Bellflower Unified School District GATE testing and NNAT® guide.

GATE is Bellflower Unified School District’s Gifted and Talented Education program. The NNAT® is the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test, a visual reasoning assessment that uses shapes and patterns instead of reading passages, vocabulary, or math computation. BUSD uses the third edition, the NNAT3.

This guide is for BUSD families who want a clear picture of when testing happens, how students are identified, and what GATE looks like after identification.

What Bellflower Unified says about GATE testing

All 2nd graders are screened as part of the district’s universal screening program unless a parent does not give permission or opts out. The test is taken online on Chromebooks, and students have 30 minutes to answer 48 questions.

Testing is not the only path. Teachers, administrators, or parents can nominate a student who shows exceptional performance for the GATE Referral Process, and the nomination can be based on standardized academic data or academic testing. The district’s nomination section covers grades 3-6.

BUSD identifies students in five categories: intellectual ability (measured with the NNAT3), high achievement, specific academic ability, advanced band, and performing arts. After screening or referral, the district looks at academic work such as report card grades and SBAC scores. Parents of identified students receive a letter explaining the student’s status and how they qualified.

What happens after identification

Once identified in BUSD, the GATE designation stays through grade 12, and students do not lose it if they skip a year of participation. Students identified in another district keep GATE status when they enroll, so share prior placement and aptitude scores with your new school.

Identified students are invited to the GATE Enrichment Program: six-week after-school classes in the second and third trimesters, on Tuesdays or Thursdays from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Registration is first come, first served through a Google Form your child’s teacher shares, and district transportation is not provided.

Questions Bellflower Unified parents should ask

1. When will my child’s school give the NNAT3 this spring?
2. How do we opt out, or confirm my child is on the testing list?
3. What NNAT3 result, or combination of measures, leads to identification?
4. If my child is not identified in 2nd grade, how do we request a referral in grades 3-6?
5. When will identification letters go out?
6. Which enrichment classes will be offered this year, and when does registration open?

Our broader questions to ask your school guide can help you turn those into one clear conversation with the teacher, GATE coordinator, or principal.

How to prepare without adding pressure

Because BUSD tests near the end of the school year, there is time to build familiarity slowly. The district notes that students do not need to prepare and that there are no official workbooks, so keep any practice light. Keep practice short and calm: about 10 to 15 minutes a day is plenty for a young child. Start with format familiarity, showing your child the kinds of shape and pattern puzzles the NNAT® uses, then talk through the reasoning after each question instead of only marking it right or wrong.

Once the format feels familiar, add at least two full timed practice tests so pacing on test day is not a surprise. Practice will not change a child’s underlying ability, but it can make the format and the time limit feel less strange. Our guide to how to prepare for the NNAT® lays out that progression in more detail.