During the 2014-15 school year, kindergarten and first-grade students identified as highly capable will be eligible for services, due to changes in Washington state law. During the first half of the year, highly capable kindergarten and first-grade students will be identified. Those students who meet the criteria will receive services during the second semester of the 2014-15 school year.

These services extend the district’s highly capable programs that serve students from grades two through 12. Those programs will continue to serve students next year, with no changes.

Kindergarten students will be identified through a nomination and testing process. Parents may nominate their students through an online application during the normal Quest highly capable program application window, which is Oct. 1-30. Students will be tested on a Saturday in the fall; the date will be announced by the start of the next school year. Those students who qualify will receive highly capable services in their home school during the second semester of the school year. They will continue to receive those services in their home school through first grade.

All students in first grade in Lake Washington School District (LWSD) elementary schools are tested in the fall to determine if they qualify for services as a highly capable student. That test has been the first step in identifying students who are placed in full-time and pull-out Quest in second grade. Starting next year, it will also be used to identify first-grade students who will receive highly capable services in their home schools in second semester.

Parents of students who live in LWSD but attend private schools may also nominate their kindergarten and first-grade students for testing. They will be able to nominate their students during the Quest application window, Oct. 1-30.

More information concerning testing dates and services will be available on the district’s website in August.