Magnet Eligibility (ME)

Looking for information on how to sign up for cognitive testing? Click here.

Magnet Eligibility Info -- Video Presentation in English

Magnet Eligibility Info -- Video Presentation in Spanish

Quick Facts about Magnet Eligibility

Students must have a qualifying cognitive test score in the 95th percentile or above to become magnet eligible. 

After becoming eligible through testing, families must go through the School Choice process to select preferred schools and go through the lottery process for admittance.

Magnet Eligibility (ME) status does not expire and students may apply to magnet sites at any point in their time in DPS.

ME students do not receive an Advanced Learning Plan (ALP) until a full HGT identification has been made. However, they are eligible for support services.

Once eligible, ME students will never need to be retested with a cognitive assessment for the purposes of magnet eligibility. Additional achievement testing may be conducted for the purposes of a full identification.

Magnet site enrollment is not mandatory. Magnet site placement is a decision made by the family. ME students are still eligible to receive support services at their neighborhood school through the GT teacher. The decision to attend a magnet site should be based on whether a child’s academic and social needs are being met. HGT programming will varies from site-to-site. Please click on the tab for HGT Magnet School information to learn more about the schools.

DPS Gifted and Talented Policy Change: Fall 2022

The DPS Gifted and Talented department and the division of Academics have been reviewing best practices and aligning standards more closely with recent guidance from the Gifted and Talented Department in the Colorado Department of Education. A review of these practices and scores have resulted in a policy change. 

Students scoring at the 95th percentile or above on cognitive assessments (e.g. CogAT, NNAT, WISC, DAS, KABC, and WPPSI) are now considered Magnet Eligible (ME) as of fall 2022. This applies to all scores received prior to 2022. All student files have been updated and communication sent to affected families.