Hi everyone my name is Arina sabillo and I’m part of the Davidson Institute team and I’m your host for today we’re excited to be here with you this morning and before we dive into this reach information session I wanted to go over a few housekeeping points so you have an
Idea of what to expect in this session this session is intended to run for 60 minutes and the session will include a presentation and be followed by a Q&A we’ll do our best to address as many questions as we can and the time allotted we’d like to point out this is
That this is in a zoom webinar setting and is designed so staff can share their video audio and screen but attendees are in view only mode please note that the chat feature of Zoom has been enabled we do ask that you please direct all of your questions to the Q&A feature we’ll
Do um we would hate to miss any questions submitted into the chat please stay through to the end of the session you will then be directed to our post event survey to help us gather feedback on your experience and a recording of This live webinar will be available on
The Davidson gifted website within a week and now diving right into this session I’m pleased to introduce you to Kayla Laten our director of summer programs here at the Davidson Institute awesome thank you so much Arlene welcome everyone I’m G to go ahead and share my screen so we can get
Started okay all right welcome to the reach info session um I’m so excited that you all are here to learn more about the 2024 summer first um as people are joining we’ll just jump into a poll um just kind of helps me see who is here
Today and so our first one is simply asking if your student has attended an overnight summer camp before or like weekend kind of uh camp or uh Excursion type thing uh just kind of helps see what kind of experience your students are potentially coming into the summer
Uh with so Arlene has that poll released on your screen you should see it go ahead and answer it and we’ll close it here in just a a few minutes okay looks like we’re at about um close to half about 60% yes your kid has been to overnight summer
Camp before and 41% no h no worries that’s awesome good to hear we have some students with experience and some that may be coming into reach without experience okay poll number two the age of my student for the summer will be under 11 11 12 13 or over
13 um so this poll will also be released on your screen uh reach age range requirements are that students are 11 through 13 during program dates um so if they’re under 11 or over 13 they’re likely not going to be a eligible um however I want to get a
Pulse on who’s here today and if we have uh families with students on the younger or older side I believe this poll got released not seeing it on my screen there we go awesome we’ll just take a second and see who is here okay looks like majority of
Students parents um have students who are about 11 or 12 with some at 13 wonderful and our last poll of the day just helps um whoops guide me in our uh in in the overview of reach today so just wondering what you’re most interested in learning more about we did
Look at those uh questions that you had when you registered if you put any in there um however I’m happy to try and expand a little bit more on certain areas based on who’s here and what you’re interested in learning more about we’re going to go through all of these
Topics um however I’d love to hear and see uh what everyone has most questions about so eligibility and Readiness application seminar courses schedule student life staff or maybe other topics okay looks like majority of families want to know more about what this schedule looks like which is
Awesome we will go through that uh also seminar courses in student life and then following eligibility staff application wonderful okay we will um be diving into all of that in just a moment so first I do want to uh introduce a few of the members of our
Team that are here today and that work year round to prep for our summer programs including reach and so um I’ll reintroduce myself for those of you who just joined I’m Kayla I’m the director of the summer programs department and just really looking forward to another
Great summer this year we had a really great year last year uh last few years since the pandemic and so um it’s been wonderful to be back into summer camp and full swing for a couple years now and um just really looking forward to this upcoming summer next we have Avery
Avery is here behind the scenes um answering a lot of your Q&A questions via typing so if you are asking some questions in the Q&A box please keep in mind she might be answering those uh via text and so your answer your questions might be answered before we get to the
Live Q&A portion at the end um but Avery is here today and so is Gabby and Gabby is our program support specialist and she is also helping with some Q&A um support and um both of them are really looking forward to the summer as well and have just a lot of really great
Energy and passion for summer camps our contact information is here at the bottom but I’ll also have it at the end of this presentation okay like I mentioned we’re going to go through all of this this is kind of the order we’re going to talk generally about reach what the program
Is eligibility uh we’ll dump into a little bit about who uh staffs the program um schedule in student life then we’ll talk about courses and then some important things when it comes to health and wellness travel communication uh with parents and then how to prep for reach and if you’re
Wanting to apply some pointers for that at the end um and we’ll follow up with a Q&A but please keep in mind some of those might be answered via text before we get there okay a little bit more about reach reach is our uh newest summer program of
The three that we offer Stars reach and think and it’s our middle uh middle bridge program and it’s been running for a few years now and so uh it is exclusive for students who are in the Davidson Young Scholars Program only so if your student is not currently
Enrolled in that free program um please keep in mind that they will need to apply to the Young Scholars Program in order to be able to attend reach um and I will talk a little bit later about uh how that can look if if your students not currently in for this uh application
Period however it is also another huge requirement is that your student is ages eight 11 to uh 13 during program dates so if your students 10 turning 11 during Camp they are eligible to apply or if they’re 13 turning 14 during Camp they can also still apply it doesn’t make
Them ineligible but they need to be at least 11 12 or 13 during the program dates um and the biggest portion of reach the biggest afternoon portion is our seminar courses and so uh students get to uh rank their preferences of their first choice course in their
Application and they get assign based on availability um and they focus on one area of study during reach unlike Stars where they uh Bop from each topic each day uh they focus on one seminar course during reach and it’s Project based courses so they get to work on homework
And kind of build some academic Project based skills um it throughout the week and present those at the end of the week program um and they’re all taught by Davidson Academy instructors and so I’ll introduce those courses and those instructors here in just a little bit uh
Just like all of our programs they’re located on the University of Nevada Reno campus and we stay in the dorms it’s a one-week experience students check in Sunday late afternoon uh and stay all the way until Friday um just before lunch and our 2024 dates are Sunday June
