Admissions Process

Everything at Stargate - including our admissions process - starts with the school's mission. 

Stargate School will provide a differentiated program designed specifically to meet the needs of identified intellectually gifted learners in order to challenge each student’s academic abilities, support their unique emotional needs, promote individual character development and encourage a life-long love of learning.

Your student will need a body of evidence to support gifted identification 

Stargate School utilizes a body of evidence to determine if a student meets the criteria for admission.

The body of evidence includes, but may not be limited to, the following qualitative and quantitative measures:

• • Cognitive Assessment: A cognitive assessment evaluates cognitive skills such as, problem solving and reasoning.  The scores guide the admissions process along with the comprehensive body of evidence. Parents may have their child evaluated independently or may request that Stargate provide a cognitive assessment at the school. Stargate does not adhere to cut-off score practices. 

  • Standardized Academic Assessments: These academic scores are utilized to determine if a student demonstrates advanced ability in a specific academic area. For example, students who score at the 95th percentile or above and/or at an advanced/distinguished level may meet the criteria for gifted identification. Up to two forms of achievement data may come from the following assessments: CMAS, ATI-Galileo, NWEA/MAPS, iReady, PSAT, SAT, ACT, Renaissance STAR, ITBS, and others.

  • Teacher Contact Information: Once the application is submitted, Stargate will send a recommendation form to the teacher listed on your application. 

  • Advanced Learning Plan: A student’s identification with an Advanced Learning Plan (ALP) from any Colorado school/school district as intellectually gifted transfers to Stargate School. 

Assistance for establishing the required body of evidence are available for applicants. Stargate will also provide assistance for MLL students to assure that language access does not distort this process.

A student's gifted identification with an Advanced Learning Plan (ALP) in the State of Colorado is portable to all Colorado school districts. This means that a student’s Advanced Learning Plan (ALP) from any Colorado school/school district transfers to Stargate School. With an ALP, students applying to Stargate will be automatically qualified for admission and eligible for the lottery (assuming applications are complete and submitted by the deadline). For out of state gifted identification, applicants will need to submit documentation that supports gifted identification from a different state and provide a body of evidence as outlined above.

Stargate has a rigorous pace of instruction, high expectations, and a level of independence that is sometimes required of students. Please consider whether your student will be an appropriate candidate for Stargate before applying. There is a significant difference between intellectually gifted students and high achieving students. We want to be sure that your child is successful at Stargate School.

Generally, a high-achieving student is one who works hard to succeed; is attentive in class; learns with ease; memorizes facts; correctly answers questions; and earns good grades. In comparison, a student who might be considered gifted in a particular content area is performing at an outstanding level of accomplishment compared to grade level peers; generates complex, abstract ideas; comprehends complex ideas; infers and connects concepts; is self-directed in learning; and can answer content-related questions but also asks complex questions (Kingore, 2014).

• Kindergarten applicants must be 5 years old 

• First grade applicants must be 6 years old  

On or before October 1st of the school year they are applying to.  

For example, students applying for the 2024-25 school year, should have reached the ages indicated above by 10/1/24. 

All applicants are required to submit an application through Stargate's online application system, SchoolMint.

New family (never applied to Stargate)- you will need to create ONE SchoolMint account per family. Follow the on-screen instructions.

Previous Stargate applicant (applied for a sibling, applied for this child, waitlisted, previously attended Stargate, etc)- log into your SchoolMint account, whether it was created for this applicant or for another child in your family. If you have forgotten your password or username, you can reset it by clicking on “forgot password” or “forgot username" on the SchoolMint login page.  If you are still unable to login, please email admissions@stargateschool.org.  Please do NOT create another account. Remember, you only need one SchoolMint account per family. 

Applying for more than one child? If applying for more than one student, click the green “Add/Edit New Student Application" to add all of your students to one account. You'll use the same account to submit all of their applications.

Advanced Learning Plan (ALP) - from a Colorado school

OR

Cognitive Assessment Report with results

Standardized Academic Scores (Grades 2-10 only)

AND

Proof of residency (accepted documents) - if applying for in-district priority

Assistance for establishing the required body of evidence is available for applicants. Stargate will also provide assistance for MLL students to assure that language access does not distort this process.

Unless your student is already on an ALP (Advanced Learning Plan) in a Colorado school, a cognitive assessment is one of the bodies of evidence that is required to complete your student's application to Stargate. Applicants may be re-tested with the same instrument, after one full calendar year, but no sooner. If an applicant has two of the same cognitive assessments administered in less than one full calendar year, the results from the first assessment will be used for admissions. 

Option 1 - Private psychologist administers cognitive assessment

Applicants may choose to get an outside cognitive assessment administered by a private psychologist. Please click here for a list of some of the resources available. Applicants who choose this option must upload the cognitive assessment with the results to the application before submitting it. Costs incurred are the responsibility of the family. 

Option 2 - Stargate administers cognitive assessment

After submitting an application, applicants can request a cognitive assessment administered at Stargate. However, assessment slots are limited. Families are encouraged to submit their applications, including requests for Stargate-administered cognitive assessments, as soon as possible. Once the application is received, a sign up to schedule the assessment will be sent. Once slots are filled, Stargate can not guarantee any additional slots. You can not request an assessment at Stargate until AFTER your application is submitted. 

Option 3 - Previous cognitive assessment administered by a school

Applicants can submit a previous cognitive assessment taken through their school.  All students in the State of Colorado take a cognitive assessment in 2nd grade and 6th/7th grade.  Contact your student's school and ask for the results of their cognitive assessment.  Upload the scores to the application before submitting it.  

