You’ve watched your child work harder than anyone in that classroom. You’ve sat in meetings where the school shrugged. ElevateU gives Denver families a doctoral-level educational evaluation — built specifically for gifted, twice-exceptional, and complex learners — so you finally have a clear picture and a step-by-step plan the school can act on.
Tired of Leaving School Meetings With More Questions Than Answers?
You already know something is off. The school says your child is “fine” — or they hand you a label with no plan attached. Neither one helps.
- “The school said he doesn’t qualify — but something is clearly going on.” — ElevateU conducts a private, individualized educational evaluation that goes significantly deeper than district screening. We identify what the school’s process isn’t designed to find.
- “She’s clearly bright, but she’s falling apart at school.” — Giftedness and learning differences frequently co-occur. Our doctoral-level specialization in twice-exceptional (2e) students means we know exactly what to look for when a child’s strengths are masking their areas of need.
- “We got a report, but nobody explained what it means or what to do next.” — Every ElevateU evaluation ends with a feedback session where we walk your family through the findings in plain language — and a step-by-step plan your child’s school team can implement.
- “I don’t know how to advocate for my child in an IEP meeting.” — Ashley’s direct experience inside Denver Metro public and private schools means she understands how these systems work from the inside. You won’t be navigating this alone.
Getting Started Is Simple
Step 1: Reach out and tell us about your child. Call (303) 691-2020 or fill out the contact form — it takes under two minutes, and there’s no obligation involved.
Step 2: We connect and build an individualized plan. Ashley reviews your child’s background, discusses your specific concerns, and designs an evaluation approach tailored to your child — not a one-size-fits-all battery.
Step 3: You walk away with clarity and a real plan. After testing is complete, we sit down with your family, explain every finding in plain English, and hand you a step-by-step plan your child’s school team can act on immediately.
Evaluations Designed to Identify What Your Child Actually Needs — and What to Do About It
Gifted & Twice-Exceptional (2e) Identification
Many gifted children are also navigating a specific learning difference, ADHD, or anxiety, and the combination means they often slip through the cracks of standard school screening. Our doctoral-level specialization in gifted and twice-exceptional learners means we know how to find the full picture when a child’s advanced abilities are masking their areas of need. You leave with a clear identification and a plan built around your child’s complete profile.
ADHD Evaluation (Inattentive, Hyperactive, and Combined Presentations)
Inattention in the classroom doesn’t always mean ADHD — and ADHD doesn’t always look the way people expect. We assess executive functioning, attentional control, and behavioral patterns in context, separating ADHD from chronic understimulation, anxiety, or processing differences. You leave knowing exactly what is driving your child’s experience at school — and what supports will actually help.
Specific Learning Disorder (SLD) Assessment
Reading, written expression, and mathematics difficulties are frequently misread as effort or attitude problems. We use cognitive and achievement testing to identify Specific Learning Disorders — including dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia — and translate those findings directly into accommodations your child’s school can implement under a 504 Plan or IEP. You leave with documentation that the school has to take seriously.
Learning Disabilities: Reading (Including Dyslexia), Written Expression, and Mathematics
When a bright child struggles to read, write, or work through math problems, it’s rarely a matter of effort — and the longer it goes unidentified, the more it costs your child academically and emotionally. We use comprehensive cognitive and achievement testing to identify the specific learning disorder behind the struggle, whether that’s dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, or a related profile. Our evaluations look at the underlying processes — phonological processing, working memory, processing speed, written language, and mathematical reasoning — so the diagnosis reflects how your child actually learns, not just where they’re falling behind. You leave with a clear identification, evidence-based recommendations, and documentation the school must act on under a 504 Plan or IEP.
Social-Emotional and Executive Functioning Screening
Some children perform at grade level academically but are quietly falling apart. Anxiety, perfectionism, and emotional regulation challenges don’t always show up in grades — but they show up everywhere else. We integrate social-emotional screening into our educational evaluations so the full picture of your child’s experience is captured, not just the academic data. You leave with an understanding of what’s driving the stress — and a plan for addressing it.
Colorado Advanced Learning Plan (ALP) and IEP Support
Getting the right identification is step one. Getting the school to act on it is step two. Ashley’s direct experience inside Denver Metro public and private school systems means she knows exactly how to translate evaluation findings into the specific language Colorado’s Advanced Learning Plan (ALP), 504 Plan, and IEP frameworks require. You leave with documentation and recommendations your school team can implement — and the confidence to advocate for your child in every meeting that follows.
Private vs. School-Based Evaluation
District-funded evaluations are limited in scope, often have significant wait times, and are designed to determine eligibility — not to build a full understanding of your child. A private educational evaluation through ElevateU is individualized, thorough, and designed to answer the questions the school’s process isn’t built to ask. You leave with a level of clarity that a school-based screening simply cannot provide.
