Renton School District Highly Capable screening and NNAT® guide.

Highly Capable is Washington’s term for gifted education services. Renton serves identified students from kindergarten through 12th grade, and any student who lives within district boundaries can be identified, including homeschooled students. The NNAT® (Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test) is a visual reasoning test built from shapes, patterns, and spatial puzzles, with no reading or math.

For a fuller overview of the test itself, see our guide to what the NNAT® measures.

What Highly Capable gives your child in Renton

1. Strength-Based Student Grouping in kindergarten through 5th grade: identified students learn in groups of 2 to 8 like-peers in their regular classroom, grouped by their strength in English Language Arts, math, or reasoning. Teachers plan the work from each child’s screening data and class performance. Newly identified students start in March 2027.
2. The Discovery Program in grades 3 to 5: a self-contained classroom for the highest-performing Highly Capable students, with faster pacing, project and problem-based learning, and discussions built around critical thinking. Students who qualify start the next school year, so a 2nd grader identified this year could begin Discovery in 3rd grade.
3. Honors classes in middle school: identified students in grades 6 to 8 are automatically enrolled in Honors English Language Arts and Honors Social Studies, with Honors 6 Math and Honors Science in 7th and 8th grade available through spring registration.
4. High school: the student’s Highly Capable qualification is noted in their records, alongside Honors, Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB) at Renton High School, and Running Start college courses.

Practice preview

Let your child see the format before test day.

GateBuddy introduces the visual reasoning formats used on the NNAT® through short, age-appropriate practice with clear explanations.

• Built around the four NNAT® question types
• An explanation after every answer: what changed and what stayed the same
• Short adaptive sets plus full, timed practice tests
• A live view so parents can follow along

Try free questions

Real GateBuddy practice questions, one of each NNAT® question type.

How Renton screens for Highly Capable

Renton finds students three ways:

1. Every 2nd grader takes the NNAT3 at school, during the school day. The district says it takes about 30 minutes on a district device, given by district staff.
2. Select 5th graders take the NNAT3 if their first trimester reading or math results meet the district’s criteria.
3. Referrals for kindergarten through 11th grade: a family member, teacher, or community member can refer a student with the district’s online form from August 31 to December 4, 2026. Referred students are tested at their home school.

Renton holds virtual information sessions for families of referred students, with Zoom links sent ahead of time. The first is Thursday, October 22, 2026, from 6:00 to 7:00 PM. The district lists a second session on Thursday, November 5, at 11:00 AM, but shows the year as 2025, so confirm that date with the program office.

How Renton decides who is identified

After testing, a Multi-Disciplinary Committee (MDC) reviews each student’s data. The committee includes classroom teachers, a building principal, a school psychologist, the Highly Capable Program Team, district administrators, and the Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment. Renton says there is no single cut score or threshold. The committee looks at trends over time and at growth. The data includes:

1. The NNAT3 reasoning test.
2. i-Ready reading and math results from the first trimester (grades 1 to 8). Kindergarten uses the Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (WaKIDS).
3. WIDA ACCESS, Washington’s English language proficiency test, for students still learning English.
4. Additional data for students with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or 504 plan, when it helps show a need for services.

The 2026-2027 timeline shows:

1. September 2026: first trimester reading and math tests are finished.
2. September to December 2026: NNAT3 testing for 2nd graders and referred students.
3. January to March 2027: the committee reviews students and families hear by email or letter.
4. March 2027: services begin for newly identified students in grades K-5; Discovery students start the next school year.

Families can appeal. The appeal form must be turned in within two weeks of the date the family is notified. Renton encourages parents to email HiCapID@rentonschools.us first, so the team can point to the data that would strengthen the appeal.

Second graders take NNAT3 Level C. It has 48 questions across four types: pattern completion, reasoning by analogy, serial reasoning, and spatial visualization. See the four NNAT® question types for examples of each.

Which Discovery school serves your neighborhood

Discovery classrooms are at two schools. Your child’s assignment follows your home address school:

1. Kennydale Elementary serves Hazelwood, Highlands, Hilltop Heritage, Honey Dew, Kennydale, Maplewood Heights, and Sierra Heights.
2. Talbot Hill Elementary serves Benson Hill, Bryn Mawr, Campbell Hill, Cascade, Lakeridge, Renton Park, Talbot Hill, and Tiffany Park.

If your school is not listed, ask the Highly Capable office which Discovery site it feeds into.

Questions Renton parents should ask

1. What date is my child’s class taking the NNAT3 this fall?
2. When will our family hear the committee’s decision, and by email or letter?
3. What data besides the NNAT3 will the committee look at for my child?
4. If my child qualifies, which strength group will they join, and what will change in their classroom in March?
5. When will Discovery placements for 3rd grade be decided, and which Discovery school serves our neighborhood?
6. If we appeal, what new information would help most?

Our broader questions to ask your school guide can help you turn those into one clear conversation with the office or program contact.

How to prepare effectively for the NNAT

The NNAT3 uses picture puzzles that look nothing like ordinary schoolwork, so the goal is steady practice with the format, starting as early as you can:

1. Learn the format first. Go through the four NNAT® question types and, after each practice question, explain the rule: what changed and what stayed the same. GateBuddy shows an explanation after every question that names the rule, and it can read instructions and explanations out loud, which helps a child who is still building reading skills or simply learns better by hearing it.
2. Practice 10 to 15 minutes a day, for as long as you can. Reasoning skills build like a muscle, a little at a time. A few weeks of practice helps, but months of short, steady sessions build much more. GateBuddy’s five-question sets fit on a school night.
3. Spend extra time on the question type your child finds hardest. GateBuddy’s practice sets do this for you: each set of five leans toward the question types your child has seen least and adjusts how hard the next questions are based on recent answers. You can also pick one question type and a level (easy, medium, or hard) to work on a weak spot.
4. Take full, timed practice tests: at least two, and more is better. A full test is where your child learns pacing and how to work alone against a clock, the way test day works. Renton gives the NNAT3 on a district device, so practicing on a screen helps too. Every GateBuddy plan includes eight full, timed, 48-question practice tests, so your child can take several along the way and still save the last two for the final few weeks as a dress rehearsal. While your child works on their own, GateBuddy’s Live View lets you follow along from your own phone: how many questions they have answered, the answer they just picked, and how many they have right so far. Your child gets the independence of test day, and you still see everything.