I beleive they will continue to add a grade per year, but I don't think it's connected with South Loop in any way. South Loop's is being phased out, but NTA is a new program. The reviews from parents who attended the open houses last year were all very very positive and many parents who visited ended up enrolling their kids in the gifted program. As of Oct 13 I haven't heard much feedback (which usually means things are doing well.) But I haven't heard much pos or neg yet about how it's going. Certainly worth a look, though.