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REACH- Profoundly Gifted

2 young girl students working together at a desk

REACH – Profoundly Gifted (Grades 1-8)

The Madison School district provides a self-contained accelerated program for those students who are profoundly gifted known as REACH (Rigorous, Enriched, Accelerated Curriculum for the Highly Gifted).

The REACH program for students in grades 1-4 is located at Madison Heights Elementary and for students in grades 5-8 at Madison No. 1 Middle School.

REACH students receive curriculum two grade levels ahead and may earn one year of High School Foreign Language credit.

This program provides highly gifted students in grades 1-8 the opportunity to function at an academic level that is commensurate with their abilities, while having the opportunity to interact socially with students who have similar interests and academic needs.

Students receive a daily Spanish class, develop a differentiated educational plan (DEP) in an area of interest that is researched and reported on in both oral and written presentations, and take a class field trip such as to Catalina Island Marine Institute, AstroCamp, Pali Institute, etc.

REACH classes are taught by highly qualified appropriately certified teachers who have or are working on their gifted endorsement.

To qualify for the REACH program, students must meet one of the following criteria:

  1. Composite of 99th percentile on the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT). The CogAT consists of three different batteries, Verbal, Quantitative and Nonverbal. None of the three scores can be below 90th percentile.
  2. Full scale score of 139 or higher on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC)
  3. Full scale score of 142 or higher on the Stanford Binet.

Additionally, potential REACH students are now required to be assessed in reading and math using the District’s internal benchmark program, Northwest Evaluation Association/Measures of Academic Progress® (MAP®). Students must achieve the following MAP® scores:

  • Grades 1 and 2- Reading: A passing score on the district’s reading assessment.
  • Grades 3 – 8 Math: 80th percentile or higher; Reading 80th percentile or higher.