23rd through Friday June 28th so Sunday June 23rd is the last day of the davidon young scholar Summit event and so if you’re planning on attending that event that is also exclusive to members of The Young Scholars Program um it’s a great long weekend you can spend with your
Student here in Reno enjoying that like social type conference event with your student and then uh bring them to check in Sunday afternoon for reach and then they’ll stay in Reno for the week and attend reach not a requirement though uh families are welcome to send their kid
To reach without attending the summit before eligibility so just a little bit more about what uh you know is required for students who are interested in this program so we talked about uh membership into the Young Scholars Program the excuse me age requirement of 11 to 13 during program dat
And then the essential functions of a reach student listed below and so a lot of these follow similar to what stars is um and uh one of just again the biggest difference between reach and stars is the academic component is a a big step up uh but I’ll quickly go through these
So students need to be prepared to be away from and out of contact with family members for the one week experience uh just like at stars we are a fully connected community and we do not allow cell phones at reach so it’s just like a true summer camp experience where you’re
Unplugged um from your devices and you’re um away from contact with your family members but you’re able to really plug into the camp community and um hopefully form some great uh friendships and peer connections we’ll talk a little bit more about what that look like looks like as
Well you’ll be sharing a room with um two likely two other participants so it’s three students within a room uh particip in three to four hours of class classroom instruction and work on um Project based homework lessons each day you’ll be able to uh need to be able to
Follow instructions from staff members and instructors study independently during those homework time and complete all assignments that’s really important that we have motivated um academically motivated students we are uh here to have fun at summer camp and we have plenty of that which we’ll talk about in
The schedule uh but the purpose of the academic component is a crucial part of reach and so we want students who are um eager and motivated to work on their projects and complete their assignments um like I mentioned be without access to electronic devices that have the even the ability disabled
Um they’re not allowed so uh you keep it really minimal you can have like MP3 players or CA uh cameras but no uh Kindle Fires or iPads or things like that at reach uh students to be able to ask for help if a problem or concern arises and then operate independently
Under supportive care with regard to uh self-care so that’s including hygiene meal selection emotional regulation we do check-ins and um provide reminders for all of those but students need to be able to uh uh operate those independently as well so the benefits of reach why send
Your student out to summer camp miror a lot of the benefits that summer camp in general provides um but the really big things that we love to point out is how exciting it is for students at reach to be able to meet young scholars and like-minded peers so often these
Students don’t have a ton of friendships back home with similar uh minded peers who are identified in that profoundly gifted um uh level uh with IQ or achievement testing and so um that you know they whether they’re struggling or not either way they’re going to be able
To come to reach and be in a community full of a lot of other students who are similar in and like-minded as them which is a really neat experience for these students especially in this age range they’ll be experiencing challenging project-based academics which is really awesome as well students are coming from
All kind of um educational backgrounds to our summer program some are homeschooled some are private schooled public school um some are accelerated some aren’t sum are challenge some aren’t um but our goal either way is to provide a a challenging experience and our Davidson Academy instructors do a
Wonderful job at that they’ll build Independence and skills so naturally just being away from parents and caregivers uh provides a great space for students to uh feel confident in building new life skills um and uh feeling a little bit more independent because they’ve successfully been able
To kind of be away and navigate oh I need help and and and coming to members and having uh other uh caregivers checking in with them executive functioning skill building is another piece that can be supported at reach through that project base and homework time um they’re hopefully you
Know checked in with and they’re going to be keeping kept on track as much as we can um but hopefully they’re able to kind of build some of that independently H they’ll get to experience living on a University campus which is really exciting we stay in the
Dorms um so a lot of students get to see what that looks like what the residence hall uh dining hall looks like and and what it kind of can feel like to be on a University campus overnight and to have fun we do lots of uh summer camp activities despite doing academics as
Well um and so it can be a really wonderful experience I want to talk a little bit more about our staff who get to run this amazing program so um we have 247 supervision at all of our summer programs it’s a requirement of the university and of us to have minors
Supervised at all times and so whether we’re out on campus in the residence hall in the dining hall um in classes there is adult supervision 247 um our main uh staff members are made up of our program assistants are or PAs and that’s just our fancy word for
Camp counselor and so our summer camp counselors are our biggest part of of our team and they are um the ratio at reach is about six to seven students per program assistant so they’re assigned a group of six to seven students that’s Theirs to make sure they get to and from
Activities um they’re checking in with their room is near those students so that they’re available in during dorm time and then for evening support as needed um and they’re the ones that are checking in and they’re aware of those students um needs and uh how they’re doing at all times we
Also have a lead program assistance that helped fill in for program assistant as needed throughout the day um and guide them through the schedule as well some extra support there we also have residential supervisors who are our kind of um main oversight in the dorms for the evenings and overnight um they stay
On the dorms they don’t have students assigned to them so they’re in you know in charge of supporting our full-time year round staff and the rest of the staff through the schedule and through concerns as they arise um coming to full-time staff as needed we also have health supervisors so we um typically
Have two uh registered nurses who stay on site for stars in reach um and check in Daily for think um and they are there they have their own room on the floor um and they are in charge of all of our medication administration um and are there for any
Student in health needs so somebody’s not feeling good or gets injured or whatever it might be um our health supervisor are on site at the program um which is wonderful and we also of course hire our instructors are Davidson Academy instructors who teach our seminar courses um and then our
Full-time leadership staff made of uh Gabby Avery and myself um so all of us collectively together get to uh welcome your students and um support them through the week also like to point out that we are members of the American Camp Association which um helps provide guidance for all
