Terraset ES offers students all levels of Advanced Academic Programs (AAP), including full-time Level IV options for grades 3-6.

FCPS offers a continuum of services for elementary students to meet their current academic needs. The continuum of services supports the two main goals of the Advanced Academic Programs Office:

• Talent Development
• Meeting the Needs of the Advanced Learner

Access to Rigor: Grades K-6 – All students receive lessons in critical and creative thinking strategies and some AAP curriculum lessons.

Subject Specific: Grades K-6 – Identified students receive AAP curriculum lessons in the general education setting in areas of academic strength.

Part-Time: Grades 3-6 – Identified students receive AAP curriculum lessons in more than one academic content area. The Advanced Academic Resource Teacher (AART) and classroom teacher leads these lessons. Programming has increased depth and complexity in several content areas.

Full-Time: Grades 3-8 – Identified students receive AAP curriculum lessons full-time. Programming has increased depth, complexity, and pace in all academic content areas.

Terraset Local Level IV program

Terraset ES has an established Local Level IV Advanced Academic program with AAP classrooms in grades 3 – 6.

Terraset's Local Level IV program provides an important option for advanced learners who need the challenge of a full-time AAP center curriculum and do not want to leave their local school.

The Level IV Center for Terraset ES is located at Sunrise Valley ES.

Teachers in both settings are trained in teaching strategies for advanced students and teach the same advanced academic curriculum to students who are ready for a highly challenging instructional program in the four core subject areas.

The main difference is in the make-up of the class. All of the students in full-time, center-based classes at Sunrise Valley have been identified as center-eligible by a central selection committee and will be coming from several neighborhood schools to comprise the center class. In a Local Level IV classroom at Terraset ES, the student body is a mix of students who are center-eligible and high achieving students who are capable of working at advanced levels, all enrolled in the local school. 

Testing 

The Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT) is administered to all FCPS 1st grade students in the fall. In the fall, the CogAT-Custom Form is administered to all FCPS 2nd grade students. During the fall testing cycle, the NNAT and/or Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) may be administered to students in grades 3-6 who do not have an ability test score and to those students whose parents have exercised a 1-time request to have their child retested in an abilities test.

An initial second-grade universal screener referral for AAP Level IV is established using the test results from first and second grade testing. Parents of students referred by the universal screener receive a letter notifying them that their child will automatically be included in screening for the full-time advanced academic program. 

Referrals for Full-Time AAP

Students who have not been identified by the universal screener will not receive notification from the county. 

Parents or guardians of students not in the 2nd grade screening pool may initiate the full-time AAP screening process by completing and submitting an Advanced Academic Programs Referral Form to the Advanced Academic Resource Teacher. Forms are available on the FCPS website (link below) and in the Parent Information Packet.

Young Scholars

Terraset ES also participates in the Young Scholars initiative, which is designed to find and nurture advanced academic potential in students from historically underrepresented populations. Curricular interventions and support are provided through the collaboration of the classroom teacher and the Advanced Academic Resource Teacher.  As students progress through elementary and secondary school, continuing support and opportunities for accessing rigorous coursework are provided by school staff.