1. Where else can you find amazing classes such as Hacker Calculus, Zoo Design, Geochemistry and Create and Rule Your Own Country? Our schedule is packed with inspiring, creative and one-of-a-kind offerings for bright students that you won鈥檛 find anywhere else. Click for the full list.
2. We also have three curricula! This summer, we鈥檒l be offering Black Death, It鈥檚 Electrifying: Fueling the Future and The Penguin Predicament. These curricula are NAGC award-winning and her past offerings are always popular. They utilize problem-based learning (PBL) approach and allow students to take on roles, help solve problems and navigate real-world situations.
3. Our are top-notch! Not only do they provide outstanding enrichment, guided inquiry, and incredible content, but they also bring with them impressive backgrounds and experience: JPL, CalTech, USC, The Natural History Museum, The Huntington Library, UCLA, MIT and much more.
4. At Academy students love to learn! This isn鈥檛 summer school 鈥� it鈥檚 summer enrichment, packed with peers that value learning for all the challenge, new perspectives and flat-out fun it provides. Interested in meeting like-minded peers? Join us this summer!
5. Rockets, explosions and dissections 鈥� oh, my! Academy classes are hands-on and designed to promote building, construction, tinkering, art, experiments, role-playing and debate. As the saying goes, we鈥檙e not afraid to get our hands dirty 鈥� and neither should you!聽
6. More than just classes: we offer free community events throughout the summer, such as student-led workshops, movie nights and an open house 鈥� and who knows what else might pop up? Our Learning Center is the perfect place not only for classes, but for meeting new peers and parents through fun and engaging events and activities that allow for socialization, games, free play and conversation.
7. New science lab! Have you heard? The Learning Center now has a science wet lab, complete with science equipment and technology, sinks, workstations and lab tables and stools. We鈥檒l be utilizing this space for the first time this summer and couldn鈥檛 be more excited to engage in scientific inquiry in an authentic environment.听聽
8. Two words: 3D printer! Our Hacker Calculus course, running for the first time this summer, will include use of the printer and building visual models of calculus concepts and equations.There are still spots available in sessions II and III!
9. Here, There Be Dragons! Our Dungeons and Dragons course is running in sessions I and III and spots are still available. Historically one of our most popular courses, this class engages students in fantasy, decision making, leadership, social skills and strategy. Don鈥檛 miss out on your chance to embark on the many exciting journeys of this class!
10. Flexible schedule: We offer four classes per session for each of three age groups 鈥� and the choice is up to you! From just one class to a full-day option, you can customize your schedule to best meet your interests and learning needs. The Academy Team would be happy to answer any questions and discuss the different course options with you, so please don鈥檛 hesitate to give us a call: (626) 403-8900.

We look forward to seeing you at Academy this summer!

The Summer Academy application deadline is May 29. to learn more and to submit your application today.听

It鈥檚 hard to believe 鈥� but summer break is already upon us. Schools are letting out, vacations are being booked, and myriad summer activities are being mulled over. With that in mind, you may be asking yourself, 鈥淲hy should I choose over other programs, camps and enrichment activities?鈥� Admittedly, L.A. County is flooded with programs that span STEM topics, the arts, sports and nature, but here are 10 things 优蜜视频鈥檚 Summer Academy program provides that makes it stand out from the rest:

• New themes for 2018!: Each of our three two-week sessions have a unique theme this summer. Is your child someone who enjoys learning about different worlds 鈥� worlds under the sea, the World Wide Web, galaxies and the solar systems or the world of food science? Then our Session I Globetrotters is the perfect choice! In Session II, our Systems Sleuths untangle and understand human body systems, the food chain, circuits, and the periodic table, and discover ways in which even seemingly chaotic entities are part of a larger system. And for the tinkerers and visionaries, Session III allows our students to become Inventioneers, taking deep-dives into the worlds of creativity, fantasy, design and the creation of realms and technology. For a full list of classes and schedules, .
• A dedicated home away from home: In 2017, 优蜜视频 acquired our Learning Center on Marengo Avenue, which hosts Academy courses, workshops and family-friendly events. Parents, siblings, friends and babysitters are welcome to sit in our library or on our front porch while classes are taking place. We鈥檝e also got an impressive collection of books, puzzles, Legos and other toys to tinker with 鈥� along with wifi if you need to get work done. If you鈥檝e got errands to run, you鈥檙e in luck: we鈥檙e within walking distance of Whole Foods, Trader Joe鈥檚, Starbucks and much more!
• Explosions, dissections and contraptions 鈥� oh, my!: At Academy, we make, create, design, build, test, mold, sketch 鈥� and sometimes get our hands dirty. We鈥檙e not content to just sit and listen; we鈥檇 rather be launching rockets, making ice cream in a bag, discovering life through a microscope or developing hilarious comedy sketches with our friends. There are no tests here, but you鈥檒l be surprised to discover just how much you鈥檝e learned when class is over.

