The application period for students currently in grade 5 is opening March 29 and will end on Tuesday, April 10th, 2012.
The application period for students currently in grades 6 and 7 is opening March 29 and will end on Tuesday, April 10th, 2012.
Copy of letter sent home with students to parents of 5th grade students - This letter was sent home on March 29.
Copy of letter sent home with students to parents of 6th and 7th grade students - This letter was sent home on March 29.
Highly capable students are often able to perform at remarkably elevated levels. However, for some highly capable students, there is lack of alignment between school performance and ability. All of these students exhibit high performance capability in intellectual, creative, and/or academic areas. The needs of many highly capable students can be met in the regular classroom. Yet, a differentiated program of instruction that occurs out of the regular classroom is required to meet the unique needs of some of these students. It is the goal of the Chariho Middle School Program for Highly Capable Students to challenge all highly capable students to perform at their individual maximums.
The Chariho Middle School Program for Highly Capable Students provides two distinct avenues of out-of-the classroom differentiated instruction. A project-based learning experience is offered at the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grade levels. Students must commit to rigorous and long-term guided research. Students are pulled out of their academic classes three times per week to attend class-based research classes in the library. Students in the fall 7th and 8th grade research program work in a group to create a documentary about a community or societal issue they identify. The documentary is submitted to a C-SPAN competition. Examples of two documentaries are included below (swine flu and immigration).
At the seventh and eighth grade levels, students also have the choice of enrolling in a Virtual High School course with a daily pullout program. Virtual High School courses offer challenging online courses with content generally encountered at the high school level.
At all grade levels, the Chariho Middle School Program for Highly Capable Students seeks to identify students who:
- Have high intellectual, academic and creative thinking capability
- Require out-of-the-classroom differentiated instruction
- Need an intellectual peer group for inspired learning
Students will be selected for the Highly Capable Program based upon the following criteria:
- Teacher referral, parent referral or student essay (see below)
- Academic performance
- State assessment performance (NECAP scores)
- RTI measures
- Need for an out-of-the-classroom differentiated program
Students or parents can submit an application to the program via a student essay OR a Parent Referral Form. Students or parents must apply each year to be considered for these opportunities. Teachers may also refer students to the program. When a teacher refers a student to the program, a student essay or parent referral form is not required. If your child would like to be considered for the program, complete either the essay or parent referral form. Do not assume your child's teacher will refer your child to the program.
- Student Essay: Students must complete a typed one paragraph response to why they want to participate in the Highly Capable Program
OR - Parents can complete the Parent Referral Form
Chariho Middle School also provides an opportunity to participate in Virtual High School. This is available only to 7th and 8th grade students. Students successful in the fall semester VHS course will be offered continued participation. Students considering taking a VHS course, should go to the VHS website http:www.govhs.org. When they on the site they can complete the VHS Pre-Student Survey Questionnaire (click on the “Info For” tab and then follow the link for “students”) to determine how suited they may be for VHS. Look for the link for “VHS Catalog” on the “Welcome” tab and check out “High School Courses for Middle School Students” to find out what courses are available. Take the time to explore the link for “Day in the Life” (under the “Welcome” tab) and follow the link for “student”. On average, students spend five to six hours a week in addition to the one hour they are pulled from classes each day to successfully complete a VHS course.