Highly Capable Program Referrals

Beacon Elementary is offering the Highly Capable Program for students in grades K-3 for the 2015-16 school year. If you would like to refer a student for this program, please complete the referral form and return it to the school office by September 23, 2015. 

Click Here for the Hi-Cap Referral Form

Following recent changes in state law, the program will identify and serve approximately 1-3% of the students in each grade level at Beacon Elementary. The Hi-Cap program emphasizes problem solving and higher level thinking skills, social interaction with peers, and development of independent work habits.

WAC definition of Highly Capable:
Students who perform or show potential for performing at significantly advanced
academic levels when compared with others of their age, experiences, or
environments. Outstanding abilities are seen within students’ general intellectual
aptitudes, specific academic abilities, and/or creative productivities within a
specific domain. These students are present not only in the general populace, but
are present within all protected classes.

Students who are highly capable may possess, but are not limited to, these
learning characteristics:

1. Capacity to learn with unusual depth of understanding, to retain what has been learned, and to transfer learning to new situations
2. Capacity and willingness to deal with increasing levels of abstraction and complexity earlier than their chronological peers
3. Creative ability to make unusual connections among ideas and concepts
4. Ability to learn quickly in their area(s) of intellectual strength
5. Capacity for intense concentration and/or focus 

Referral forms are available in the school office or by clicking on the link above. Referred students will be evaluated for the Hi-Cap program using a standardized test, teacher recommendation, and a compilation of student achievement data including state and school assessments. The evaluation data is then weighted and a final score is assigned. Parent permission is needed to release students from class to participate in the testing.

If you have any further questions about the program, please contact Julie Aldrich, Highly Capable Program Coordinator, at 249-4331.