At Albany County School District, we value the importance of early experiences for young children and know that access to high-quality early education can create the necessary foundation for future learning and development.

This year (2025-26) we will have two program options. Linford will have one class offered (Monday thru Friday, 8am-1pm) and Slade will offer two half-day classes (Monday thru Thursday, 8-11am and 12-3pm). Because we have limited enrollment, children will be admitted based on the Title 1 qualification criteria, with priority being given to qualifying families and children (please see application linked below).

For more information about program requirements and how to enroll please follow the link below!

The Albany County School District #1 GATE program is a magnet program serving students in third, fourth and fifth grades by providing differentiated instruction and an opportunity to interact with both ability-level and age-level peers. The goal of the program is to help gifted students thrive in their educational setting.

The teachers within the GATE program have experience and training that allows them to provide the students full-time, daily, challenging and meaningful instruction. Differentiation within the classes includes acceleration of content, curriculum compacting, increased depth of content, project-based learning and enrichment experiences. Learning experiences are integrated across content areas. In addition, these magnet classrooms have regularly scheduled Art, P.E., Music, Library and Computer Lab, and Guidance. They also receive purposefully designed, social/emotional guidance counseling to support their specific needs as gifted learners.

A typical day in the ACSD#1 GATE program includes hands-on, project based, integrated learning in language arts, mathematics, science and social studies. Science/Social Studies are given a full hour every day. Reading, writing, speaking and listening are integrated into all content areas. Fifth-grade students are given daily time to do independent, interest-based research projects where they determine the process, content and product (as well as audience) of their learning. The GATE classes go on frequent field trips and spend time in mixed-age groups every day.

The teachers in the GATE program start with the district-wide programs and state-wide curriculum standards, but they don’t end there. Academic content is improved or supplemented to help ALL the gifted students grow. A combination of differentiation, acceleration and enrichment is used. Students in the GATE program usually finish third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh-grade math over the course of the three years in the program. Time is also dedicated to Executive Functioning skills that will help our gifted learners succeed once they move on to middle school.

The GATE classes spend time with their same-age peers in regular education classes as well. Fifth-grade students attend Teton or Keystone Science School with the other fifth-grade classes. For this reason, the fifth grade teachers integrate all fifth-grade students frequently.

In addition to the academically rigorous environment of the GATE classes, students learn social skills and engage in service projects to develop mindfulness, empathy and kindness. Although it might seem that being in an environment with other high-ability learners might lead to a more homogenous class, the opposite is true. There is incredible diversity within the GATE classes, and that leads to empathy, tolerance and understanding with the support of purposeful teachers. Students serve the local community: volunteering time, work and funds to causes students care about and invest in.

The Dual Language Immersion program is currently house in Slade Elementary Schools.

Dual Language Immersion is a research-based, culturally-rich instructional experience where students will become bilingual, biliterate and global citizens. Proven benefits of DLI include second language skills, enhanced cognitive skills, increased cultural sensitivity, and improved performance on standardized tests.

There are two types of DLI programs: two-way immersion and one-way immersion. Two-way immersion occurs when 30-50 percent of students are native Spanish speakers. One-way immersion is predominantly native English speakers. In ACSD#1, we have one-way immersion program. Therefore, priority seats are given to native Spanish speakers who wish to be in the program.

In the DLI program, instruction is divided between two teachers (one English, one Spanish), that spend half their day with each group of students. In class, the Spanish teachers speaks only in Spanish, and teaches mathematics, Spanish language arts, and science. In the English classroom, students learn English language arts, social studies, and the reinforcement of mathematics knowledge and skills.