Of our policies and standards It’s a Wonderful Association that has just a lot of research and um knowledge and professional development and training for summer camps um and so they’re a huge resource for us all year round and during the summer uh we also attend the annual conference
Which is a pretty large conference uh that camps send all of their staff to in the spring and so Gabby and Avery will be attending that here in just actually a couple weeks and they’re very excited to uh learn the latest and greatest uh fun things for Camp okay the much anticipated schedule
So Arrival Day um which is Sunday June 23rd this year uh is mostly spent traveling to reach and or finishing the summit so if you’re already in the Reno area and you’re not traveling CU you’re here for the summit you’ll be attending uh whatever events are still scheduled for Sunday which there’s typically
Workshops and and presentations um and potentially Keynotes on Sunday as well so hopefully you’re able to finish up those events and if not you’re not attending the summit you’re traveling here to Reno um and then you’re checking in to reach and check in usually starts at about 300 pm. and I’ll be talking
About the new options this here at the closer to the end of our um presentation but uh either students can travel with an adult or they can take a shuttle we are going to offer a shuttle limited uh shuttle again this year and so I’ll talk
More about what that looks like here in a bit um then the rest of the like little time that we have before dinner is set up uh is spent setting up their dorm rooms getting them comfortable and unpacked a little bit getting to know one another um and then we kind of dive
Straight into dinner and have nice uh uh full bellies for our program orientation so the rest of the evenings uh we do a program orientation we take a tour of the campus do some fun activities um we get students set up with their laptops for courses um and prep for those as needed
Um and then just a lot of time spent in team Builders and ice breakers um while we’re going through program orientation telling students the different rules and policies getting them PR for the week okay and then the daily schedule Monday through Thursday looks like this so we did shift things slightly this
Year to allow for some more um a little bit more downtime we had like almost no downtime last year and um while it was a really successful and fun program we just found that uh by the end of the day uh students really just were craving some some downtime so the day starts
With breakfast in the morning um and we do arrive a little earlier than 8 if we can and will um but there should be plenty of times for students to grab breakfast and then we walk and head to our first field trip of the morning um and field trips consist of mostly on
Campus field trips uh like things like going to the um they vary each year there’s different museums on campus a planetarium um we have different uh University departments like the department of engineering will host workshops so those are all being um reserved for this year and we’ll be uh
Sharing with enrolled families what we end up scheduling for this summer which is always so exciting um and then we do one off-campus nearby field trip as well um that can consist of different things but usually uh it’s a fun roller skating uh field trip where we go to a roller
Skating rink and have some just like fun camp summer camp time um then by 11:30 we’re typically back to the dorm DMS and we have now a full hour for a dorm regroup whereas we had maybe 20 30 minutes last year um if that and so our
Goal is to have a full hour now for a dorm regroup where students can um get out of the the the morning sun um change their clothes if they need to or want to um to prep for seminar courses um they can just have some alone time spend time
With the new friends that they’re making uh we usually have uh some areas where they can color or Draw or read books or do different uh craft activities if they’re not wanting to necessarily socialize or just uh be in their rooms spending some quiet time um and then we
Head to lunch so right after lunch we have a little bit of a half hour buffer but um we’ll head into seminar courses by 1:30 and we have about three hours in class uh snack is provided during field trip and during class time um and breaks are provided during that 3-hour class as
Well um but that’s where they’re going to learn their instructor is teaching there’s Hands-On things happening it’s a really exciting time um and right after that we head into our homework time so um there’s about an hour of homework which can vary depending on the course
Uh what that looks like how long it is but we spend about an hour uh we’ll take a quick break as we head into time but then we spend about an hour of students working on their homework and it might be reading to prep for the next class the next day it could
Be researching something it could be working on a part of their project that can vary each day then we had a straight into dinner and we do have a little bit of a half an hour buffer there so sometimes dinner might be a little longer than a half an hour um but
Everyone should usually has plenty of time within 30 minutes uh because they’re all eager and excited to get to our evening activity um evening activities consist of various things um outside and inside type of things like board game night water games uh sometimes we have a movie night which
Has board game and arts and crafts options large group games uh talent show Mock Rock all kinds of different things varies um depending on the year uh but it’s really memorable time so this is when we’re all together as a large group from Camp sometimes we do have those
Separate options that they can pick from or we’re all together doing a large activity and it’s super fun can be high energy sometimes low energy depending on what the activity is um but this is where they get that really big summer camp feel then we head into a debrief
Time just to kind of try and bring energy down and check in with everyone as we head into the evening routines in the dorm and get ready for bed then on Friday June 28th is our departure Day this year we wake up a little bit earlier to get students to
Breakfast because we have a jam-packed morning before checkout so after breakfast they head to an hour of their final seminar class time so typically seminar class uh final projects are either being turned in or presented however instructors are um navigating those it’s usually they’re starting those Thursday during afternoon class um
And then wrapping those up here in the final hour on Friday morning we head straight into closing activities which typically just consists of watching the slideshow so we take pictures and send them home to parents throughout the week um but then we also use that to create a
Slideshow um students haven’t seen them all week all the pictures um throughout the week because they’re not on the email list of course um and so they get to watch the slideshow and it’s really fun they get to just reflect back on the week um and see all the fun things that
They got to do uh and we also have them signed thank you cards for our staff and for like the dining staff and dorm staff then we head back to the dorms typically we do start some of our packing up the night before because it can take some of the students a little
Bit of time to get their rooms cleaned up and their things packed up um but we have a final half an hour to do that as well on Friday morning and they do um get checked in and have a list of things that they have to do to uh prep and so