• Our teachers don鈥檛 just show up 鈥� they dress up!: If you enroll in Ellen Brown鈥檚 King George class, odds are she鈥檒l show up at least once in her Revolutionary War hat. Grayson Kent will be bringing animal bones, fossils and teeth to his Cenozoic Life and Ultimate Guide to Predators You can expect robot races in Chris Bradfield鈥檚 Intro to Robotics with Arduino class, and who knows what else! We鈥檙e so proud of the dedication and energy our Instructors put into making Academy classes fun, engaging, stimulating and a one-of-a-kind experience for students.
• It鈥檚 cool to be smart: Everyone at Academy 鈥� students, instructors, staff and families 鈥� loves to learn and encourages it in everything they do. In fact, we鈥檙e all about getting each other to see things from new perspectives, challenging what we鈥檝e always thought to be true and understanding how different disciplines complement each other to span multiple scholarly fields. Interested in the intersection of art and math? Check out Alessandra Santucci鈥檚 class Mosaic Elements: An Artistic Application of Euclidian Geometry. Do you enjoy studying international relations, medicine, and technology? Sign up for Tristan Murphy鈥檚 class How to Save the World: Problem Solving on a Global Scale.
• Flexibility: Whether your summer calendar is currently carte blanche or you鈥檙e juggling soccer, sailing, scouting and swimming, Academy can meet your needs and fit your schedule. Our two-week sessions provide the ideal amount of time for in-depth discovery, but don鈥檛 take time away from other important summer adventures. Classes meet once a day for 90 minutes and students can sign up for 1-4 classes per session. to see which session best fits your child鈥檚 availability.
• Discounts: Speaking of multiple classes, did you know we offer several types of discounts for Academy families? We offer sibling, referral and multiple-class discounts. The more courses you enroll in, the bigger the savings! We also offer scholarships for qualified families in need. for tuition and discount information.
• Choose Your Own Adventure!: Learning is most fun when you have a say in what you鈥檙e learning and how you鈥檙e learning it. To that end, Academy has created the perfect safe space for students to take control of their learning and help shape their scholarly pursuits. Are you a budding Dungeon Master? Find out just how far your skills and inner strengths will take you in Grayson Kent鈥檚 Dungeons and Dragons Do you enjoy coding and creating your own websites that let you show off your interests and talents? Sign up for Alessandra Santucci鈥檚 Intro to Web Design class. Have you always wanted to design and build an intricate, multi-layered marble run, the likes of which you鈥檝e seen in impressive YouTube videos? Then Rube Goldberg: Machines and Mazes is the course for you!
• Friends, Families and Fun: Academy is not just an academic enrichment program. In recent years, Academy has truly become a community of invested, caring and passionate students, families and educators 鈥� all dedicated to the support and advocacy of gifted and talented youth. When you鈥檙e here, you鈥檒l always find someone with whom to chat, discuss gifted programming , and even just get caught up on current events and goings-on around town. Students quickly make connections and friends with peers who are just as passionate about robots, creative writing, ancient history, the Pythagorean Theorem and galaxies as they are. We get gifted students and we鈥檝e created a community in which your child can thrive, be themselves and soar.

• Just the Beginning: At Academy, you鈥檒l be introduced to exciting, challenging courses taught by outstanding Instructors from CalTech, JPL, the Mirman School, Bridges Academy 鈥� to name a few institutions. Our Instructors also host workshops, mini-lectures and Genius Days throughout the year, extending the benefits of Academy courses well beyond the summer. Additionally, our community board features exciting offerings from other 优蜜视频 programs, gifted organizations, families and gifted professionals. 优蜜视频 is dedicated to providing and making families aware of services and events within all aspects of gifted. You鈥檒l be surprised by how much information we have to share when you drop off and pick up your child each day!

