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Student to Student |
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 Hi!
I'm Jade Allison, and this is the last semester of my fifth and final year at The Davidson Academy. I started 8th grade here in 2008 when I was 11 years old and will be graduating in the spring at 17. I am so thankful that I have been given the amazing opportunity to attend this school. It was difficult, at first, to leave behind my friends at my previous school, but when I got here, I immediately knew that it would be worth it. It wasn’t hard to make new friends who really understood me and shared my interests. And for the first time, the academics were actually challenging, in a good way. I wasn’t given mindless busy work. Rather, the teachers were truly interested in teaching me to expand my knowledge - not just to pass standardized tests. It has been a wonderful high school experience, and if I could go back, I would have no doubts of making the same decision to attend.
One of the best things about the Academy is its flexibility with courses. The school is really focused on allowing the students to take the courses that they are ready for and interested in taking. At previous schools, I took the same courses that all the other students in my grade took, and there was no changing that. Now though, if I am ready for a higher level, that option is readily available, and I am not turned down just because of my age or grade level. And if the school doesn’t offer a particular course, such as Geology, then I have the ability to take it at the University of Nevada, Reno. Last semester, I was able to take History of Asia, Spanish Conversation (Spanish 5), and Statistics simply because of the amazing partnership our school has with the University. This semester, I am enrolled in Beginner’s Contemporary Dance, despite never having taken any dance-related course prior, and I love it. Originally, I was naturally concerned with how I would do in university-level classes, but my experience with all my University courses has been a very positive one. I never feel like I’m floundering, and I’m able to keep up and understand the material thoroughly. The Academy's connections with the University have really allowed me to explore future career choices I might want to pursue. For me, always having a passion for working with animals, I’d never really considered being a chemist. However, having worked in University chemistry labs every Friday as part of the standard Academy Advanced Chemistry course, I now know that chemistry is the path that I want to follow.
Another really special component of the Academy is its close community and esteemed environment. Being a small school and having small classes has really allowed us to get to know each other and have more engaging classrooms and discussions. At other schools, students can really get lost in a sea of classmates, but here you have to apply yourself; you can’t get away with hiding in the corner, doing close to nothing. This basically means that we can really expound on each other’s ideas in further depth than I would’ve thought possible before coming here; it’s really a fascinating thing to partake in with peers. At the Academy, the teachers will know all of their students’ names and most of the names of students they don’t even have classes with probably within the first week. It really makes a shy new student, like I was at one time (as hard as that is to believe for many), feel welcomed and really feel like s/he’s a part of a collective group. Attending The Davidson Academy has been a priceless experience, and if given the chance, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.
~ Jade Allison, Fifth Year Davidson Academy Student
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Program Updates |
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 2013-2014 Application Available
If you think The Davidson Academy of Nevada may be the right fit for you, the application deadline of
April 1 for the 2013-2014 school year is fast approaching! Visit the
How to Apply page to download the application PDF files. The Academy is specifically designed to meet the needs of profoundly gifted middle and high school students who score in the 99.9th percentile on IQ or college entrance tests, such as the SAT or ACT. Please review the recently updated
Qualification Criteria page of our website as these scores are mandatory for student eligibility. On the
Application Review Process
page, you will find detailed information about the on-site assessment.
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College Advising |
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The College Advising team at The Davidson Academy of Nevada works closely with students to help them prepare for the next step of their academic careers. Students are directed with clear guidelines in the college application process on a year-to-year basis, with a detailed timeline provided on the
College Advising page. Using Naviance,
a web-based planning and advising system, students can manage
the college application process with the discipline and
responsibility required. For more information about Davidson
Academy graduates, including a list of colleges where they have
been accepted, please visit
Our Graduates page.
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Student
Activities |
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2013 Nevada Science Olympiad
The Davidson Academy
had a team compete in the 2013
Nevada Science Olympiad for the first
time, finishing with spectacular results! The Academy team
(pictured below) finished
in 2nd place in the overall competition in a grouping with several
high school teams, an impressive accomplishment for a team featuring
several students who are younger than traditional high school age.
The 23-event extravaganza was held on the campus of the University
of Nevada, Reno, where the Academy is located.
Here are the results for the events in which Academy students won a medal:
- Boomilever, 1st Place - Dixee Kimball and Yatin Chandar
- Designer Genes, 1st Place – Eric Liu and Haydn Bradstreet
- MagLev, 1st Place – Rebecca Bauer and Yatin Chandar
- Astronomy, 2nd Place – Nadia Tung and Rebecca Bauer
- Circuit Lab, 2nd Place – Rebecca Bauer and Dixee Kimball
- Remote sensing, 2nd Place – Hadley Weiss and Ryan Grinnell
- Forensics, 3rd Place – Juliana Bogert and Hadley Weiss
- Rocks & Minerals, 3rd Place – Grace Hong and Scott Wade
- Technical Problem Solving, 3rd Place – Haydn Bradstreet
and Dylan Hildebrand
- Water Quality, 3rd Place – Ian Oh and Eric Liu
- Write It Do It, 3rd Place – Juliana Bogert and Grace Hong
Students who were instrumental to the success of the team, but who did not compete, include Raghavi Anand,
Hannah Huh, Rinik Kumar, Oliver Leitner and Justin Stevens.
