Deadline nears for highly capable program

Published 9:53 am Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Time is running out for parents who want to enroll their children in Bainbridge schools’ highly capable program.

The Bainbridge Island School District is accepting referrals for the program through Friday, Oct. 23. Parents, teachers or community members may recommend qualified students in grades 1 to 12 by completing the paperwork online at www.bisd303.org.

The referral window for kindergarten students will be in December.

The application consists of a nomination form, which captures basic biographical information, and a parent rating scale, in which parents are asked to rank their child in 15 measures, such as persuasiveness, resourcefulness and maturity, compared to their peers.

The first week of November, nominated students will have the opportunity to take a CogAT screening test at their school. Those scoring in the 92nd percentile or above will be invited to take the full CogAT examination.

After testing is complete, a multi-disciplinary team will review all the cognitive data, academic achievement information and parent, teacher and student rating scales to determine eligibility for the program.

In the third week of November, parents will be notified of the team’s decision and services for identified students will be initiated.

Highly capable students are students who perform or show potential for performing at significantly advanced academic levels when compared to others of the same age, experiences or environments. Students already identified as highly capable in BISD do not need to be re-tested.

For additional information, contact the certificated staff member at your school or Jeff McCormick, jmccormick@bisd303.org. Paper copies of the forms are available at local schools.