Reach Further 2013 presents a comprehensive and effective design that will empower Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools to further develop an educational experience that is not only rigorous and content-rich, but also relevant to students’ lives and to the global community.  The term “gifted” refers to students who have a continuum of strengths, including above level ability and achievement, requiring a range of services in order to experience and to demonstrate academic, intellectual, and emotional growth.  The three-year plan outlined in Reach Further 2013 responds to N.C.G.S. § 115C, Article 9B, "Academically or Intellectually Gifted Students," enacted by the NC General Assembly in 1996, by setting priorities that will establish an intensive academic extension beyond the regular education program.