Fort Dale Academy is recognizing 7th graders who qualified for the Duke University Talent Identification Program (Duke TIP).

The Duke TIP identifies 7th graders in sixteen states in the Southeast, Midwest and Southwest who have scored at the 95th percentile or above on a grade level achievement test.

These students are invited to take either the SAT Reasoning Test or the ACT Assessment Exam.

The Duke TIP began in 1980 with 6,150 junior high and middle schools participating, and now there are over one million students who are participating in the program.

It is a non-profit educational organization designed to promote the education of our talented youth.

The program is sponsored by Duke University under the premise that this nation depends upon the fullest development of our best intellectual resources.

The students were selected to participate in this program because of their scores at the 95th percentile or higher on one or more of the subtests on two of the most recent standardized achievement, aptitude or mental ability tests.

These tests have validity in predicting scholastic achievement of gifted 7th graders.

These students will sit for the college entrance exams this winter among the usual group of college-bound 11th and 12th graders.

The students will receive a certificate of merit, a comparative results summary and counseling guide to help interpret their test scores.

Duke TIP will also provide suggestions in areas the students can most effectively use their strengths and a variety of educational materials and publications that will help students learn more about academic opportunities available to them when beginning the college choice process.

FDA Headmaster David Brantley and Fort Dale faculty congratulated the students on this accomplishment.