Horizons

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools provides K-12 gifted students with a full continuum of services. We aim to align specialized academic programming with demonstrated needs.

The academic, intellectual, social, and emotional needs of highly gifted learners are met through the Horizons program. Horizons is available to highly gifted students within the district whose educational needs require extreme differentiation and accelerated learning opportunities. In Horizons, students experience accelerated coursework with their same-age peers. Beginning in the 2025-2026 school year, students may be admitted to Horizons in 3rd grade and 6th grade.

Horizons for grades 3-5 provides highly gifted students with consistent access to:

• concept-based instruction
• rich, diverse, complex texts coupled with gifted strategies
• compacted math instruction
• other unique instructional experiences 

Specialized social-emotional learning supports are also embedded within the school day to support asynchronous development and the unique social-emotional needs of highly gifted learners.

In grades 6-8, students are served through an accelerated course progression in reading, science, and social studies, providing them with an opportunity to earn multiple high school credits while in middle school. 
 

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Horizons Criteria- Rising 3rd Grade

To qualify for consideration, CMS students must meet all of the following benchmarks during the fall screening period:

• Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT): Score at or above the 96th percentile on both the Verbal Battery and the Quantitative Battery.
• i-Ready Diagnostic Assessments: Score at or above the 96th percentile in both Reading and Mathematics.

In addition to percentile rankings, a minimum i-Ready scale score is also considered as part of the evaluation process. These thresholds are used internally to ensure consistency and rigor in the review process.

Additional Notes:
Families of students who meet the criteria will be contacted with next steps regarding the placement process.

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Horizons Criteria- Rising 6th Grade

 Rising 6th grade CMS students may be considered for placement based on a multi-step eligibility process that includes academic performance, formal identification, and readiness for advanced coursework. The data review occurs after winter benchmark testing.

Step 1: Initial Data Review
Students must meet all of the following benchmarks based on fall and winter assessments:

• i-Ready Diagnostic Assessments: Score at or above the 96th percentile in both Reading and Mathematics on the fall and winter i-Ready assessments.

In addition to percentile rankings, students must also meet minimum scale score thresholds in both subjects on the winter i-Ready. These thresholds are used internally to ensure consistency and rigor in the review process.

Step 2: Screener and AIG Identification
All students who meet the initial data criteria must complete the following:

• Math 6–8 Screener: All eligible students must take the district-developed Math 6–8 Screener and score 80% or higher to demonstrate readiness for advanced math instruction.
• Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT): Students who are not already identified as Academically or Intellectually Gifted (AIG) will take the CogAT to determine formal AIG eligibility.  AIG identification is required for the Horizons program.

Additional Notes:
Families of students who qualify for further review will be contacted with next steps and timelines.

Students who qualify for Horizons may choose to enroll in the Horizons Accelerated Math Program (HAMP) as an alternative. HAMP is a math-only pathway that offers an accelerated course progression in mathematics, designed for students who demonstrate advanced readiness in this subject area. 

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Horizons Accelerated Math Program (HAMP)

The Horizons Accelerated Math Program (HAMP) for grades 6-8 provides CMS students who are highly gifted in math with the opportunity to engage in a radically accelerated math course progression. The screening process for HAMP occurs at the district level using existing data to develop a candidate pool for this opportunity. 

The course progression for students in HAMP for middle school is listed below. Students will begin high school with three high school math credits. 

• 6th graders: Math I
• 7th graders: Math II
• 8th graders: Math III