They’re guided um and supported as needed and then they say their goodbyes and check out is now from 10: to 11:00 a.m. we are cutting that down to only an hour we found the 10 to noon uh checkout last year just was unnecessary and that we can get students out and departed by
11:00 a.m. so they can head um on their travels okay jumping into student life here we’ll talk about first uh the housing and the dorm setup um which is always we get lots of great questions s about um so we’re expecting to be back in our Genta Hall again this summer
Which we were um in our Genta Hall last summer and it’s been renovated um and recently and so it’s beautiful inside it’s a really nice um dormatory not like uh many across the countries it’s got air conditioning each room has its own private bathroom um it’s a really nice
Dorm and it’s right across the street from the um Davidson Academy and a lot of the buildings that we used during summer so we provide linen since it’s a onewe experience we don’t like um making uh students pack those so it does provide a fitted sheet a loose sheet a
Blanket pillow pillowcase towel and washcloth um if your student wants anything else like their own blanket and their own extra pillow they’re welcome to pack those things but our linen packet that’s what that’s provided for um for students each room is going to have three uh roommates within the room
So there’s three beds three desks three dressers and a shared closet area and then also within the room there is a uh bathroom and so the bathroom has like a shelving area and across from it has a sink and then behind a closed door is a toilet and shower area um and that’s
Where we ask students to do their changing is with behind the closed um toilet door um and the setup has been the this dorm has been our main dorm that we’ve used um pretty much the whole time we’ve been running summer programs so it’s it’s a it’s a really great dormatory um
Also on the same so it’s our own I forgot to mention it’s our own private floor so we take over the whole thing we use almost every room um for reach we fill it all up and so we also there’s a common room in the Middle where we
Gather for activities We Gather to line up to count before we head out the door for activities um there’s study rooms um and some like crafts and like uh quiet rooms the all of our camp counselors stay on the same floor near their group of students they have their own private
Room and then their students rooms are usually surrounding theirs our health supervisor stays on the same floor in her own room and our staff room where we kind of gather for staff meetings and we have all of our staff resources uh we have a general staff room that is also on the
Floor dining so we dine all of our meals on the resident dining hall which is called the Down Under Cafe and it has lots of options it’s a buffet style cafeteria um we’re there for breakfast lunch and dinner and then like I mentioned we provide a snack during
Field trips and during seminar courses and some usually during evening activities as well so students are wellfed but they’re welcome to bring their own snacks um and keep some in their dorm rooms or on them in a backpack throughout the day if they’re uh you know like particular things or they’re
Just one that really likes to eat a lot of small uh snacks and meals they can bring extras for themselves we just ask that they avoid uh snacks with nuts um if your student does have a special diet or uh food allergies um this is something we run into every summer we
Have students who come to all of our programs with food allergies or special dietary needs such as dairyfree gluten-free kosher um vegetarian vegan all kinds of things and so um just like during the school year uh college students have the same needs and so the thankfully the dining staff are really
Great at uh working with us on our our needs for the summer we provide all of that information to the chefs and the staff in the weeks prior to camp and they base their um do their best to base their menu off of uh who’s coming to
Camp um and then we’re also there checking in and helping students navigate to make choices that are safe for their uh special diet or food allergy as well if you have excuse me questions about how that process looks please email us we’d love to connect with you um and talk through more about
What that looks like and if your student um has severe food allergies the ways we can support them um we also go to the wolf shop at one point during the week and that’s like our on campus bookstore gifts shop which has snacks and so often students who bring money to
Shop at the wolf shop uh end up at least buying one snack uh it’s just fun uh to get their own little thing um just but keep that in mind that is an option for students as well okay academics okay so this was also a much anticipated wanting to learn
More about what this looks like at reach so the main components of courses at reach is there’s three different options every summer um and so students will rank their um preference in the application um but unfortunately it’s not a guarantee because it’s first come first serve so they’re going to be
Enrolled in one course and you’ll find out at the time of acceptance what course they got whether that’s their first choice course that they ranked number one their second or their third cour choice course based on um preference and availability um and it’s we go true fair first come first serve
For for that of course if they’re enrolled in their second choice and um a spot opens up in their first course First Choice course we do email home asking if the student wants to move up into that uh First Choice course um so they’ll go on a wait list so we do do
Course weight lists um but we’ll place your student initially at the time of Acceptance in what is first available they’re all taught by Davidson Academy instructors and so these uh instructors have year round experience working with profoundly gifted students and um this is all a really fun program for them to
Teach at because they get to uh find a unique and fun topic that uh provides Concepts that they might teach year round in certain classes but uh do fun spins on it and so uh they are all really knowledgeable in working with gifted students and the goal is for it
To be challenging and engaging there’s no um credit for these courses it’s just a one week seminar course type of uh learning um and it’s meant to be Project based and Hands-On so they’re working on uh homework and project based skills which is really cool to develop before
At this age range before they’re heading into higher level classes um but there’s no credit however we do um have instructors fill out a brief evaluation for students that kind of just talks about great things that they saw during um the class things that they or student could maybe work on whether that’s
Certain Project based skills or classroom skills um and then just general feedback about their projects as well those are sent home typically um in within I think about sometimes it can take up to a month of the program ending but I don’t believe it usually takes
That long but um not not right away at the end of camp it does take a few weeks for us to gather all those from instructors and get them out to families but we do send those home via email and now I want to just quickly briefly
Preview the courses if you have not had a chance to look at them they are currently posted on our website um so if you go to Davidson it.org and into the summer programs section and into reach um scroll down and you’ll see courses seminar courses and you can click there
