer challenge. “Putting us in regular classes based on grade level with differentiated instruction would probably bore us,” one student said, urging the board to preserve the current structure so future students have the same opportunities.

Parent speakers requested more transparent, data-driven decision-making. Priya Baraniak said she wanted to see outcome data and to be part of a collaborative process: “We’d like to participate in this process as much as we can as key stakeholders in the decisions that are being made.”

Evan Crick, another parent of a seventh grader, called the administration’s FAQ insufficient and warned that reducing pull-out gifted instruction from six days per cycle to two could constitute a “dismantling” of the program; he asked the board to halt the proposal and urged the district to hire a replacement gifted teacher lost to retirement.

Speakers repeatedly referenced Chapter 16 of state guidance on gifted education and requested evidence that proposed changes would meet students’ individualized education plans and legal requirements. Board members thanked parents and students for speaking and said the administration had heard their concerns and would discuss the topic further.

The board did not take a vote on the AT-program proposal at the meeting; directors encouraged one-on-one meetings with administrators for stakeholders who want further engagement.