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Hi prospective students!
I’m Paolo Adajar, and I’m entering my fourth and final year at the Davidson Academy. It’s really difficult to believe that I’m reaching the end of my time here at the Academy and that I’m going to be leaving the school that has given so much to me over the past few years.
I entered the Davidson Academy not exactly sure what I wanted to do once I left high school—I was interested in everything from economics to math to physics. My sophomore year, my history teacher encouraged me to join DECA, a business organization that he helped run at our school. Well, I did—and since then I’ve never looked back. Like other business clubs, DECA has taught me skills from financial planning to effective communication, but it’s also been so much more than that. I’ve had some of the best experiences of my life—traveling across the country with some of my best friends, starting whole-bus sing-alongs to quality songs like All Star, and standing on stage in front of 18,000 people as an international finalist. I’ve been an officer for Davidson DECA, which has helped turn me into a more confident leader; I can honestly say that I would not be the person I am today if I didn’t join DECA.
Bad math puns are integral to who I am. Here at the Davidson Academy, I’ve not only found people who appreciate my terrible sense of humor, but also ways for me to explore my interest in math, from university math courses, like Linear Algebra and Analysis, to Math Club, which probably has the most inside jokes out of any organization at this school. Davidson also sparked my interest in teaching; I’ve been a student aide for Calculus and have even taught a lesson about Power of a Point and Euler’s Totient Function to the middle school Math Competition class that meets on Fridays.
This August, I am teaching students at the A-Star Summer Math Program in Boston, something I never would have dreamed of doing without this school.
The Academy also offers students the ability to create their own opportunities. Last year, along with some of my peers and my physics teacher, I helped start a team for Science Bowl, a speed-based science competition. Through intense studying and honing of our buzzer skills, in February, we won the Nevada Regional Science Bowl and qualified for the National Science Bowl in Washington, D.C., where we had the opportunity to visit the National Mall and meet other incredible students from across the country. I’ve had so many great experiences with this group of friends, all because this school gives you the freedom to do what you want to do.
 As you can see, the Davidson Academy has incredible educational programs and resources—and our passions don’t stop at academics. Although we don’t have any official sports teams, many students participate in athletics, like tennis, volleyball, and skiing, at other high schools near to them. Along with several other Davidson students, I’ve been a member of a student-run basketball team called
The Illuminati for the past few years that plays in a local rec
league. This team has helped foster a sense of community at
the Academy—not just for those on the team, but also for the
dozens of students and teachers that have cheered us on at
our weekly games. And, after four long years, we finally
broke our streak of 37 consecutive losses and won our first
games this season.
In short, the Davidson Academy is absolutely amazing. If you’ve read any of the past newsletters, you know that the students create an unbelievably vibrant community, the teachers genuinely care about their students, the opportunities are endless, and so much more that I can’t even begin to describe in this letter. If you think that you want to be a part of this, then please, apply to be here for the 2017-18 school year!
~ Paulo Adajar, Davidson Academy student
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2017-2018 Application Available |
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2017-2018
Application Now Available
The
Davidson Academy application for the 2017-2018 school year is now available! Visit the
How to Apply page to access the online application system. If you are looking for an environment to better fit your social and academic needs, the Davidson Academy may be the place for you!
At the Davidson Academy, our mission is to offer you advanced educational opportunities designed to specifically serve your needs, interests and goals.
In addition, we provide:
- A Personalized Learning Plan (PLP) that serves as a tool to guide us in meeting your unique needs;
- A wide range of courses and learning options, including: choices of levels of study to pursue in each of your courses, university courses,
and independent study and research opportunities;
- The opportunity to build friendships, pursue extracurricular activities, contribute to the community and learn with intellectual peers;
- Access to the intellectual, cultural, athletic resources on the University
of Nevada, Reno campus, the Reno/Tahoe area and the beauty of the Sierra Mountains.
 Please review the
Qualification Criteria and
How to Apply pages of our website for more information. 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. On the
Application Review Process page, you will find detailed information about the on-site assessment.
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Admissions
Information Session and Tours |
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Admissions
Information SessionThe Davidson Academy will be hosting
an Admissions Information Session to present and answer questions about the application and admissions process for the 2017-2018 school year. This
event will be held from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Davidson Academy on
Sept. 14, 2016 (RSVP Required).
 ToursThe Davidson Academy frequently hosts tours for prospective students and their parents. At these tours, prospective students and their parents meet current Academy students, parents, faculty and staff, and ask specific questions about the school.
Upcoming school tours will be held from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on the following Fridays (RSVP Required):
- Sept. 23, 2016
- Oct. 21, 2016
- Nov. 18, 2016
- Dec. 9, 2016
If you would like more information, please email
outreach@davidsonacademy.unr.edu.
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Advising |
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 Guidance Counseling
The Davidson Academy’s Student Services Team (SST) works closely with the students, parents and faculty to assist with creating and monitoring each student’s Personalized Learning Plan (PLP). In all aspects of student services,
the Academy team works together to help our students grow socially, emotionally and academically,
offering a wide variety of support services including:
- Peer Advising Liaisons (PALs): Student leaders who communicate with faculty, staff, and students to identify academic skills that may need to be developed. They work with peers in one-on-one advising sessions to brainstorm, devise, modify, and implement strategies that facilitate academic progress. PALs also facilitate group advising sessions and offer study skills presentations school-wide.
- School Safety Monitors (SSMs): Student leaders who strive to build awareness and sensitivity for safety- and security-related issues within our school community, and work to increase collaboration and communication among everyone.
- The Center: faculty to student and peer to peer tutoring for math, writing, history, and foreign language
- Character Strengths assessments and development
Visit the Davidson Academy's
Guidance Counseling page to learn more.
 College Advising
Whichever path a student
chooses to pursue; we are in a position to help students
find the route that will work best for them. We really
encourage our students to be in the driver’s seat with
regard to planning their future, but our Student Services
Team will be there to ask them the right questions,
encourage them along the journey and help them become the
best versions of themselves if they choose to do so.
Twice a year we provide ongoing evaluation via survey to our families to determine if our student’s needs are being met, what they would like to work on, and if there are areas we can improve upon. In terms of Counseling,
99 percent of our students reported that they found that they could trust their counselor, and that their counselor cared about them etc. Our last Gallup Student Poll indicated that the vast majority of our students feel safe, hopeful and engaged while at school.
Visit the Davidson Academy's
College Advising page to learn more.
For more information about Davidson Academy graduates, including a list of colleges where they have been accepted, please visit
Our Graduates page.
To read some of the information that the Academy provides to colleges, visit the
Davidson Academy School Profile. The Academy
Curriculum Overview page may also be of interest.
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 “Thinking critically, being challenged to accomplish new things and ideas, and coloring outside of the pre-determined academic “lines” comes with it’s own set of growing pains. But, at Davidson, it’s made possible. It’s something that every student here is capable of achieving because the spirit of these ideas pervades every molecule of the school. Here, if someone has the drive and motivation, everything is put at our fingertips to learn, grow, and achieve more than ever thought possible. So, I hope you’ll join us. We need more people like you.”
Valary Zvyagin, Davidson Academy Graduate
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