And find the descriptions for all three and uh the link to see the instructors as well so the first one is upgrade our Cade and this is a programming JavaScript course this Summer that sounds super exciting um she in the description she talks a little more in detail about what students will be
Working on but they’re going to essentially be making a game and then presenting it in a certain way at the end which is still being developed on how that’s all going to look um if your student is super super super advanced in coding please reach out to us if you’re
Um to see if this course makes sense for your student um or not she is going to like all instructors differentiate as needed um however it might not be the best fit if they’ve been you know if they’ve mastered all these things unless they they still want
To take a course and and and work on this project and present it uh they’re welcome to but if they’re wanting to learn something new this might not be the best option for them however please reach out to us our second one is exploring fantasy Essentials elements of the genre and so
Um this one is our Reading Writing literature type of course uh she has some really wonderful ideas of how to uh go through all these different concepts and students will be creating their own uh world and vacation spot and then presenting it to each other on why they
Should be uh why people should visit their their new uh world or vacation place and so she’s got some really wonderful engaging ways um for students to learn uh through this this one and I’m excited to to see the projects for this one and then lastly the chemistry
Of toys um is our uh final third seminar course which is going to talk about the certain chemistry behind toys why it makes them make the sounds or do the things that they do um and the chemistry properties behind it there’ll be a little bit of uh experiment lab based uh
Hands-On time and then students will be investigating certain toys and presenting about them at the end in their final projects the uh stem topics tend to fill the fastest and like I said a seminar placement is first come first serve so if your students interested in any of these really uh these seminar
Courses applying sooner than later is um the best idea we we do have a really high application number so far already this year only a few weeks into the application being open so um just keep in mind if your students interested to get that application in
ASAP all right and just to kind of hit these points home they’re meant to be challenging and Hands-On but fun topics that they may or may not have been exposed to back at home our staff are con consistently checking in the instructors and the teaching assistants
As well as our program assistants and uh full-time staff uh student communication with the instructor is encouraged and so we want to help start building those some of those skills if they have questions during class to ask the questions about homework time to ask prior to the instructor
Leaving um after class and then of course no news is good news like we’re not keeping uh parents in the loop on what’s Happening unless we need to uh as far as academics go and so um we’re the evaluations go home and and most parents don’t hear from us during Camp about the
Academics um necessarily and they’ll they’ll hear from us at the end but we do reach out if we’re seeing a student struggling for what ever reason in the class environment so some things that can be helpful at reach is to work on some good time management skills for
That Project based uh homework time it is student Le so it’s because it’s not for credit and um at the end of the day the student has to put in the work so we’re not forcing anybody to do anything um so it’s good for them to have good time management and organizational
Skills um and to be motivated to work health and wellness Okay so at uh a little bit more about how this looks like at reach is uh prior to the program enrolled students have to fill out lots of forms including health history form insurance card upload uh they need a
Recent physical exam within the past two years so if your your student hasn’t had one of those uh getting that doctor appointment scheduled ASAP is important uh we require immunization records we do follow the Washo County Nevada School District uh uh IM ization requirements and so we do accept wavers for something
They may have um be missing however um keep in mind that we’re wanting students to be up to up to date as they can beond immunizations um and that our health supervisor reviews all of that uh leading up to the program so if there is any concern about certain outbreaks for
Things uh will be in touch with any families with wavers um and then of course we also need all medication information prior to Camp um and then our health supervisor is reviewing all of this and reaching out to families as needed to prep for student arrival if
She has any questions or wants to make sure she’s prepared for student arrivals during program all students are Health screened upon check-in and that includes things you know certain questions uh temperature check things like that want to make sure everyone’s coming into our environment as healthy
As can be and that’s super important um and starts at home keeping up on um good sleep and eating habits and washing hands prior to Camp to keep uh our camp Community healthy so that everyone can stay and be uh healthy and and not have to go homesick mid
Program we um also collect all medication at check-in um with the exceptions of rescue medications like inhalers epipens things like that um but otherwise otc’s over the counter medications vitamins supplements and and prescription medications are all collected and kept in the nurse room locked um and those are distributed by
The health supervisor daily as needed whether that’s am midday PM whatever time those are needed she provides that and then she’s onsite daily for any needs that come up um any uh you know colds that form or or stomach aches or whatever it might be she’s there and um
We’ll communicate with parents back home as needed for any health concerns okay travel um some of you may not have known that we posted our travel options for this year and so I wanted to point out that those are have now been released and I’ll show you where to find
And read more information about them but we have two options for reach this year Stars students have to be um picked up and dropped off by a parent guardian or adult over the age of 25 and they do not have the option to do the shuttle but at
Reach we have um two options and we have the option to First travel with an adult so participants can be signed in and out by a parent or legal guardian um and if they don’t if they’re wanting to travel with maybe a friend parents that’s FES too an alternative adult contact over
The age of 25 can be named as the person responsible for checking the student in and out um checkin for traveling with an adult is tentatively from about 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday June 23rd and then check out 10: to 11: a.m. on Friday June
28th now if you would like your student to travel independently to the area whether that’s just on the way home or just on the way to Camp you can pick um either option for arrival and either option for departure um but we’re going to have a shuttle service available for $100 each
Way so if you’re only utilizing it one way then it’s only 100 but if you’re utilizing it both way it’ be 200 um the most important thing to keep in mind about this this is a simple shuttle service so we meet your student in the baggage claim area at a designated
Location um we put them on our shuttle with our staff and then they get shuttled up to the university and then same for the going home they go on our shuttle with staff to the airport and are dropped off at the check-in area this does not provide any sort of
