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AAA (Accelerated Academic Achievment)/GATE

The AAA program is one designed to provide differentiated curriculum for gifted and talented students. At Wagon Wheel School, The AAA program in effect for qualified children in grades 3-5.

Enrollment in the AAA classes is based primarily on test scores and is accomplished as objectively as can be. At Wagon Wheel School, we have a very large number of children who are gifted or are high achieving students. We have found that at this school the selection process must be fair to all.

Children are selected for the AAA classes according to criteria that is ranked in the following manner:

Group A: All children who qualify for the AAA program by passing the OLSAT or other eligible assessments. These Children are automatically eligible for the classes unless the program is declined by the parent.

Group B: Children in grades 2-4 who pass the fall CORE Level test at 90%ile or higher in Reading and Math AND take the OLSAT test AND achieve a high score on that test (usually between 85%ile and 94%ile). The percentiles vary each year with the number of spaces available in the classes.

Group C: Children who take the OLSAT test in the fee based setting AND get a high score (usually between 85%ile and 94%ile). The percentiles vary each year with the number of spaces available in the classes.

Group D: Children receiving lower scores on the CORE Level, OLSAT or are referred by a teacher. Very few children in this grouping are selected for the AAA classes as the groups above are regularly large at this school.

Most often, at Wagon Wheel School, the AAA classes are filled by children in groups A and B. The system is the only fair and equitable way of organizing these classes. Some children who are in the classes one year may not be placed in the AAA class the following year if test scores do not compare favorably with those in the top groups. The number of available spaces can change dramatically from year to year. If a child is placed in the AAA class one year there is no guarantee that this will continue unless the child is in Group A.