|
Student to
Student |
|
 Dear Prospective Academy Students,
My mom found out about The Davidson Academy a few months before I was supposed to go into middle school. She told me that it was going to be a really small school for really smart kids, and even though I wouldn’t be with my old classmates all the time, I’d still see them occasionally and I’d make new friends. I didn’t believe her. It seemed like the insane, to leave my life-long friends and be stuck with geeks who probably wouldn’t even like me and who would be way too smart to talk to me. I was bound and determined not to go. But the weirdest thing happened when I got my acceptance letter: I was excited.
And now, almost four years later, I know I was right to be excited. This school has changed me forever. I can’t even imagine what life would be like at a normal high school. At the Academy, I have made closer friendships than I could ever have imagined. We’re still middle and high school aged kids, so we can have conversations about silly things like clothes and boys, but they are usually tied in to discussions of our favorite ancient Greek philosopher or arguments about what Shakespeare really meant to show in act III, scene III of Macbeth.
 The best thing about the Academy isn’t the student body or our lunchtime conversations. Even better are the classes, the teachers, and the opportunities that come with the school. Every student's education is tailored to them specifically so that they can take advanced and remedial classes as needed.
If a student exhausts the school’s options in a particular subject area, they can take
University of Nevada, Reno classes. It’s a great opportunity for students to discover who they are and what interests them.
The Academy really teaches its students to live by our core values: respect, responsibility, pursuit of knowledge, leadership, balance and integrity. It’s let me mature and reach heights that I never would have thought possible. I’ve met people that I can’t imagine being without now, because every day they challenge me and make me grow.
Before it all started, I was afraid of the very idea
of it, but now I can’t even imagine what my life would have been like without
The Davidson Academy.
~
Marissa Clopton, Fourth Year Davidson Academy Student
|
|
|
Get to Know Us |
|
 The Davidson Academy was a focal point at the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented's
recent annual conference. Co-founder of the Davidson
Institute, Jan Davidson, was the keynote speaker,
and I spoke about the Academy’s unique assessment
process for selecting students. Laura Vanderkam,
author of the
Gifted Exchange blog, provided her
thoughts about assessment at the Academy in
this
post. Learn more about the Academy’s application
review process
here.
With the fall semester quickly coming to a close,
this is just a reminder that we are on the same
academic calendar as the University of Nevada, Reno.
This means that the school year is divided into fall and spring semesters,
separated by a month-long break. The Academy also
observes the same holidays as the University.
Best
wishes for the holiday season!
~ Colleen Harsin, Director of The Davidson Academy of Nevada
|
|
|
Program
Updates |
|
2010-2011 Application Available
 If you think
The Davidson Academy of Nevada is the right fit for you, the next step is to apply! Visit the
How to Apply page to download the three application PDF files. The Academy is specifically designed to meet the needs of profoundly gifted middle and high school students at the sixth grade level and beyond who score in the 99.9th percentile on IQ or college entrance tests, such as the SAT or ACT. Please review the
Test Score Criteria page of our website as these scores are mandatory for student eligibility. Please visit the
Application Review Process for detailed information in addition to the Admissions section of the
FAQs page.
Upcoming Tours
of the Academy
Prospective students and their families have been visiting us for informational monthly tours of The Davidson Academy since the beginning of the school year. Seeing the Academy for yourself allows you to get an entirely different feel for the learning environment! Ask specific questions, hear from current students and parents, familiarize yourself  with our faculty and staff, and network with others considering the Academy. Visit
during a monthly tour on one of the following dates:
- Friday, Jan. 22, 2010
- Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010
- Thursday, March 25, 2010
- Thursday, April 15, 2010
RSVPs
are required for these tours. If you would like more information, please email
explore@davidsonacademy.unr.edu.
New Davidson Academy Brochure
The
new Davidson Academy brochure is now available! This
updated brochure provides an overview of what sets the
Academy apart from other schools, the Academy's approach
to curriculum, academics, student life, extracurricular
activities, admissions, information about the campus
home and much more!