Unaccompanied minor pickup or drop off so if your student is required to be an unaccompanied Minor by Airline um and many don’t understand what that means that means the airline’s going to require an adult in the area to go through security all the way to the gate
To pick the student up they have to go to like the check-in counter get a a unaccompanied minor pickup type of ticket go through security go to the gate and get the student and then bring them out we’re not providing that service um so typically at 11 a lot of
Airlines even 12 are are still requiring unaccompanied Miners And there’s no option to purchase a ticket for your student without that uh Southwest I think is one of um the few that do allow students to travel not as an unaccompanied minor at that age um but you’ll want to check your specific
Airlines policies first before purchasing your tickets um because we are not providing an unaccompanied minor pickup or drop off if you have another adult in the area who’s willing to do that for you um that’s that’s totally fine you can still schedule that um however typically that adult would then
Check the student in and they wouldn’t need the shuttle um at that point so we’re not providing that and we do not provide any kind of airport supervision your student needs to be able to travel here um get their own lunch or whatever snacks they need when they arrive
Because our first program meal is not until dinner um get their bags from baggage claim and be able to navigate to the designated meeting point which will have very specifically detailed out with pictures of where to go um and we will have a cell phone number in contact so if your students
Having a trouble finding our staff or not sure where to go they can call a number um but so they need to be able to do that all by themselves um and then same with on departure day they need to be able to once that we chop them off at
The check-in area they need to be able to check their bags um and get their tickets on their own and head through security by themselves to their gate on on their own um and it’s only for students traveling independently parents or adults are not permitted to ride the
Shuttle um so shuttles will begin we haven’t navigated or um reserved our specific times yet so but shuttles will begin maybe about 1:30 um no earlier than that and then they’ll end right at about 3:30 so that we can get our last group of students um to check in in time before
It ends at 4:30 um um and so our last shuttle would probably pick up a group of students around 3:30 meaning your students flight would need to land prior to 3:30 um and then departure T shuttles will start taking students to the airport at 9:30 a when we’re done with
That slideshow um and closing activities and then we’ll end we’ll take the last group of students no um later than probably 11:00 a.m. so your student’s flight needs to take off later than about 11: 11:30 a.m. um if it’s a 9:00 a.m. flight that’s not going to work cuz
Our shuttle is not going to even leave the university until 9:30 um now I if you want to do an early flight and check your out your student out early you can email us um just keep in mind that they might miss their end of class in the
Morning um so travel questions please email us we are more than happy to uh answer all of your questions but this is what we are providing this year okay communication what does this look like at reach as mentioned it’s a a fully connected Community meaning we’re going
To be fully connected to our community and not to our devices so we do not allow cell phones or other types of communication devices at reach even with the internet disabled um we we don’t allow it so um if students traveling on the shuttle with those devices that’s totally okay
At checkin we just put them in a labeled ziplock baggie turn them off and keep them safely stored in our staff room for the week and then we will hand them back um right before checkout as needed so um that’s totally fine but we collect all of that so if
They are traveling with a cell phone or an iPad or a laptop which I don’t recommend necessarily but if they do need to want to travel with that they are going to be handing those over to staff at check-in for the week um but please keep in mind that doesn’t mean
You necessarily have uh zero contact with us and you’re not sure what’s going on the whole week no we uh we send home regular program emails to parents um it’s usually about the first two days we send one home and then it’s every other day sometimes every day depending on
What’s going on um but we send home updates on what the day entailed and what we’re up to the next day and we send home a link to view lots of photos we post photos every day anywhere from 50 to 300 depending on the day and what
Activities we have going and so students are in them and you can see what we are up to and enjoy those uh we’re also reaching out if your child need Med medical care a health supervisor will be reaching out to you as needed um if we need support whether that’s comes to
Academic course time or behavior or student care uh we want to connect with parents and partner with you on the best way to move forward with your student and so as I mentioned if no news no news is good news um we’re often not talking to most of our parents it’s just a
Select few here and there that where we do need to call home um and that doesn’t always mean it’s a bad thing um but we check in we want to to check in with you and to uh make sure that your students are going to have the the most
Successful and best time at reach and then of course if something does happen and we have to alter protocols or different things like that due to something happening on campus or um a field trip got canceled last minute or whatever it might be we uh let parents know as
Well okay how can you prepare for reach so the best and first place to start is to look at our parent resources page and Avery is going to send a link to this in the chat um but the parent resources page has both of these sections on it getting ready and
Policies most of our information uh for reach encompasses all three of our camps Stars reach and think and so this is our area that provid provides what we do for Health and Medical Care how we handle homesickness and tips for that our program handbook travel packing lists what supervision at
Our camp looks like communicable illness and plan and policy should uh for immunizations and should anything um occur at Camp our electronic device policies and then more information about how we communicate home uh all of that spans all three of our programs and so it’s found here in the parent resources
Section specific information for each program like the courses or the application dates or things like that are found in each unique program’s homepage um but please check this area out uh it’s G going to give you in detail more information about our our um policies and
Procedures um but what you can do with your student is to help them practice good homework and study uh habits so those Project based skills uh student-led motivational skills uh kind of looking at what the end result is going to be and backing up a few days
Okay what should I be doing each day instructors are going to help students kind of navigate and peace meal that together and and help them build what each day they should be working on however at the end of the day practicing those ahead of time is a great skill to