Independent School Admissions Testing (WISC-V and WPPSI-IV)
Denver’s top independent and private schools frequently require cognitive testing as part of the admissions process, and the results carry real weight in placement decisions. Ashley administers both the WISC-V (ages 6–16) and the WPPSI-IV (ages 2:6–7:7), the gold-standard cognitive assessments accepted by independent schools across the Denver Metro area. Testing takes place in a calm, child-friendly environment in our Cherry Creek office, with reports turned around on a timeline that fits admissions deadlines. You leave with a professional, admissions-ready report — and the confidence that your child was assessed by a doctoral-level school psychologist who understands exactly what these schools are looking for.
Why Denver Families Choose ElevateU for Psychoeducational Evaluation
Ashley Vacante Ed.D., NCSP, is not a generalist. Her doctorate from the University of Denver specialized specifically in the identification, academic, and social-emotional needs of gifted and talented students — a focus that most educational psychologists in Denver simply do not have. That specialization matters when your child’s profile is complex.
As a Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP), Ashley holds one of the most rigorous credentials in the field — a national certification that signals both clinical depth and a specific commitment to the school-based needs of children and adolescents. She has extensive experience with current cognitive, achievement, and behavioral assessments across the full developmental range, from preschool through college age.
What sets ElevateU apart from a standard assessment practice is the team-based model. Ashley works with the full ecosystem around your child — parents, school staff, tutors, coaches, and support providers — because consistency across environments is what makes interventions actually work. This isn’t an evaluation you receive and then navigate alone. It’s the beginning of a coordinated plan.
The Cherry Creek location reflects the standard of care you’ll receive. ElevateU is a premium, established practice — not a high-volume assessment mill. Every evaluation is individualized to your child’s specific profile and referral questions. You are not getting a cookie-cutter report.
Common Questions About Psychoeducational Evaluation in Denver
How is a private educational evaluation different from what Denver Public Schools provides?
A school-based evaluation is designed to determine eligibility for specific services — it has a narrow scope and is limited by district resources and timelines. A private evaluation through ElevateU is individualized to your child’s specific profile and referral questions, goes significantly deeper into cognitive, achievement, and social-emotional functioning, and is designed to give your family a complete picture — not just a yes or no on eligibility.
How do I know if my child needs a full educational evaluation or just a tutor?
If your child is working with a tutor and not making meaningful progress, or if the same patterns keep showing up across different subjects, teachers, and environments, that’s a signal that something in the underlying learning profile needs to be understood. A tutor addresses the content, and an educational evaluation identifies why the content isn’t sticking and what support structure will actually work.
Can an evaluation tell the difference between ADHD and a gifted child who’s bored and understimulated?
Yes — and this distinction is one of ElevateU’s specific areas of expertise. Cognitive testing, behavioral rating scales, and a thorough developmental history together create a profile that separates chronic understimulation from true attentional differences. Many twice-exceptional students have been misidentified in one direction or the other. Getting this right matters enormously for the interventions that follow.
What does a psychoeducational evaluation cost in Denver?
Private educational evaluations in the Denver market typically range from approximately $2,000 to $3,500, depending on the scope and referral questions involved. We are happy to discuss the specifics of your child’s situation and what an individualized evaluation would involve — contact us at (303) 691-2020 to get started.
What specific information from the evaluation does Colorado require to initiate an Advanced Learning Plan (ALP)?
Colorado’s Advanced Learning Plan requires documentation of a student’s advanced learning needs, including cognitive assessment data and evidence of how those needs differ from the general curriculum. ElevateU’s reports are written with Colorado’s ALP framework in mind — the findings are translated directly into the language, and data points your child’s school needs to initiate and build the plan.
My child performs at grade level but is clearly anxious and overwhelmed. Does that warrant an evaluation?
Absolutely. Grade-level academic performance does not mean a child’s needs are being met. Anxiety, perfectionism, emotional dysregulation, and social difficulties are all areas that a thorough educational evaluation addresses — and they frequently have roots in an unidentified learning profile or a mismatch between a child’s cognitive profile and their environment. Understanding the full picture is always worth it.
How long does the evaluation process take from start to finish?
The timeline varies depending on the scope of the evaluation and scheduling. We move thoughtfully — because a thorough, individualized evaluation takes the time it takes to do correctly.
Ready to Get Clarity on Your Child’s Academic and Social-Emotional Needs?
Contact us today, and we’ll walk you through what an individualized evaluation would look like for your child. Within minutes of reaching out, you’ll hear from our team — no pressure, no obligation, just a real conversation about what your child needs and how we can help. You’ve been searching for answers. Let’s find them together.
We provide a supportive environment to help students and their families find the academic and social-emotional help they have been searching for.