Frequently Asked Questions

Rolling admissions means that we allow students to enroll throughout the school year. There are no admissions deadlines, however, we do encourage that all shadowing be completed for the next year by the end of the current school year.

Rolling admissions means that we allow students to enroll throughout the school year. There are no admissions deadlines, however, we do encourage that all shadowing be completed for the next year by the end of the current school year.

The school week runs Monday through Friday, 8:15am - 3:00 pm for Kindergarten and 8:15am - 3:30pm for all other grades. Morning care starting at 7:45am is available for all students, free of charge. Aftercare is available until 5:45pm at an additional fee.

Shadowing consists of having your child join us for two full days of observation. The days do not have to be consecutive days. It allows us to determine if your child is a fit for ACE by getting a look at where they are socially and academically.

When a class moves to a waitlist it means that we have exceeded the number of available spots. Your child will be placed on a waitlist and when there's an opening, you will be notified.

ACE classes are a mixture of ability grouping and differentiation so that we can meet students where they are and structure the school day so that they can stay with their age-appropriate peers. Grade skipping and acceleration look different at ACE, since we can control our pacing in ways that other schools cannot. We consider academic, social, emotional and developmental benchmarks when making placement decisions.

ACE's equivalent to an IEP/504 at a public school. These child-centered, strength-based plans are developed after the counselor meets with the parent(s)/guardian(s) and reviews relevant assessments. Accommodations are broken down into environmental, academic, social-emotional, and specific subjects customized according to the student's diagnosis or diagnoses and other relevant information.

Sensory-friendly, progressive classrooms called “spACEs” are the standard at ACE. This includes a mixture of standing desk options, wiggle seats, natural lighting, approved fidgets, and other items and configurations that create a better learning environment for all students.

Currently, ACE Academy does not have a high school.

Twice exceptionalities (2E) within the gifted population may present as overexcitabilities (e.g. intellectual, emotional, psychomotor, sensual and imaginational), anxiety, perfectionism, and asynchronous development. Children might also be identified with a learning disability, learning difference, or learning disorder (e.g. dysgraphia, dyslexia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, processing disorder), sensory integration dysfunction, or experience nonverbal learning challenges such as poor executive functioning skills.

ACE Academy has interventions and accommodations in place to address the above twice exceptionalities; we look for progress and growth over time. If students are not able to effectively function within the school environment or ACE Academy deems their 2E to be beyond our scope of ability, then ACE reserves the right to revisit a student’s placement. ACE cannot accommodate students who present with challenges such as severe depression, atypical emotional outbursts, physical aggression, severe Autism Spectrum disorders, 3+ year differential in asynchronous development, and any twice exceptionality that goes beyond our faculty’s scope of training or requires that a student’s needs be addressed in a therapeutic environment, or with a full-time specialist, before their giftedness can be addressed.

The National Research Center on Gifted and Talented (NRC/GT) successfully competed for a series of federally funded grants (1990-2013) under the Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Education Act. The research that we have conducted for over 2 decades required the cooperation and collaboration of administrators, teachers, and students from all over the country. We gratefully acknowledge the role that each person played in providing us with opportunities to collect extensive data on critical topics and report the findings to multiple audiences. We hope you share our research with other interested educators involved with gifted and talented education by visiting our website.
www.nrcgt.uconn.edu

The National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) is an organization of parents, educators, other professionals and community leaders to address the unique needs of children and youth.
www.nagc.org

You can search State Resources for Gifted Education and Individual State Gifted Organizations on the NAGC website under the heading “Gifted By State.” NAGC membership includes a subscription to Parenting for High Potential, a magazine with articles geared to the development of talent.

The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) is the largest international professional organization dedicated to improving educational outcomes for individuals with exceptionalities, students with disabilities, and/or the gifted.
www.cec.sped.org

The Association for the Gifted (TAG) organized in 1958 by The Council for Exceptional Children, helps professionals and parents work with gifted children.
www.cectag.com

The Davidson Institute for Talent Development has extensive resources for highly gifted students (and their parents). You can access articles by selecting “Browse by Topic” or “Search GT-Cybersource” from the “Resources” header in the pull-down top bar menu bar.
www.davidsongifted.org

Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG) focuses primarily on the adults (parents, educators, etc) in the lives of gifted children. SENG provides information on identification, guidance, and effective ways to live and work with gifted individuals.
www.sengifted.org

Hoagies’ Gifted Education Page is a resource guide for the education of gifted children with links to many gifted education resources available on the Internet.
www.hoagiesgifted.org

2e Newsletter 2e stands for twice-exceptional. A newsletter dedicated to children who are gifted and have learning disabilities, learning disorders, attention difficulties, or just plain learning differences.
www.2enewsletter.com

Great Resources for Discovering and Encouraging Interests:
The Academy of Achievement: www.achievement.org