Highly Capable Program

Mission

The mission of Rochester School District is to prepare students for lifelong learning, rewarding careers and productive citizenship by embracing accountability, adaptability, and academic excellence.

What is the Highly Capable Program?

The Rochester Highly Capable Program is a continuum of services for identified students to provide advanced curricula as well as support their social and emotional needs. These services range from teacher consultation within the regular classroom to pull-out and or extended day services.

What is the definition of a highly capable student?

Highly capable students are 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 student’s 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;
  3. Creative ability to make unusual connections among ideas and concepts;
  4. Ability to learn quickly in their area(s) of intellectual strength; and
  5. Capacity for intense concentration and/or focus.
Highly Capable Referral and Screening

Teachers, parents, or community members may refer students for highly capable services. Referrals are accepted anytime; however, assessment and placement will occur according to set timelines.
Referrals must be received at the District Office by the end of the first quarter for screening, assessment, and placement to occur by 2nd semester.
Referrals for the upcoming school year must be received by the District Office before mid-winter break (February). Screening and assessment will occur in the spring, with placement for the following school year.