PARIS – Gifted kids need nurturing, too.

That was a key point made by Jane Fahey, the new coordinator of SAD 17’s Gifted and Talented Program.

Fahey, the principal at Madison Avenue School in Oxford, told the district’s Board of Directors on Monday that all too often the social and emotional needs of academically gifted students in the district are ignored.

The assumption is made by teachers, she said, that “Oh, they’re smart, they’ll get it,” and so gifted students are often left to their own devices in the classroom and out, she said.

A recent evaluation was done of the gifted and talented program by Dr. Helen Nevitt, a gifted and talented instructor hired since the death of the district’s former coordinator Mark Otterson.

Nevitt said, “There is no evidence that counselors are prepared to work effectively with gifted students when those students do have problems.

Fahey said academically gifted students are often made fun of by their peers for their love of reading and studying, or their nonconformist tendencies. Without continued guidance and support when they reach middle and high school, she said, gifted students may falter.

“We have too many students who were identified as gifted who dropped out of high school or who are not taking honors courses. That’s not appropriate,” Fahey told the board.

In the coming year, Fahey said the gifted and talented teachers plan to work with incoming freshmen “so they don’t fall through the cracks.” Sometimes that means just an hour a week or extra attention by teachers with certification in education of gifted and talented students.

“We have expert teachers at the high school. What we need to do is be that guiding influence” to keep gifted students on the right track, Fahey said.

Another new initiative planned by the program is to bring together gifted students from different elementary schools for four or five days a month. She proposed they meet at the Madison Avenue School, since it is centrally located.

“These are kids that are going to be together all through their school years” and could benefit from early interaction and support from their gifted peers, she said.

Board member Elizabeth Swift asked Fahey what was being done about the “talent” end of the program. Fahey said the focus now is to strengthen the academic side of the program. But state law requires the district also identify and provide services to students with a high achievement potential in the arts, and that attention would be given to that end of the program the following year.