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Still not convinced, or perhaps want to get a further look at the type of classes we鈥檙e offering? at 5:30pm, where our Academy instructors will be conducting interactive demonstrations of their coursework.

Every gifted child has a unique story. The following story is part of a series of posts highlighting gifted children and adults we have found through 优蜜视频 programs, depicting the many faces of gifted. 优蜜视频鈥檚 – mentioned in this story 鈥� links gifted high school students from across the country with mentors who advance each participant鈥檚 skills through the application of knowledge and exposure to real world experiences.

Garrett Marcotte
优蜜视频 Apprentice at Avery Research Center in 2004
Software engineer, Facebook

鈥淛ust go for it, because the earlier you gain experience, the greater the benefits you鈥檒l reap from that experience later on. Push yourself beyond your comfort zone, and never be discouraged by failure. Learn from it and do better next time, because you will improve.鈥� – Garrett Marcotte

As a high school sophomore, Garrett participated in 优蜜视频鈥檚 Apprenticeship Program, working with Avery Research Center. Today, Garrett is a software engineer at Facebook, designing and writing the code that makes the popular social networking service work.

After high school, Garrett attended Princeton University and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science and Engineering degree in Electrical Engineering and minors in Computer Science and Robotics. While at Princeton, Garrett took every class he could in all subject areas because he 鈥渄idn鈥檛 want to miss out on any of it.鈥�

Garrett has worked in a variety of jobs, including internships at JPL and Google, a research position at USC, and as a teacher鈥檚 assistant and grader at Princeton. He also spent a summer trying (unsuccessfully) to launch an internet start-up company.

Garrett has been at Facebook for about 18 months and enjoys the work very much. He hopes to get involved again in a start-up company someday. 鈥淚鈥檓 particularly interested in applying technology to education, politics, non-profits, and global issues, so I could easily see myself doing something in that area. But there鈥檚 so much exciting innovation going on all around me every day that I鈥檓 really just trying to keep pace with all the opportunities and go wherever I can have the most impact and really make a difference in the world.鈥�

Although a Facebook IPO is looming, Garrett focuses on the task at hand:

What really attracted me to Facebook was the opportunity to touch the lives of hundreds of millions of people on a daily basis, to contribute to a product that has changed the world, from the individual level of reconnecting friends and families up to the international level of helping millions organize for a common cause. In the Silicon Valley tech world there’s a strong belief that if you build a great product then you will be rewarded accordingly. Facebook is no exception, so the focus of all the employees that I know, from Mark Zuckerberg on down, is the same as it’s always been: to make Facebook the best that we possibly can and a real force for good in the world.

Garrett credits the Apprenticeship Program with giving him a huge jump start on his life path in several ways:

First, it helped me evaluate my interests. The fact that I signed up for a chemistry program but ended up spending most of time programming and working with electronics made it pretty clear where my real passion lay. And it was due to the diversity of projects available and freedom in selecting a project that I was able to reach that realization. Second, the program was a stepping-stone to future opportunities. The experience of owning a project, driving an end-to-end solution, and working within all the constraints of a real-world environment formed a central part of my college applications and job interviews for several years after the program. Finally, I jumped several years ahead of the curve in the field of signal processing, and in particular the most important software program in that field, Matlab. Most of my peers had no exposure to either of these until college, and because of that I was prepared for higher level courses and more advanced opportunities at a younger age. For example, I鈥檓 certain that I would not have been able to intern at JPL right out of high school if it hadn鈥檛 been for the skills I picked up during the Apprenticeship Program.

Although Garrett doesn鈥檛 see the other Apprentices on a regular basis, their paths have crossed a few times. 鈥淭he shared experience of the Apprenticeship program really is a common bond that ties us together even after several years.鈥�

For more about Garrett’s Apprenticeship at Avery Research Center, read聽.听

There are still聽spots available for our Apprenticeship Program in Los Angeles and San Diego. !

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