Middle School Highly Capable Services

Middle School Challenge

* Please note Challenge is being phased out and is only open to highly capable identified students who were in Challenge classrooms in previous years. 

Highly capable middle school students are grouped or "clustered" together in classrooms in English Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies courses that support standards based instruction and grading. Teachers differentiate the instruction to deepen and extend learning when appropriate, and students work and learn as a part of a diverse peer group. In Middle School Challenge, students approach learning from multiple perspectives and are given opportunities to grapple with a more complex understanding of grade level standards. The curriculum is the same as the rest of the students at their grade level.

For math course options and information please refer to our Secondary Math Pathways.

Earned Honors

Earned Honors is available for all students in grades 6-8 in Social Studies, Science, and English Language Arts courses offered at Cascade, Chinook, Glacier, Highline Virtual Academy, Pacific, and Sylvester.

Students do not need to formally declare their interest in Earned Honors, rather teachers communicate with students about their progress towards grade level standards.

Teachers provide differentiated instruction to allow students to find appropriate challenge and deepen the learning for those who are meeting standards and showing potential to benefit from enhanced work based on their strengths and learning needs.

Earned Honors will be noted in the report card comment section when students complete and demonstrate proficiency at exceeding a standard. Students can earn the notation in one or more standards for the grading period.