California uses the acronym GATE to stand for Gifted and Talented Education. GATE programs are designed specifically for gifted students and are approved by the state of California. Capistrano Unified School District uses the acronym AAA to stand for Accelerated Academic Achievement. This is the specific name given to our district’s gifted and talented program. All students identified as Gifted and Talented are part of CUSD’s AAA/GATE program.

At SJHHS, we encourage our AAA/GATE students to take rigorous classes where they will be challenged, examine curriculum with depth and complexity, and continue to develop higher level critical thinking skills.   If you have any questions about our AAA/GATE program please contact Miss Stress, our AAA/GATE Coordinator at dkstress@capousd.org. By clicking on the link to Miss Stress’s GATE Student page, you will have access to the GATE Student Locker, which contains files and links related to our AAA/GATE program.