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Princeton City Schools expands acceleration, gifted identification and college-credit pathways
Summary
District staff told the board the district is expanding math acceleration and gifted services — including a first cohort of accelerated fifth graders taking sixth‑grade math, new science compacting to offer a high‑school physical science credit in eighth grade, expanded CCP offerings and additional gifted teacher professional development.
Princeton City Schools staff told the Board of Education on April 13 that the district is widening acceleration and gifted services to give more students access to advanced coursework.
Miss Webber, the district’s gifted specialist, said the district uses a mix of approaches, "we use acceleration, cluster grouping at the elementary, and enrichment program with the GISs," and described pull‑out groups and in‑class support. She said pull‑out math services this year included about 30 fourth‑grade and 38 fifth‑grade students and that teachers have completed both synchronous and asynchronous professional development on gifted instruction.
Nicole Picario, a district gifted specialist who introduced the district’s first accelerated fifth‑grade cohort, said the program lets students "take sixth grade math here" while spending most of their day with same‑age peers. Picario said students who complete earlier high‑school credit math in middle school can later take AP calculus or AP statistics as seniors.
A secondary curriculum administrator told the board the district will expand compacted science so incoming sixth graders can take the eighth‑grade OST and earn a semester of physical science credit (a mix of physics and chemistry) before high school. The administrator said district leaders expect these steps to increase advanced scores on state assessments, which in turn raise the district’s performance index.
Staff also described expansions to the district’s College Credit Plus (CCP) offerings. The district is maintaining partnerships with Cincinnati State and Miami University and will begin CCP advising sessions for students this week. Staff said some CCP courses now qualify without additional college work and that more teachers are pursuing credentials to teach CCP classes.
Supervisors highlighted professional development requirements for teachers who provide gifted services: 60 hours over four years, with options for asynchronous learning and book studies. Staff said about 22 new students were identified this year for visual and performing arts gifted services and that district‑wide gifted PD participation exceeded 90 hours in some offerings.
Board members asked how identification works and whether families outside the district can seek testing; staff said districts are required to administer certain assessments (CogAT) at specified grade levels and that testing for district residents is coordinated with district psychologists. Staff also described parent notification and written education plans (WEPs) used to set goals for gifted services.
The board did not take formal action on program changes during the meeting; administrators said specific program adjustments and staffing requests (including an added math coach request tied to the Hamilton County ESC agreement) will be reflected in future contract and staffing proposals.
