Portola Highly-Gifted Magnet
Portola Highly-Gifted Magnet (HGM) Develops Learners Who are Ready to Lead the World….
Highly gifted learners maximize their potential as they experience all that Portola Charter and HGM have to offer. Portola HGM is the only highly-gifted middle school magnet in LAUSD. Exceptional, creative educators design curriculum and field experiences for these outstanding learners.
Meet Our HGM Virtual Tour Ambassadors….
My time in the HGM has been both fun and enriching. Through this program, I have been able to expand my knowledge of every subject, especially in science. Since my sixth-grade year, I have been part of a tight-knit learning community, where we have discussed marine biology and the issues that climate change poses to our fragile environment. I have also brought this knowledge to Model United Nations conferences and our Science Fair, both challenging yet rewarding experiences available to HGM students. Our program connects every subject and emphasizes the importance of collaboration and independent thinking. Through this program, I have made so many friends and created so many awesome memories.
At Portola HGM, teachers will first tell you one thing: that they're not teaching you just content, but also how to think. At first, I thought I could think perfectly well, but the teachers at Portola showed so many of us how to expand our horizons more than I ever thought one could. Every HGM student here has high potential, and this school knows exactly how to grow it. Gaspar de Portola's HGM program has truly changed and impacted my life in the most positive way it could. This school offers a multitude of extracurriculars (MathCounts, Leadership, MUN, etc.) and some of the BEST electives, from robotics to science bowl. However, one of my favorites is Model UN. This extracurricular did change how I think. It helped me advance in public speaking and more. Still, one of the most impactful things MUN has taught me is a new way to see the world. In the end, Portola HGM is Hot, Great, and Majestic.
I have been in the Portola HGM for two years, and without it, I would never be so smart. In 7th grade history, I learned not just about world history, but how to learn and think (not that I couldn’t think before, but now I can think better). I have learned about history at a deeper level so that I truly understand it, and not just memorize it. Even though the HGM is for children with a high potential, this potential could never become realized without teachers at this school. Finally, learning history is actually fun, because back in elementary school, I thought it was boring, but now, I find it something worth learning about. I actually pay attention which means that I now know when the camels come: when the weather cools…