Early Access Family Information

Early Access is the early entrance to kindergarten or first grade for highly-advanced gifted children under the age of six.  Early Access is a form of full-grade acceleration and occurs at the beginning of a child’s school career.  Children for whom Early Access is appropriate are exceptionally precocious and need access to school earlier than their same-age peers.  Academic achievement, reasoning ability, curiosity, and motivation are profound for these children, even when compared to other gifted children.

The purpose of Early Access is to identify and serve the few highly-advanced gifted children who require comprehensive academic acceleration.  Early Access is not an acceleration pattern recommended for the majority of gifted children ages 4 and 5.  Regular public or private preschools or home schooling meet the needs of the majority of gifted 4 and 5 year olds.

• More than average sharing and helping behaviors.  Young gifted children are highly sensitive to the needs of others, including children of different ages, adults, and strangers.
• Early development of exceptional verbal ability.  These children often have an extensive vocabulary and show agile use of language at age 2.  They recite poetry and songs.  These children also read and show interest in a wide-range of books, including fiction and nonfiction.
• Early development of mobility.  These children begin crawling, standing unassisted, walking, and riding a bicycle earlier than their similar-age peers.
• Discuss problems, rules, and goals to a greater extent than similar-age peers.
• Demonstration of complex reasoning skills.  Young gifted children show the ability to remember multi-step directions and sophisticated information.  They are also fascinated with numbers.
• Show evidence of pre-logical thinking, creativity, discomfort with ambiguity, and spontaneous incorporation of academic activities into free play.
• Quick learning, self-directed, and highly energetic.
• Very observant in regards to their environment.  These children will notice details others tend to ignore and have a heightened sense of curiosity.
• Have a vivid imagination and a great sense of humor.  Young gifted children often enjoy puns and wordplay.
• Demonstrate periods of intense concentration and are able to attend to tasks for longer periods of time than same-age peers.

Families begin the Early Access process by completing an application and submitting a portfolio of student work samples.  District personnel will review the application materials and portfolio.  The parent/guardian and child will also meet with district personnel to for an interactive, play-based interview, so the child can demonstrate academic, social, and motor skills.  The interview also provides an opportunity to determine school readiness.

A child who is determined to be an appropriate candidate to move forward in the Early Access process must complete achievement tests in reading, math, and writing.  In order for the child to continue with the Early Access process, he or she must score at the 97th percentile or higher on all three achievement tests.

A child must also score at the 97th percentile or higher on a cognitive assessment to be considered for Early Access.

The Early Access team will then review the full body of testing evidence, school readiness data, observational notes, and student portfolio to make a determination regarding qualification for Early Access.

• Early Access application packets are available beginning January 5, 2026.
• Early Access application materials must be completed and submitted to the Fountain-Fort Carson Administration Building by March 13, 2026 for consideration for the 2026-2027 school year.
• Ongoing screening is available for military families newly arriving to the area.  Contact the Student Achievement department at 719-382-1545 for more information.
• Determinations for entrance to Early Access are made within 60 calendar days of the district receiving the completed Early Access application packet and portfolio.

To request an Early Access application packet, contact Lisa Rogers at lrogers@ffc8.org or by calling 719-382-1545.