Walla Walla School District's Explorer Program provides students of high academic and intellectual ability with designated time to explore concepts in greater depth. Classes are currently offered for students in grade three through eight.

The goal of the Explorer Program is to encourage the development of higher level thinking skills. Students learn to become responsible for their own learning, to develop their creative thinking and critical reasoning power and to strive to reach their potential.

In third through fifth grades, Explorer students currently leave their home schools and are bussed to Sharpstein Elementary School two half-days each week. In the sixth, seventh and eighth grades, Explorer students currently meet daily at their own middle schools for two periods.

The Explorer curriculum for third through fifth grades focuses primarily on mathematics, science, oral and written communication and critical thinking skills.

The middle school curriculum is drawn from the areas of language arts and social studies and offers advanced, but parallel, learning opportunities.

The annual selection process for in-district students takes place in the spring. The deadline for grade 2-7 nominations is March 16, 2011. All nominated students will take a norm-referenced standardized test at their school and those who qualify for further testing will participate in cognitive abilities testing in a central location. In all cases, parents will be notified of the results of the process, and a child not selected one year may be re-nominated in following years.