Grade Level Placement Model

Beginning this spring (2026) newly applied and accepted students in grades 1-8 will complete a grade-level placement test during the registration process. To schedule your student's grade-level assessment, click here.

Currently enrolled students will continue following the promotion and retention criteria outlined in the 2025-26 Parent and Student Handbook.

No, currently enrolled students will not be required to take a placement test.

Currently enrolled students cannot take a grade-level placement test to move grade levels. However, at the end of the year, they can take tests to enroll in advanced courses for the next school year.

This school year (2025-26), school leadership will discuss possible retentions with parents/guardians. Together, they will discuss the benefits of promotion and retention to determine the grade level that best meets the child’s needs.

While it is mandatory, decisions will not be taken lightly and will be determined utilizing a placement test upon submitting an application. School leadership will work closely with families to discuss all aspects of a student’s proficiency – including reading and math readiness – to make a grade-level placement decision in the best interest of the child.

We want to ensure all students receive the instruction and support appropriate for their learning needs. If your student is accepted into one grade level, but is placed into a different one, your student will be added to the waitlist, with preference, for the grade level they placed into.

Families will work with school leadership to schedule a grade-level placement test, which will be proctored at the school. Placement tests must be taken by the paperwork deadline outlined in the family’s acceptance email.

Each school makes its own, independent grade placement decision. Traditional school placement is based on a student’s birth date and last grade completed. Other factors, such as a previous school’s retention decision, are also considered. Grade Level Placement Model schools use additional placement criteria, including assessment results.

For example, if you apply for fourth grade at both a traditional school and Grade Level Placement Model school, and the Grade Level Placement Model school places your child in third grade after testing, your child will remain accepted or waitlisted for fourth grade at the traditional school.

Once a student enrolls at Canton, their grade placement decision will follow them if they transfer to a different NHA school. For example, if a student is placed into and enrolls in third grade at Canton and they move to a different NHA school, the new school will honor the third-grade placement.

Using a Grade Level Placement Model approach helps us identify specific learning gaps that can be addressed by placing a student in the grade level most appropriate for their learning needs.

We know that if a student is not reading at grade level, they will struggle in all subjects. We also know that math proficiency is just as important because it builds a foundation for future skill building and learning.

For example, up to third grade, students are learning to read. After third grade, they are reading to learn. Not reading on grade level can decrease a student’s overall academic achievement now and through high school and beyond.

We will continue to utilize our standard intervention model and small group instruction to help improve your child’s grade-level proficiency. The assessments we use to determine progress toward identified individual goals will remain the same, including NHA Interims, NWEA, and state testing, among other common assessments.
 
Students with an IEP, Section 504 Plan, and English Learners will continue to receive the special education and related services, accommodations, and specialized language services outlined in their IEPs, Section 504 plans, or ILPs. We will continue to ensure we meet our obligation to identify and evaluate children who may need special education and related services.

There are high school enrollment age limits, so this is certainly a consideration. School leadership will work closely with families to discuss what grade level and other learning options are most appropriate for the student’s needs.

No, special education or English Language services will be implemented as written in a student’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or Individualized Language Plan (ILP).

Advanced course work will be available through our EXCEL-ERATE program specialized instruction, and/or virtual programming based on the individual needs of the student.

Your child’s well-being is at the center of everything we do, including ensuring their safety, and that they feel cared for, loved, and supported.

We know that students who are placed in the grade level that best aligns with their learning needs develop more self-confidence, both academically and socially. This tends not to impact classroom culture negatively because students are more comfortable in their day-to-day interactions with their peers and teachers.

As students build confidence academically and socially, classroom culture tends not to be impacted negatively. Students are more comfortable in their day-to-day interactions with their peers and teachers. They also use our Moral Focus™ virtues to guide those interactions. Virtues that encourage students to use wisdom, compassion, and respect, to name a few.

The school is being supported throughout this change by its management company, National Heritage Academies® (NHA®).