The Loudoun County SEARCH program focuses on thinking skills and is designed to foster a classroom environment that encourages students to develop an excitement for learning and discovery. SEARCH teachers work within the K-3 classroom to stimulate curiosity, practice problem solving strategies, incorporate cooperative learning activities, provide opportunities for students to use higher level thinking skills, and to identify students with exceptional ability. During the lessons, the primary classroom teacher makes observations to gain insight into the students’ various skills, strengths, and learning styles. Both teachers work cooperatively to recognize and develop the potential for excellence in each student.  The Loudoun County SEARCH lessons are organized under the learning keys listed below and are aligned with the Virginia Standards of Learning.

The SEARCH curriculum is problem solving based and spirals developmentally through five components: perceiving, reasoning, connecting, creating, and evaluating. Each grade level learns about each component at increasingly more complex and abstract levels.

Perceiving is understanding and learning with one’s senses. Concrete spatial and visual activities are provided and students are encouraged to look at objects in many different ways. Pattern recognition and prediction skills develop and are used along with reasoning skills.  

Reasoning is using information to find answers that can be proven, are logical, and make sense. Reasoning activities begin at the simple level of recognizing, labeling, classifying, and comparing attributes of concrete objects. As students mature, reasoning activities become more abstract as students use analysis and logic to solve problems.

Connecting means linking information and ideas to see how they fit together. At the basic level, students identify and extend patterns using concrete objects. More abstract problem solving involves interpreting and extending numeric patterns, determining relationships between concepts, and making generalizations. Students make connections between cause and effect.

Creating is putting ideas, information, or objects together in a new or different way. Students learn to be flexible and fluent in their thinking with familiar objects as well as unusual and/or real life problems. Original ideas are elaborated with humor and/or beauty to provide clarity and completeness. Student products may be visual, verbal, spatial, or kinesthetic.

Evaluating is using information to make a decision. Students begin evaluating by determining what the facts are and what considerations are important in making a decision. Students learn to develop criteria and rank solutions or choices according to the criteria when making decisions.

Students identified for gifted services will participate in the FUSION program. 

The School-Based, Collaborative Gifted Program, now known as FUSION, is the LCPS model for delivering gifted services for 4th and 5th grade gifted learners. It was established to provide gifted services for students at their home schools. A gifted resource teacher collaborates with classroom teachers to challenge gifted learners in their regular classrooms by enriching and extending the general curriculum and by integrating curricula developed for gifted learners (e.g., William & Mary Literature Units, Jacob's Ladder, and Mentoring Mathematical Minds).  In addition, gifted learners meet during the week with other gifted learners to collaborate on a variety of challenging, interdisciplinary projects.

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 The Gifted Education Program goals are: 

• To become divergent creative thinkers who recognize problems and solve them. 

• To construct a personal meaning and understanding of others and of the world around them. 

• To develop the capacity for self assessment (ownership of the learning).