Text Box: 1996-1997 This was the first full school year of REACH and piloting began in each of the city schools. Building teams were formed, staffings held, and action plans written. In addition, REACH facilitators continued to meet at the district level to evaluate the piloting and to recommend improvements to the program. 1996-1997 Facilitators formed subcommittees, which met to continue to write necessary pieces of the document. The committee as a whole reviewed these. This group assisted in the budget process and forwarded recommendations for additional staff and release time to the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction. 1999 By January of this year REACH had screened two hundred students in grades Kindergarten through twelve. One hundred and eighty seven of them were having their needs met through accommodations proscribed within individual action plans (IAPs). 1999 Through the REACH Mentor Program extensive partnerships with business, professions, and cultural organizations were established. Over thirty adults from the extended community had been matched to REACH students. These mentors were sharing their interest and expertise within a friendship created with an individual gifted child or by working with a small group of REACH identified students. 1999 A REACH facilitator and a Gifted and Talented Resource Specialist had been nominated for an EDies award as Gifted Educator of the Year by the New Hampshire Association for Gifted Education. 2000 By the beginning of the 2000 - 2001 school year there were three full-time gifted education specialists in REACH. 2000 There were over three hundred and sixty identified students on IAPs. 2000 REACH had been nominated to The National Association for Gifted Children for recognition as an exemplary gifted program by the New Hampshire Association for Gifted Education. 2001 REACH was acknowledged as an exemplary program by the National Association for Gifted Children in a national publication. Of seven areas evaluated REACH was recognized as being exemplary in five: Program Design, Program Evaluation, Professional Development, Guidance and Social-Emotional Support Services, and Student Identification. 2002 REACH appears in NAGC Program Standards in Action, a publication of the National Association for Gifted Children. Text Box: History of Gifted Education in Nashua 1996 - 2002