Brandie Ahlstrand has no problem whatsoever getting her students to speak up. On a recent Monday morning, the third-grade teacher in Prior Lake asked her class whether anyone had found a metaphor or simile in "Maniac Magee," the chapter book they were all reading.
Hands shot up like rockets, and fingers wiggled frantically as Ahlstrand praised two students who were lucky enough to be called on. "Very good detective work for both of you!"
It was a typical day at SAGE Academy, a school-within-a-school at WestWood Elementary designed for gifted children.
"It's like the song and dance to get called on," said Ahlstrand, one of three teachers at the academy, which has one classroom each of third-, fourth- and fifth-graders. "They are 100 percent engaged in every subject, all day long."
The Prior Lake-Savage School District started the academy this fall as a way to fill a gap that had led some students to leave for private schools or gifted programs outside the district.
"They're precious learners, and we don't want to lose any of our kids because we can't provide a program for them," said WestWood Principal Pam Winfield.
It's a need that other south metro schools are also stepping up to meet. In the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage district, Harriet Bishop Elementary was turned into a gifted magnet school this fall, joining others such as Dimensions Academy in Bloomington and the Atheneum program in Inver Grove Heights.
The Prior Lake-Savage district already had a gifted program called Synergy that pulled kids out of class for instruction once or twice a week, and that program is continuing this fall for students who aren't in SAGE. Even students in the academy still spend time with peers in mainstream classes -- at lunch and recess, in gym classes, on field trips and at other school activities.