Fall 2026 

Friends of PAGE,

As we head back to school, there is always a familiar sense of anticipation in the air—a fresh start filled with new possibilities. Opening a new school year always brings me back to one of my core beliefs for PAGE: we all need to work together to support gifted learners. Whether we are educators, parents, advocates, or community leaders, we are all going back to school together with a shared mission and a vital responsibility.

In gifted education, it’s easy to get caught up in numbers. They’re everywhere: IQ scores, assessment cutoffs for identification under Chapter 16, and all the different ways we try to measure and define giftedness.

I believe it is time for us to step back and take a wider view of gifted education, our gifted learners, and their place in the world ahead. To put it simply: gifted learners are our future. They are our future researchers and teachers. Our future community leaders, innovators, and artists.

If we want to prepare these students to shape that future, we must look beyond entry-level qualification scores and commit to providing true depth and complexity in their learning. Gifted education cannot be about doing “more of the same”; it must be about offering the rich, challenging, and differentiated learning experiences that allow these students to thrive.

Yet, amid all the metrics and data in education today, there remains one critical number that demands our collective focus: 0.

That is the amount of dedicated state funding allocated for gifted education in Pennsylvania. Although Chapter 16 mandates gifted services, it remains an unfunded mandate. Without direct financial support, districts struggle to provide the resources, training, and oversight needed to support our students equitably.

We need your voice to change that number. I encourage you to use PAGE’s Legislative 1-Pager and Speaking Notes to reach out to your local lawmakers. Remind them that investing in gifted education isn’t just a line item—it’s an investment in Pennsylvania’s future leaders.

We can’t do this important work without our parent community. Parents are an essential part of the conversation around gifted education, and there is so much we can learn from one another.

At the upcoming PAGE Annual Conference in Harrisburg, we’re creating opportunities for educators, families, and advocates to connect, share ideas, and learn together. We invite parents to join us, connect with experts and fellow families, build relationships with educators, and come away with practical ideas and tools to support your child’s learning, both at school and at home.

Because supporting gifted learners is something we do best when we do it together.

Together, as parents, teachers, and advocates, we can ensure our gifted learners receive the depth, complexity, and funding they deserve.

Thank you for your continued support, dedication, and advocacy. Wishing you all a wonderful and inspiring start to the school year!

Warm regards,

Dave Mendell