View the online version (PDF) or
request copies of the
brochure by mail.
|
|
|
Cool Spots on
Campus - Ansari Business Building |
|
 A number of Davidson Academy students attend University of Nevada, Reno courses in the
Ansari Business Building. Only a short walk from the Academy, the building is home to the renowned College of Business. Completed in 1982 and named in honor of Nazir Ansari, a former professor of managerial sciences, the building also houses the Nevada Small Business Development Center, the College of Liberal Arts, the Anthropology Department and more.
|
|
|
Student
Activities |
|
Davidson Academy’s Test Track Dummies Earn Trophy at Robotics Competition in Las Vegas
 The Test Track Dummies, a robotics team comprised of 11 to 14 year olds from
the Academy, returned home with a coveted programming trophy from the FIRST Lego League (FLL) Robotics competition
recently held in Las Vegas. FLL presents the programming
award to the team that understands outstanding programming
principles that allow their robot to perform challenging
tasks autonomously and repeatedly. For the FLL competition, the Test Track Dummies designed, built and programmed a robot to perform designated missions on a robotics table, and presented a research project focused on pedestrian safety near the University of Nevada, Reno.
The team was featured in this Reno Gazette-Journal
article.
Congratulations to the Test Track Dummies!
"Winter in Hollywood" Dance
Davidson Academy students recently celebrated the conclusion of another semester with “Winter in Hollywood,” featuring bright lights, shiny stars and even a red-carpet entrance! Students of all ages came together to dance, play board games, socialize, and snack on some very tasty treats provided
by a parent-sponsored potluck.
|
|
|
Meet Mr. Bahn, History Instructor |
|
 What subjects/age groups do you work with the most at
The Davidson Academy?
Currently I teach one section of Modern History, which is geared toward younger students ranging primarily from 10
to 12 years old. Most of my time, however, is spent with the older students, many of them veterans at the Davidson Academy by now, teaching U.S. History and Government. I have a lot of fun pushing the older students to their intellectual limits.
How is the Academy different from other schools where you have taught in the past?
The most basic differences are also pretty amazing in their affects on atmosphere and pedagogy. Being on a university campus is certainly conducive to the learning environment, even just in terms of aesthetics. But more importantly, it gives both students and teachers access to resources and technologies (along with college courses) that most other middle and high schools don’t have—from “smart rooms” for multimedia presentations to the university’s library system. All of this, combined with some of the Academy’s other flexibilities, give students the opportunity to satiate their inquiries in more meaningful and structured ways. On that note, we also have a staff that is particularly apt in setting all of this in motion on a daily basis. We have a certain amount of academic freedom that gives us more license to adapt curriculum topics and methods to our unique students, whereas many
K-12 teachers find their hands tied by factors that fall under the umbrella of standardization.
What are a
few of the more interesting or challenging projects that you
have assisted Academy students with in your classroom?
Students today have access to a wealth of primary sources, now accessible from a personal computer, that were unavailable to the general public 10+ years ago. We engage with these sources nearly every day in my classroom; some of these activities are short-term and some are long, some are individual assignments and some are group efforts.
Students develop skills in close textual analysis,
synthesis, writing and presentation. In the process, they
develop a sense of historical ambiguity,
narrative/counter-narrative, and the ethical dilemmas of
writing about the past.
I also emphasize “historiographical awareness” with my students, which means that I expose them to other ideas and writings by professional, academic historians. Read in conjunction with their primary sources, they get a sense not only of the past but of a much bigger debate that historians have had about the past. Ideally, then, my students feel like they are contributing to an ongoing dialogue that historians are always having.
This year, after selecting a historical topic of personal interest, students are independently procuring a combination of primary and secondary sources, completing an annotated bibliography, and methodically putting together an historical analysis of their sources. The end result will be a 5-7 page paper, but a year’s worth of research and writing milestones are making it a meaningful exercise for them. They are quickly learning the difference between a report and a paper.
|
|
|
"As an Academy student, the offered features far surpass the opportunities offered by other academic institutions. The academic level is much more rigorous than other schools I have been to."
Darlon Jan, Third Year Davidson Academy Student
|
|
|