Have coming into reach um and and kind of thinking through some of how that works reviewing the website and the handbook together so students are aware of what our policies look like they’re not showing up at Camp completely unaware that their cell phone’s going to be taken at checkin things like that um
The more parents share consistent and positive messages about camp and show confidence in your students ability the better off your students going to be if they’re hearing you be weary or confused or questioning things they’re going to start feeling feeling that um and so the more that you just talk about how you’re
Excited for this program and you trust our staff or you know you’re going to check in about the these things together um and you have positive messages the more they’re going to come into this program with a confidence especially if it’s their first summer camp experience
And then of course at this age they could totally do all of their own packing you could print the packing list for them and they could do it but um providing them support or at least including them in that helps them know okay I’m showing up to Camp
Prepared so is reach going to be a good fit for your student besides the eligibility just the things to keep the most in mind is your student ready for a whole six days five nights away from home and if they’re not can they practice doing some of that prior to
Reach um are they going to feel more comfortable with more experience what can you do to kind of address that concern um if it even is one uh often at this age it’s it’s no big deal they show up to camp and they’re having a great time we navigate homesickness at all
Three of our programs even with our older teens um it’s it’s okay it’s normal um it’s not a bad thing and so uh just keeping that in mind and talking through that with your student they’re going to have roommates we do not have an option for students to have private
Rooms we just don’t have the space for it and so they’re going to be in a room with two other participants something to just keep in mind not everybody’s always prepared for what that experience entails but we do have a form available and connect students based on similar
Lifestyle abilities so like do they like the room cold or hot do they like to go to bed early or late are they a social butterfly or are they more quiet uh so we do our best to try impair students um or triple students up together uh that
Way they’re not going to have access to their cell phones and let me tell you that’s probably one of the biggest benefits of our summer camp really unplugging uh from those devices and those social medias and those accounts and plugging into just being present in the moment with the other um people at
At Camp Community is uh is a really huge thing but uh keeping in mind that that’s something that’s if it’s a huge concern for your student for whatever reason um it it could be you know a question for their goodness of fit um we have plenty
Of time for sleep at reach like I said we start bedtime routines about 9:30 and we’re not heading to breakfast until sometime around 7:45 or 8:00 a.m. um they don’t have to wake up very early to get ready so uh there’s lots of time for Sleep um but uh
You know just kind of depends on what your students needs there are uh they’re going to have to follow direction from um our staff and adults that’s a huge concern for safety so if they’re not able to do that uh uh that’s you know please reach out to us so we can talk
More and then we want them to be academically motivated and engaged for class and project completion so successful uh completion of reach includes working through the class time and submitting a final project and so we’re looking for uh students who are are motivated and engaged and excited about these classes and the
Projects okay our last step before some Q&A is just talking through uh the 2024 admission process so the application is open um and Avery will also throw this out in the chat box to yall the admissions link so you have quick access to it if you have not already applied um
It is open and I do recommend applying um ASAP sooner than later because placement in the program overall and in courses is first come first serve and we are finding last year we we did fill before the March deadline and we opened a wait list and this year it looks like
We might be doing the same because our application numbers are pretty high so far however at the end of the day if that doesn’t happen the deadline is March 29th 2024 so really the biggest things you’re going to be doing is prepping materials uh with your student ahead of at a time
So if you go to that admissions page it has a step-by-step process uh the essays um and the answers to the questions we re recommend just opening a Word document and having your student write those out ahead of time so that they can copy and paste in the application
There’s no option to upload a document with the essays um it’s a copy and paste option but that way they’re not having to write them because it’s all parent Le application and and so it can get funky if they they’re welcome to write directly in the t uh text text box but
If they’re working on it in a word doc beforehand they’re having some forethought and taking their time with those essays which we do um read every single one and review those for goodness of fit and Readiness so we want to hear uh what your student has to say uh
There’s parent and student questions once you get into the application um it’s all online there’s a twoe review period So within two weeks you’ll hear sometimes sooner but usually it can take that full two weeks and then you’ll hear from us via email whether your student
Was accepted or not um and then once you get that acceptance email you have two weeks from that day that you receive that acceptance email to pay that deposit and that’s going to be really important if we do fill sooner than later because um we’ll have people on a
Wait list and so we’ll want to make sure uh that you’re committing with the non-refundable deposit within two weeks uh before we move on to the next person all right that’s all I have for you today um I do have some time for some Q&A um a few minutes here whatever I
Don’t get to I’ll probably go a little bit over 11:00 am Pacific time to answer some of these but whatever I don’t get to please email us call us uh we want to answer your questions we’re excited that you’re here um and so we would love to
Hear from you if we if we don’t get to all of your questions okay I’m opening the Q&A let’s see is is there a place that we can see reviews and testimonials from past participants students and our families yes well so in the bottom of the reach homepage there’s quotes from
Parents and students um in like a little round table like uh Arrow over kind of thing that’ll it’ll filter through those um and so we other than that we don’t typically have a ton of uh testimonials uh like videos or anything like that um but you’re welcome to to reach out to us
If you’re still wanting more we can connect to you often our previous camper parents want are happy to share more and and so we can connect you with a a parent from last summer that they can share more about their experience as well so email us if you’d like
That okay what type of feedback would the students and parents receive from the instructors that’s a great question evaluation kind of has three main sections again it’s not meant to be um we’re they’re only spending 4ish days four and a half days with your student so it’s not going to be anything super
Super in-depth but during those three hours each day they’re going to be watching what your students um classroom engagement looks like and what their project looks like and so they’re going to provide feedback on uh things your student did really well within the classroom environment things that they
