San Bernardino City Unified GATE testing and NNAT® guide.

GATE is San Bernardino City Unified'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.

This guide is written for San Bernardino City Unified School District (SBCUSD) parents who want to understand how the fall testing process works, what parent permission means in practice, and how to help a 3rd grader prepare calmly before the school-site testing window arrives.

What San Bernardino City Unified says about GATE testing

The district says all 3rd graders with parent permission participate in GATE testing at their school site in the fall of each school year. That single sentence carries two practical points: testing happens by grade level rather than by referral, and a signed permission form is what actually gets a child into the testing group, so a missed form can mean a missed test date.

The district also allows students who missed the school-site testing, or who are in a grade above 3rd, to be tested by parent request. In that case, testing happens at the district GATE office rather than the school, and families need to call ahead for a date and time. A student can take the GATE identification test no more than once per year.

The district says GATE identification typically uses two measures:

1. The Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT).
2. California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) scores, the state tests given in grades 3 and up.

SBCUSD's page does not publish a qualifying score, how the two measures are combined, or which NNAT edition is in use. Families should confirm those details with the school or the district GATE office.

If your child's test is the NNAT3, a 3rd grader is administered Level D, the level used for grades 3 and 4. Level D covers the same four question families as the earlier Level C, but with more answer choices and finer visual distinctions between them. For the differences between the two levels, see our guide to NNAT® Level C vs Level D.

Sample question

Try an NNAT® practice question

Choose the piece that continues every line and color across the empty window.

Listen

ABCDE

A real GateBuddy practice question.

Choose one of the five answers.

Choose an answer

Practice preview

Let your child see the format before test day.

GateBuddy introduces the visual reasoning formats used on the NNAT® through short, age-appropriate practice with clear explanations.

• Built around the four NNAT® question types
• An explanation after every answer: what changed and what stayed the same
• Short adaptive sets plus full, timed practice tests
• A live view so parents can follow along

Try free questions

Real GateBuddy practice questions, one of each NNAT® question type.

Why the permission form is the part families miss

In many districts, gifted screening happens automatically and a permission form is just paperwork. In San Bernardino City Unified, the form is the gate itself: a 3rd grader whose family has not returned it does not sit for the fall school-site test. That makes the permission slip functionally more urgent than the test date.

The practical fix is simple: ask the school office directly whether the GATE permission form has gone home yet, rather than waiting for it to surface in a backpack. If it has already passed and your child missed the window, the district-office retest-by-request option is the path back in.

What GATE gives your child in San Bernardino City Unified

The district describes two kinds of GATE services:

1. GATE Magnet Program, grades 4 to 6. Magnet classes at seven elementary schools (Bradley, Brown, Henry, Kimbark, North Park, Manuel Salinas, and Ramona-Alessandro) for students who went through GATE identification, taught by GATE-certified teachers.
2. GATE cluster classes, grades 4 to 8. At other elementary and middle schools, groups of GATE-identified students are placed together in a regular classroom so the teacher can adjust content and pace for them.

Services start in 4th grade, so the fall 3rd grade test is what opens the door to them. Programs differ by school, and the district asks families to contact their home school for site details.

Questions San Bernardino parents should ask

1. When will the 3rd grade GATE permission form go home, and when is it due back?
2. What exact date is our school administering the test?
3. If my child misses the school-site date, how do we schedule a make-up test at the district GATE office?
4. How are NNAT and CAASPP results combined, and what score or criteria does SBCUSD use to identify a student as GATE?
5. If my child qualifies, which GATE option is available for us: a magnet class or a cluster class at our school?
6. When is the magnet application or placement decision made for 4th grade?
7. How do we request testing at the GATE office for an older sibling who was never tested in 3rd grade?

Our broader questions to ask your school guide can help you turn those into one clear conversation with the office or program contact.

How to prepare effectively for the NNAT

The district does not publish prep guidance. Practice teaches your child what the questions look like and gives them ways to approach and think through them, so test day feels familiar instead of surprising. Short, calm, regular practice works best:

1. Learn the format first. Go through each of the four NNAT® question types, and after every question talk about the rule: what changed and what stayed the same, not just which answer is right. GateBuddy shows an explanation after every question that names the rule, and it can read instructions and explanations out loud, which helps a child who is still building reading skills or simply learns better by hearing it.
2. Practice 10 to 15 minutes a day, most days, starting months before the fall test if you can.
3. Spend extra time on the question type your child finds hardest. GateBuddy’s practice sets do this for you: each set of five leans toward the question types your child has seen least and adjusts how hard the next questions are based on recent answers. You can also pick one question type and a level (easy, medium, or hard) to work on a weak spot.
4. Take full, timed practice tests: at least two, and more is better. A full test is where your child learns pacing and how to work alone against a clock, the way test day works. Every GateBuddy plan includes eight full, timed NNAT® practice tests, so your child can take several along the way and still save the last two for the final few weeks as a dress rehearsal. While your child works on their own, GateBuddy’s Live View lets you follow along from your own phone: how many questions they have answered, the answer they just picked, and how many they have right so far. Your child gets the independence of test day, and you still see everything.

Our guide to how to prepare for the NNAT® gives a simple structure for that progression.