In addition to a cognitive assessment, all applicants applying to kindergarten are required to come to Stargate for an academic screener.  The academic screener is an assessment used to measure a student's potential for giftedness.  The academic screener will be scheduled AFTER your student's completed application has been submitted to Stargate.

For applicants who have requested a cognitive assessment administered at Stargate, the academic screener will automatically be scheduled on the same day as the cognitive assessment. If an outside cognitive assessment has already been completed, only the academic screener will need to be scheduled. 

Students applying to 1st grade may have been administered standardized assessments in reading and/or math in their kindergarten year.  These results should be uploaded to their application.  

• iReady

• NWEA/MAP

• ITBS

• Renaissance Star

If your student does not have standardized academic results, your student will be required to come to Stargate for an academic screener.  

For applicants who have requested a cognitive assessment administered at Stargate, the academic screener will automatically be scheduled on the same day as the cognitive assessment. If an outside cognitive assessment has already been completed, only the academic screener will need to be scheduled. 

Applicants in grades 2-10 are required to submit Standardized Academic Assessment Scores:   

• CMAS 

• NWEA/MAPS 

• iReady

• PSAT/SAT

• ACT

• ITBS

• ATI-Galileo

• Renaissance STAR 

Report cards are not standardized assessments and therefore not accepted.

Applications must be complete and submitted by the application deadline in order to be considered for the lottery. No late applications will be accepted. A completed application has all documents uploaded and is submitted before the deadline.  

Note: Failure to submit the proper documents may delay your application and potentially cause the applicant to be ineligible for admission.

All complete applications received by the deadline will be reviewed by the Admissions Committee to determine if the student’s body of evidence demonstrates that the student is qualified for admission to Stargate School. 

Visit the Admissions Dates page for this year's calendar/schedule or the Admissions Policy page for more about how students are qualified. 

Qualification - Qualification does not guarantee a seat offer. Seats are subject to availability and assigned via a lottery that includes all other qualified applicants. Once an applicant has qualified for Stargate School, they are not ranked.

Non-Qualification/Appeals - If a parent/guardian chooses to appeal the non-qualification decision, the appeal must be sent to admissions@stargateschool.org within 7 business days of notification of non-qualification. The letter of appeal should provide Stargate School with the reason(s) why the parent/guardian believes the child should be qualified for admission.   Please submit supplemental evidence to support the appeal.  

This may include but is not limited to: 

• • Contest/Competitions: Evidence of top placement in a state or national academic contest (state science fair, spelling bee, national geography bee).

  • Portfolio: Student writing or other work.

  • Classroom Performance: Qualitative evidence of above-grade level performance provided by a teacher.

The appeal letter and supplemental evidence will be reviewed by the Admissions Appeal Committee and the parent/guardian will be notified by email of the decision.

Once a student has qualified, an analysis of space available is conducted that also includes these factors:

1. Sibling Status: Sibling status is applied if an applicant has an “enrolled sibling” at time of lottery pull. A qualified sibling of an enrolled student, regardless of residence status, receives first preference for admission. “Enrolled student” includes any student who is currently attending Stargate or has accepted a seat offer following the lottery. 

2. Stargate Employee: Qualified children of current employees, regardless of residence status, will receive next preference for admissions.

3.  Independent Board Member: Qualified children of current Independent Stargate Board members who have served on the board for at least 2 years and are in good standing, as defined by board policy, will receive the next preference for admissions.

4. In-District: A qualified applicant who resides in Adams 12 Five Star School District will receive next priority. Two proofs of residency, as approved per Adams District Five Star School District (click here for a list of approved documents), must be uploaded to the application system.  An otherwise out-of-district student who has been enrolled in an Adams 12 school for at least one entire school year, will be classified for admissions purposes as an in-district student.

5. Out-of-District: Students who reside in a district other than Adams 12 Five Star School District will have last priority. 

Note: Students who leave Stargate School for one year or less may re-apply and be placed on the waitlist behind siblings of currently enrolled students and employee child(ren). After one year, students will need to reapply and will enter the lottery process along with new qualified applicants.

Seat offers are generated by a random computerized lottery to fill seats with qualified applicants based on priority and availability.  This process is monitored by an outside law firm to ensure validity.  

How many seats are available?

The number of seats available varies by year and by grade. For all grades except kindergarten (where all seats are available), it is determined by the number of students not returning for the following school year. 

Visit the Admissions Dates page for this year's calendar/schedule. 

Seat offers

After the lottery is conducted, seat offers are sent via SchoolMint.  Please make sure your SchoolMint settings are updated to receive texts and emails.  

Waitlists 

If a seat offer is not immediately available for the upcoming school year, remaining qualified applicants will be placed on the waitlist.  

Declined seats

If a seat offer is declined, the applicant voluntarily gives up their enrollment opportunity and must reapply for the following year. The seat will then be offered to the next qualified applicant on the waitlist.

A new list each year

Stargate does not keep or "roll" the waitlist from year to year. As a result, position on the waitlist does not carry over to the new application year.  

Applying to remain in the lottery pool

If the waitlisted applicant does not receive a seat offer prior to the beginning of November,  the parent/guardian must annually reaffirm the desire for their student to remain in the lottery pool via SchoolMint. Families need to re-apply each they are interested.  When applying, waitlisted applicants  will NOT have to resubmit the body of evidence  as they have previously been qualified for admissions.  

Failure to re-apply

Failure to submit a new application to remain in the lottery pool for the next school year by the admissions deadline will result in the application being removed from the electronic application system. 

Once a student has been admitted to Stargate, the student's body of evidence provided with their application will be submitted to Advanced Academics & Gifted Services in Adams 12 to be evaluated for gifted identification.