Early Access
General Information
▪ The Colorado Exceptional Children’s Act (ECEA) and District 49 School Board Policy IHBB, allows highly gifted students, who do not meet the age requirement for enrollment into kindergarten or first grade, to apply for Early Access into school.
▪ House Bill 1021 stipulates that districts may count in their enrollment and receive State Educational Funds for highly advanced gifted students who meet the criteria established by Colorado.
▪ The district must abide by the rules promulgated by the State Board of Education.
▪ The district may charge a reasonable fee for the Early Access process.
▪ District responsibilities:
o Provide early access information to parents
o Educate teaching staff and community about Early Access
Definition
Early Access is defined as a highly gifted four-year-old child entering kindergarten, or a five-year-old entering first grade. A highly gifted child is defined as a gifted child whose body of evidence demonstrates a profile
of exceptional ability or potential compared to same-age children. A child may be identified as gifted, but still not qualify for Early Access. To meet the needs of highly advanced development, early access to educational services may be considered as a special provision.
Early entrance into school is regarded as a form of acceleration. The decision to accelerate a child can have a profound effect on the child’s academic and social performance for the remainder of his/her school career. Therefore, District 49 adheres to a thorough set of research-based procedures to determine if a child is eligible for Early Access. Please remember that this is not a test for kindergarten or 1st grade readiness, this is a test to determine if your child is highly gifted.
Contact Information:
Office of Gifted Education:
3850 Pony Tracks Drive
Colorado Springs, CO 80922
Gifted Education Coordinator:
Mrs. Diane Neff
Phone: 719.494.8960
Email: diane.neff@d49.org
Early Access Team Members
Members of the Early Access team will consist of the following professionals:
▪ D49 Gifted Education Coordinator
▪ D49 Gifted Education resource specialist
▪ Primary School Teacher
▪ Psychologist
▪ Other members as deemed appropriate
General Information
▪ The Colorado Exceptional Children’s Act (ECEA) and District 49 School Board Policy IHBB, allows
highly gifted students, who do not meet the age requirement for enrollment into kindergarten or first
grade, to apply for Early Access into school.
▪ House Bill 1021 stipulates that districts may count in their enrollment and receive State Educational
Funds for highly advanced gifted students who meet the criteria established by Colorado.
▪ The district must abide by the rules promulgated by the State Board of Education.
▪ The district may charge a reasonable fee for the Early Access process.
▪ District responsibilities:
o Provide early access information to parents
o Educate teaching staff and community about Early Access
Definition
Early Access is defined as a highly gifted four-year-old child entering kindergarten, or a five-year-old entering
first grade. A highly gifted child is defined as a gifted child whose body of evidence demonstrates a profile
of exceptional ability or potential compared to same-age children. A child may be identified as gifted, but
still not qualify for Early Access. To meet the needs of highly advanced development, early access to
educational services may be considered as a special provision.
Early entrance into school is regarded as a form of acceleration. The decision to accelerate a child can have a
profound effect on the child’s academic and social performance for the remainder of his/her school career.
Therefore, District 49 adheres to a thorough set of research-based procedures to determine if a child is eligible
for Early Access. Please remember that this is not a test for kindergarten or 1st grade readiness, this is a
test to determine if your child is highly gifted.
Dispute of Findings
Parent/Guardian disputes may be made in writing stating reasons for dispute within five days of the most recent step completed in the Early Access Process.
▪ Meeting between D49 Gifted Education Coordinator and parents/guardians to review data is scheduled. Resolution achieved.
▪ If no resolution, meeting between Executive Director of Individualized Education and parent/guardians is scheduled. Resolution achieved.
Non-acceptance:
No further application for Early Access will be considered at any other school or institution within the school district. Student files are transferred to the receiving school within District 49 for instructional programming for the appropriate year and grade. All testing materials and results become the property of District 49.