The Puyallup School District offers services for highly capable students K-12. Please see School Board Regulation 2190R for a full description.
Instructional Programs
K-2 Young Scholars: Identified students will engage in a pull-out enrichment program where they will have the opportunity to work with intellectual peers in a rigorous environment of discovery and exploration. The context of the enrichment will be literature and science, with an emphasis on vocabulary and the scientific process, with increasing complexity and practice in communicating the learning. The enrichment model allows for multi-age grouping and intellectual peer socialization.
3-6 QUEST: Serves highly capable students in grades three through six at eight elementary sites in the Puyallup School District. Regional QUEST classrooms are multi-age classrooms. Each of the host schools has a 3rd / 4th grade classroom and a 5th / 6th grade classroom or single grade classroom setting, depending on number of students enrolled and placed at each school. The QUEST classrooms feature specialized curriculum and instruction for highly capable students. They are differentiated by an increased intellectual rigor, accelerated pacing, an expectation of early content mastery, greater depth and exploration of content with structured inquiry. Students experience a two-year rotating curriculum designed for highly capable learners, which is at least one year above grade level.
7-9 PAGE: Each junior high school offers highly capable programming via acceleration, clustering and counseling. Honors and Pre-Advanced Placement coursework is offered in English/Language Arts, Social Studies and Mathematics. PAGE is the Puyallup School District’s cohort acceleration program housed at Kalles Junior High, Ferrucci Junior High and Stahl Junior High. PAGE is a choice program open only to students identified for the highly capable program by the Multidisciplinary Selection Committee.
Process for Appeal
Parents/legal guardians have the right to appeal the Multidisciplinary Selection Committee’s decision. Individuals appealing the selection committee’s decision must submit a completed appeal form or letter requesting review of selection/placement decision. The written request must include reasons for the appeal and, to support reconsideration, provide additional evidence of significantly advanced cognitive or academic levels and/or outstanding intellectual, academic, or creative abilities.
Appeals must be based upon one of the following conditions:
- A condition or circumstance believed to have caused a misinterpretation of the testing results. i.e., incorrect birthdate or grade level used in calculating the student’s score.
- An inequitable application of the identification procedures. i.e., the applicant’s proficiency with the English language.
- An extraordinary and temporary circumstance that negatively affected the validity of the test results. i.e., a traumatic event or physical distress immediately preceding the test.
The appeal request and supporting evidence must be submitted to the Puyallup School District, Office of Equity, Assessment and Highly Capable Programs Department, within ten (10) school days of the Multidisciplinary Selection Committee’s decision notification.
The district’s Appeals Committee will review the student’s file, assessment profile data, and additional evidence provided in the request for appeal. Appeals are reviewed by an Appeals Committee that consists of an Administrator, Psychologist, Principal, and Teacher. All submitted documents are closely and carefully reviewed. The Committee is looking for evidence that the results of the testing are not a true representation of the child's abilities.
The decision of the Appeals Committee may include:
- Upholding the original decision of the Multidisciplinary Selection Committee.
- Reversing the decision of the Multidisciplinary Selection Committee.
A decision will be made by the Appeals Committee within fifteen (15) school days after receipt of written request for reconsideration. The parent/legal guardian will be notified of the decision in writing.
The decision of the Appeals Committee is final.
Exit Process
The exit process may be initiated for students who no longer demonstrate a need for highly capable program services. A request may be made by a teacher or program administrator for highly capable student identification and placement discontinuation. The Multidisciplinary Selection Committee will convene a meeting to review the student’s profile to determine if the student qualifies for program services based on assessment data and selection criteria. The Multidisciplinary Selection Committee may request additional evidence of student capabilities and/or willingness to participate in the program. If the committee determines that the student no longer qualifies for highly capable program services, it may be recommended that the student be exited from the program. The parent will be notified in writing of the committee’s decision and of the appeal process.
A parent/legal guardian may request that the student be withdrawn, or a student of legal age may voluntarily withdraw from the program. A parent/legal guardian of a student identified as highly capable or a highly capable student of legal age may request a furlough from the program.Furloughed students may reenter the program at the beginning of the following school year. The Multidisciplinary Selection Committee will determine if identification procedures are necessary for exited students wishing to reenter the program in the future.