A New Jersey Department of Education “Best Practices” School



Jennifer Whitner, Principal Ext. 4102 339 Ewingville Road, Ewing NJ 08638

Michelle Conway, Assistant Principal Ext. 4103 Phone 609-538-9800 Fax 609-883-4604

ewing.k12.nj.us

May 10, 2013

Dear Parents/Guardians:

The Ewing Township Public Schools offer two programs for academically-talented students in Grades 3 through 5: the AIM Program and the ACE Program.

Achievement in Math (AIM) Program

The AIM Program is offered to students who show exceptional ability in mathematics. This pullout program, for which the participating students leave their general education classroom five periods per week, provides all the skills taught in the general education classroom while additionally providing accelerated and enriching content in mathematical concepts and problem solving. It is a total replacement for the school’s math program.

The State of New Jersey has adopted the Common Core Math Standards. The adoption of the new standards requires adjustment to our K-5 math curriculum. The revised Grade 3-5 curriculum will be implemented in September 2012 as mandated by the State of New Jersey. The AIM Program curriculum has been revised to align with the revised Common Core Math Standards. The Common Core Standards increases the rigor by increasing grade level mathematical expectations. The AIM Program remains an accelerated program; however, with the increased rigor, the AIM criteria have been modified to reflect increased course rigor.

Every effort is made to align the scheduling with the daily mathematics period in the regular classroom, if at all possible.

Continuation of the AIM Program requires good progress. Mastery of mathematical content as designated on the math report card and an AIM teacher’s recommendation are required for eligibility from year to year.

Academic Class Enrichment (ACE) Program

The ACE Program is offered to students who show exceptional ability in reading and language. It emphasizes interdisciplinary skills, critical thinking, creativity and problem solving across the disciplines of language arts, social studies and science. Research, writing, creative problem solving activities, and independent and group projects are integrated through thematic units.

As a pullout program, children will miss regularly-scheduled classroom activities. If there is any missed work, the student is required to accept responsibility for completing it as deemed necessary by the classroom teacher.

Continuation in the ACE Program is based upon good progress in the general education classroom as well as in the ACE Program itself. An ACE teacher’s recommendation is required for eligibility from year to year.

You may nominate your child for one or both programs. He or she will be evaluated for eligibility according to the district’s selection criteria (below).

A nomination form may be picked up in the Main Office of your child’s school or downloaded from the building website. Return the completed form to the Main Office by Monday, May 13, 2013. Students already participating in one or both Programs will be nominated for continuation by the present AIM or ACE teacher for 2013-14.

Notification of program acceptance will be provided by September 11, 2013 (for AIM) and September 16, 2013 (for ACE).

Sincerely,

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Principal

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AIM Selection Criteria

AIM classes meet daily as a replacement for a general math class.

• Standardized Test Scores:

o District standardized assessment for students entering Grade 3

o NJ ASK3 Math Score – for students entering Grade 4

o NJ ASK4 Math Score – for students entering Grade 5

• Teacher Nomination Checklist

• Parent Recommendation

• Report Card Review

• Math Problem Solving Test

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ACE Selection Criteria

ACE classes meet for a total of two hours per week as enrichment to the District’s Language Arts curriculum.

• Standardized Test Scores:

o District standardized assessment for students entering Grade 3

o NJ ASK3 Language Arts Literacy Score – for students entering Grade 4

o NJ ASK4 Language Arts Literacy Score – for students entering Grade 5

• Teacher Nomination Checklist

• Parent Recommendation

• Report Card Review:

o Guided Reading Level

o Independent Learning Level

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