Congratulations to all!
 MathCounts
Following last month's standout performance at the Northern Nevada Chapter MathCounts Competition,
The Davidson Academy of Nevada MathCounts team of Dylan Hildebrand, Rinik Kumar, Sarah MacHarg
and Ian Oh outdid themselves this month, finishing in 1st place in
the Nevada state competition!
Dylan Hildebrand finished in 3rd place overall and will be representing
Nevada in the national competition. Additionally, Dylan, Ameen Homayoon, Galen Kimball, Rinik Kumar, Sarah MacHarg
and Ian Oh scored in the top eight of the Northern Nevada teams and competed in the countdown round, where Dylan was able to finish in first place.
American Mathematics Contest (AMC)
A number of Davidson Academy
students participated in the
American Mathematics Contest (AMC),
with nine qualifying to advance to the next level, the
American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME).
The AMC 12 qualifiers, which constitute the top 5 percent in the
nation, are: Elliot Glazer (winner for 12A and
12B, Distinction Honor roll for being in the top 1 percent), Lillian Chien
(Young student certificate of achievement), Elli Tian, Dennis Wei
and Richie Zheng. The
AMC 10 qualifiers, which constitute the top 2.5 percent in the nation, are: Dhruv
Rohatgi (winner for 10A, young student certificate of achievement),
Justin Stevens (winner for 10B), Dylan Hildebrand (young student
certificate of achievement) and Joseph Chou.
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Meet Mr.
Ripley, Mathematics Instructor |
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 How is the Academy different from other schools where you have taught in the past?
Being a product of the public school and University systems, the most stark difference is the students I have the pleasure of teaching at
The Davidson Academy are far more motivated to learn, and, by and large, really enjoy the mathematics rather than loathing them. The class sizes are much smaller and the students are more able to actively engage in their learning, both individually and in a group setting.
Are there any new projects you are currently working on in the classroom?
I am currently in the process of “flipping” my classroom, which is a new pedagogical approach to teaching wherein students acquire content outside of class – I publish my lectures on YouTube - and simply do math in class, rather than the old, more didactic, approach where I lectured to students during class and then students were given math problems for homework. I came to the idea through a
TED Talk by Salman
Khan and it just made sense for students to be spending most of their in-class time doing math, with my guidance, rather than listening to me lecture about it. The students have responded very well and their feedback indicates that they enjoy the new format a great deal.
What is your favorite part about working with Academy students?
The small class sizes give me a chance to really get to know and interact with the students. Research shows that both student performance in and appreciation of math is correlated with the relationships they build with their instructors, and the
Academy gives me an opportunity to really foster those relationships. It’s also pretty cool to be able to interact with some of the brighter minds in our country, particularly at very key developmental stages of their math education.
How has the Academy changed since you first joined the team?
Firstly, and most obviously, is our size and our location. I have seen the Academy grow from
35 students to our present population of 126 and our newest facilities in the Jot Travis Building on the University of Nevada,
Reno campus make teaching a pleasure because of all
of the access to technology and great classrooms.
Accompanying the growth of our student population is
the growth of our faculty and staff. We have such a
great group here right now and everybody seems to
understand that The
Davidson Academy is a unique and special
school.
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In the News |
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 Siemens Foundation Awards for Advanced Placement
Academy students Rebecca Bauer and Daniel Ziegler were featured in the Reno
Gazette-Journal article,
"School announcements: AP top achievers, fundraising for We the People, Gifted & Talented fair,"
for being recognized as 2012 Siemens Award winners for Nevada.
Both will receive a $2,000 scholarship from the Siemens Foundation, based on achieving excellent Advanced Placement scores.
Academy student Karthik Rohatgi was
also featured in the
Reno Gazette-Journal for being named one of Nevada's four 2013
Distinguished Finalists by the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards.
Karthik helps promote the Nevada farming community and provided fresh, healthy produce to families through Farm Fresh for Kids.
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 “As it relates to my pursuit of knowledge, my time at The Davidson Academy has been exactly what I was hoping for .
. . I’m already convinced that your experience will be just as positive, if not better. In the meantime, I’ll be off trying to make my mark at Princeton—and I can definitely credit the Academy with giving me the know-how to do so.”
Justin Otor, Davidson Academy Graduate (pictured, left)
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