"Fast Track" is a pseudonym for an accelerated, advanced language arts program for verbally gifted and high potential students in grades 6-8. The critical thinking model used for "Fast Track" was gleaned from Coalition of Essential Schools founder Ted Sizer's Habits of Mind: significance, evidence, connections, perspective, and supposition, as practiced by faculty and students at Central Park East Secondary School (CPESS) in New York City. The habits permeate every aspect of the school, from curriculum to behavior management. In "Fast Track," students are taught Habits of Mind. They use them in discussions, in responding to reading, and in writing. Like a fast track for race horses, the entire "Fast Track" language arts program provides opportunities for optimal performance within a safe environment. The "Fast Track" program makes a difference, not just with students' communication skills, but within the students themselves, both cognitively and affectively.