Highly Capable Students WAC 392-170-036)
Those students who perform or show potential for performing at significantly advanced academic levels when compared with others of their age, experiences, or environments. Highly Capable students may possess, but are not limited to, these learning characteristics:
- Capacity to learn with unusual depth of understanding, to retain what has been learned, and to transfer learning to new situations;
- Capacity and willingness to deal with increasing levels of abstraction and complexity earlier than their chronological peers;
- Creative ability to make unusual connections among ideas and concepts;
- Ability to learn quickly in their area(s) of intellectual strength; and
- Capacity for intense concentration and/or focus.
Point of Contact:
Susan Heyer
Highly Capable/Professional Development Coordinator
Port Angeles School District
sheyer@portangelesschools.org
360-565-1966
Highly Capable Programs and Continuum of Services (WAC 392-170-075/078)
Grades 3-6 Self-Contained Program -
The Ridge
This is a self-contained program based at Dry Creek Elementary. It is a multi-age setting for students who have qualified in all domains. Teachers of this program have received professional development in gifted education and will have the freedom to design program and curriculum options that will stretch and challenge each learner, including district-approved curriculum. A self-contained setting allows not only for academic
growth, but also provides for the unique social and emotional needs of the gifted child.
Grades K-6 - English Language Arts OR Math
Students who qualify for services in one academic domain will receive services at their home school site. A plan will be devised for the students by the teaching team which may include, but not limited to, curriculum compacting, lesson differentiation, “walk to math/ reading," subject grade acceleration, independent projects, or clustering.
Grades 7 & 8 – Honors Courses
Students who qualify for Honors Math Courses, English Language Arts Courses, or both will be clustered together with a teacher trained in working with gifted adolescents. The course work will be enriched and accelerated with Honors Pre-Algebra for 7th and Honors Algebra (End of Course exam option) for 8th grade students. Language Arts curriculum will challenge students with diverse texts, complex topics that are designed to engage gifted adolescents, and materials that will include texts from the 8th grade (for 7th grade students) and 9th grade level for the 8th graders.
Notification of highly capable identification results will be mailed to parents and guardians during the first two weeks of May each year.