Maybe could work on like uh when it comes to that could be like homework type skills classroom type skills just you know maybe they really engaged and they had lots of great things and they didn’t find really anything feedback to work on um that’s not super common but
The teachers are really great at um reviewing those with each student and kind of just like thinking through um what would be helpful and then lastly they the the evaluation also provides feedback on the actual project that was submitted so parents will get to read that you know their student stent did
Follow the rubric or didn’t or um they did a you know they went above and beyond or they created something that the instructor never thought that a student would ever turn in and how cool is that or whatever it might be they’re going to Pro be providing some sort of feedback on that
Project okay it’s our first time getting to know about Davidson Academy summer program what’s the main difference between other summer camps also academic based and yours that’s a great question so um STS are specific to uh to Davidson young scholars for stars and reach and so the community is all uh the
Profoundly gifted level and above so they’re identified on IQ and achievement tests at 999.9 perc all and above and they’re a part of that young scholar Community from all across the country Nationwide um whereas a lot of other academic camps aren’t necessarily gifted uh based or might not be quite at that
High level another unique part is that our instructors are D Davidson Academy instructors and so they’re uh teachers who are working with profoundly gifted students year round developing the the seminar course content um and so they have a lot of uh really great experience working with PG students and um 2E
Students as well and um it’s really unique in that sense so and then students get to learn from Davidson Academy instructors often parents are interested in the school whether it’s the online or Reno campus um and it can be a way for their student
To get a little bit of a taste uh of what an instructor and courses you know these are fun topics but what the uh rigor and kind of pace can feel like uh it’s different in the school year but you know it’s a little taste of that as
Well okay does the arcade class require prior knowledge of coding I do not believe it does I think she’s going to be able to differentiate with students who have prior knowledge or have none at all and build them up as needed um so she might be going faster with some
Students than others uh but it does not require prior knowledge and we would have uh included that in the description if it did so great question are any of the seminars full already this is a great question uh technically no but the chemistry of toys one is pretty close to filling uh we’re
Getting lots of application we have 63 spots in in reach and we’re getting lots of applications every day and the application’s only been opened for about a little over a week um and so we’re filling really fast this year uh so if your students only really interested in
One seminar it’s really important you get that application in ASAP today tomorrow uh this week and if they’re open to any of them still getting it in sooner than later because the the program is is filling faster than we anticipated uh but technically none or full but chemistry of toys is the Clos
Closest to filling okay I’m just going to answer one or two more and then we’ll jump off of here what are the main things that students get out of from the program in the end that’s a great question so um our biggest things that we find students
That we hear from in the survey report at the end or when they come back we have returning students every summer which is awesome and a huge Testament to our programs um just that they experienced uh like a being away at summer camp in itself is such a cool
Experience because you’re away from parents and home you’re making friends you get to have like mentor-like uh camp counselor connections uh but that they’re with like-minded peers so they’re they’ve often feel like they kind of feel they’re have like they found their tribe um or they found some friendships or connections with other
Students who are similar to them of course everyone is still really unique that comes uh within this profoundly gifted population but at the end of the day uh to be around other students who have brains that work just as fast as theirs or that maybe they struggle with
The similar things that they struggle with uh to feel like they are known and seen and they have other people like them is huge and then the the academic challenge so um a lot of students even if they’re grade accelerated they they don’t have a instructor Mentor type of
Figures in their life that are uh willing to to pull fun topics like these and challenge students in those and get them learning and and and creatively thinking um and so those are the biggest things um in addition to just having summer camp fun in the evenings is a
Highlight of the students summer so those are the biggest things we hear uh it’s it’s it’s a really fun program we we just had so much fun last year a lot of our pictures that you saw here in the presentation today um just don’t even
Get uh hit the nail on the head with how much fun we had um if that’s not answering your question you want to talk more about it please call or email us we’d love to to chat with you okay are last question are Davidson Academy or online students in the
Seminar and if yes how how many great question so yeah we actually have um at the reach age range 11 to 13 we do have some uh students who are because the academy starts at the upper middle school mostly all high school and above
Level so um at the age of 11 13 there are a good number of students who attend our Davidson Academy spr and morar School here in Reno full year year round um or they’re in the Davidson Academy online school um at this age range and
So we do have a number who attend every year and it’s h it varies this this is a little bit of a newer program so we’re still kind of navigating what that percentage looks like um but out of 63 spots it could be anywhere from five to
15 students um just depending on the year sometimes more sometimes less um but we do have students who come and attend and it’s really special for the online students who don’t get that in-person uh school year connections yearr round they get to have this really cool uh inperson connection with other
Uh peers at the summer camp so yes those are students who attend okay and lastly I just saw one more come in can my child apply to the young scholar program without act or SAT score yes the Young Scholars Program um has lots of different testing eligibility options um most being IQ
Testing um and there are other achievement tests besides sat or act that they look at um and the full list is is on the website David s.org go to the Young Scholars Program and look into the eligibility and testing section to see if full list okay I’ve gone over
Plenty now um so I’m going to go ahead and end this and I’ll um send it back to Arlene but uh there’s going to always be updates if you’re subscribed to our newsletter you can reach us on this contact information as needed as well awesome thank you Kayla for sharing
This information about reach and addressing everyone’s questions from our audience um and thank you again everyone for joining us please remember to do the survey after the session closes and if you would like to view this session again the recording will be posted to the divid and gifted website all right
Bye everyone thank you Kayla thank you bye
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