Academic Programming
Aspen Ridge is a public charter school serving kindergarten through 8th grade, with a private preschool program. View our Curriculum Resources here, and see below for details on our Gifted and Talented programming and our Intervention programming.
Gifted and Talented
Aspen Ridge follows the St. Vrain Valley School District gifted and talented programming mission
"To educate each gifted/talented student in a safe learning environment so that they may develop to their highest potential and become contributing citizens. Gifted students will make academic growth commensurate with their abilities, due to their involvement in appropriately rigorous and challenging educational opportunities responsive to their individual strengths and needs."
Aspen Ridge Preparatory School follows the School Cluster Grouping Model (SCGM). As stated in The Cluster Grouping Handbook:
"In the SCGM, all gifted children at each grade level are clustered together into an otherwise mixed-ability classroom with a designated gifted-cluster teacher. Gifted-cluster teachers provide individualized instruction or extended and accelerated learning opportunities as determined by the needs of the student. Gifted-cluster teachers receive specialized, ongoing training in the areas of gifted education and differentiated instruction - special teaching strategies for modifying curriculum content, pace, process, products, and learning environment to meet individual gifted students' needs. This training prepares the teachers with an understanding of how gifted children learn and gives them the tools they need to provide appropriate teaching strategies for their gifted students. The school's [gifted site leader] serves as a resource and support to the gifted-cluster teacher. [...] This service model allows us to provide full-time services for your child and other gifted students without the interruption of out-of-class programs."
Intervention
Intervention (also known as tutoring) takes place four days per week, during the school day, in groups of three to five students. Led by certified, highly qualified math and reading teacher specialists, we call this FLEX time for all Kindergarten through 5th grade students, and Academic Lab for all 6th-8th grade students. By embedding this dedicated time into the school day, we are ensuring that students can still have a “work-life balance” by participating in sports and other after-school activities, and that the intervention is aligned with core classroom instruction. Students are regularly assessed and results are regularly analyzed to ensure we are getting the results we are looking for so that our specialists are able to give students the targeted, individualized support they need. Additionally, we evaluate our programming ongoingly to ensure that our instruction and practices are working for our students, adjusting it accordingly as seen fit.