Philosophy: The mission of the Northbrook District 28 schools is to provide a teaching, learning and caring environment where all children benefit from a commitment to excellence. Recognizing and valuing the gifts and talents of all of our children, the Excel program is designed to meet the specific needs of the intellectually gifted and academically talented students in order to help them realize their contributions to self and society.

The purpose of the Excel program is to meet the needs of both the intellectually gifted and academically talented students. These students have been identified by qualified personnel and require differentiated programs and/or services beyond those normally provided by the regular school program in order to be academically challenged.

All children receive enrichment and extension in critical and creative thinking skills from the EXCEL Program within the regular classroom.

Definition:Intellectually gifted students possess a consistent aptitude for higher level thinking and the ability to process complex information significantly beyond age mates. These children form divergent connections and in general learn differently from their peers.

Academically talented students achieve and perform significantly above grade level. While they learn concepts similarly to their peers, the pace of their learning is quicker and the quality of their product consistently exceed standard expectation.

Identification Process:  Identification has no deadline.  Children grow and develop unpredictably over time.  Classroom teachers and EXCEL Coordinators are involved in an ongoing process of collecting diagnostic information about students.

If parents feel their child may be a candidate for a more rigorous curriculum but has not been identified by the screening process, they may submit an EXCEL Parent Referral Form to their building Principal.  A Review Committee, composed of a teacher representative from each building, one administrator and the EXCEL Coordinators, will review all data and student work and will render a decision on appropriate placement. 

If a student is identified as needing more rigorous challenge provided by the EXCEL Program, the student will continue in the program unless it is determined through the review process that the student's needs would be more appropriately met in the regular classroom.   

Excel Committee:  Stay current on best practices in gifted education, design and support procedures, create a written plan, evaluate effectiveness, advocate and market the program, suggest and present changes in the program as needed, ask questions, communicate with school and community members.

The EXCEL Committee is composed of parents, teachers, EXCEL coordinators, administrators and Board of Education members for the purpose of advising and supporting the EXCEL Program.

EXCEL Language Arts

Identification: The needs of intellectually gifted and academically talented students are evaluated using a matrix of standardized test data, professional evaluation, and student work.  Advanced academic needs of Kindergarten - 5th grade students will be addressed through the classroom teacher with support from the EXCEL Language Arts Coordinator.  Identification for the 6th grade EXCEL Language Arts class occurs in 5th grade.

Program Approach: Instructional plans developed collaboratively by the classroom teacher and EXCEL Coordinator to provide differentiation in the classroom for those students whose academic needs significantly exceed the grade level curriculum.

Extension materials, strategies, and ideas supplied to teachers to further differentiate within the classroom.

Whole class lessons of critical and creative thinking skills provided to Kindergarten through 5th grade in the regular classroom.

EXCEL Math

Identification: The needs of intellectually gifted and academically talented students in Mathematics will be evaluated using a matrix of standardized test data, professional evaluation, and student work.  Identification for EXCEL Math occurs at the end of 2nd grade.

Program Approach:  Direct instruction provided for those students identified with academic needs which significantly exceed the grade level curriculum.  EXCEL students in grade 3 receive grade level math instruction in their classroom and two 30 minute math enrichment classes per week.

  4th and 5th grade EXCEL students attend daily classes of 50-60 minutes of more rigorous and faster paced mathematics in lieu of regular classroom instruction. 

Needs of children with math strengths in the regular classroom addressed through collaborative efforts of the classroom teacher and the EXCEL Math Coordinator.

Whole class math enrichment lessons, stressing critical and creative thinking, provided to Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade in the regular classroom.