Jurupa Unified School District GATE testing and NNAT® guide.

GATE is Jurupa 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. JUSD uses the third edition, the NNAT3.

This guide is for JUSD families in Jurupa Valley and Eastvale who want to know when screening happens and how referrals work.

What Jurupa Unified says about GATE testing

The assessment calendar names universal NNAT3 screening for 2nd graders, plus students who have been referred. JUSD’s own GATE pages describe the referral side: teachers, administrators, or parents and guardians can refer a student, and the family signs a Permission to Assess form and returns it to the school.

Parents who want to refer their child can use the district’s Parent Recommendation Form. It asks about academic achievement, talents such as creativity, leadership, the arts, or fast progress in a second language, and a checklist of behavior traits, with supporting documents attached.

The Permission to Assess form says families will be notified if the child qualifies once testing and scoring are complete. JUSD does not publish a qualifying score, a results date, or a retest rule, so those are good questions for your school’s GATE coordinator.

What GATE looks like in JUSD

The district describes GATE as differentiated instruction in the regular classroom for students who need more advanced work, plus extension programs at the school and district levels. Each school has a GATE coordinator, and a District GATE Advisory Council gives parents a voice in the program.

Questions Jurupa Unified parents should ask

1. Will my 2nd grader test in the fall window or the spring window?
2. Do we need to sign anything for universal screening, or only for a referral?
3. What NNAT3 result, or combination of measures, leads to identification?
4. When and how will we hear results?
5. If my child is not identified, can they be referred and tested again later?
6. Who is the GATE coordinator at our school?

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

With a fall window starting October 19, families have only a few weeks, so start gently now. 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.