The New River Valley and surrounding areas are rich with opportunities to serve children of high abilities.

This page lists only a few of the resources available.

Opportunities During the School Year

Virginia Governor's Schools - http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/Instruction/Govschools/

Summer Residential Governor's Schools:

     Summer Residential Governor's Schools provide gifted rising juniors and seniors in high school with intensive educational experiences in visual and performing arts; humanities; mathematics, science, and technology; medicine and life science; or through mentorships in marine science or engineering.
     Each Summer Residential Governor's School focuses on one special area of interest. Students live on a college or university campus for up to five weeks each summer. During this time, students are involved in classroom and laboratory work, field studies, research, individual and group projects and performances, and seminars with noted scholars, visiting artists, and other professionals. In the two mentorships, students are selected to work side-by-side with research scientists, physicians, and a variety of other professionals. A director and a student-life staff provide supervision of students 24 hours a day, throughout the program.
     One of the most important aspects of the Summer Residential Governor's Schools is the opportunity participants have to live, study, and get to know other students with similar interests and abilities from across Virginia. Both co-curricular and extra-curricular activities are designed to encourage students' interests and abilities. Recreation and free time are provided outside of the academic environment that enable these students to enjoy, what for many is, their first summer living away from home.
     Any Virginia gifted tenth or eleventh grade student may apply for the Summer Residential Governor's Schools. Applications are made available in October through a Superintendent's Memo. Prospective students may click on the link below to have access to the information and applications. Additional copies are sent to high school guidance departments of public and private schools, as well as each school division's gifted education coordinator. Each school division has a specific number of nominations it may send to the Virginia Department of Education.
     Nominations may be made by teachers, guidance counselors, peers, or by the students themselves. A school or division selection committee chooses the nominees from each school or division and forwards the nominees to a state committee. Consideration is given to students' academic records, test scores, extra-curricular activities, honors, and awards, creativity, original essays, and teacher recommendations. Students applying for the Visual and Performing Arts Summer Residential Governor's School participate in a statewide adjudication where they audition or present portfolios for review before a pair of professionals in the specific arts field. Because of the limited number of residential placements available, not all students who are nominated by their schools can be accepted for participation.

http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/Instruction/Govschools/

Summer Residential Governor's Language Academies:

• The three immersion programs in French, German, and Spanish provide an intensive experience and unique challenge for students who have excelled in language study to continue their study of that language in a total immersion environment, which is generally unavailable in the regular school environment.
• The Latin Academy provides an intensive experience for students who have excelled in the study of Latin to continue their study in a milieu unavailable in the regular school environment and introduces the students to classical Greek.
• The partial-immersion programs in Japanese and Russian provide an opportunity for interested students to be introduced to the Russian or Japanese cultures and languages which are not widely taught across the commonwealth. Advanced classes are also available to students who have studied Russian or Japanese.

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Instruction/Language/GAmain.html

Summer Regional Governor's Schools:

     Twenty Summer Regional Governor's Schools are available throughout the state. The Summer Regional Governor's Schools exist in a variety of formats. Most often, groups of school divisions design these programs to meet the needs of their local gifted elementary and middle school students. These schools provide exciting opportunities in the arts, sciences, and humanities. The Department of Education approves each Summer Regional Governor's School and evaluates each school once every six years.
     Summer Regional Governor's Schools typically are housed at a public school or on the campus of a college, community college, or university. The lengths of programs vary, with some lasting a week or less while others may last four or more weeks. Most students return to their homes at the end of each day's activities; however, the University of Virginia's College at Wise, Southside, and Valley/Ridge Summer Regional Governor's Schools are residential.
     Gifted students may apply for the regional summer school in their area. The Summer Regional Governor's School director and the planning committee with representatives from the participating school divisions at each regional site establish nomination and selection procedures. Program topics and grade levels vary among the sites and change from year to year in response to annual local evaluations and changing concerns in the localities sponsoring the Summer Regional Governor's Schools.

http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/Instruction/Govschools/

All Write @ Virginia Tech: Creative Writing Summer Camp

June 26-30th, 2006

The All Write @ Virginia Tech writing workshops are for students ages 8 to 18. These creative workshops offer aspiring writers and poets a fun and exciting learning adventure in writing! Students will make new friends while improving their creativity and writing abilities. All classes will touch on poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. The week-long morning creative writing camp is $185 and includes professional instruction, materials, daily workshops, and opening and closing featured sessions. Space is limited, so register early!

For More Information Contact:

Jane Todd, Continuing and Professional Education

540-231-2014

Email: janetodd@vt.edu

FERRUM COLLEGE SUMMER ENRICHMENT CAMP
Session 1:  June 22 - 28, 2008                     Session 2:  June 29 - July 5, 2008

http://www.ferrum.edu/fcsec

In its 19th year, this camp is for Academically Motivated Students currently in grades five, six or seven.   Located at Ferrum College in the beautiful foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, this residential camp offers an exciting opportunity to:
· pursue academic interests
· explore new ideas
· experience campus life
· make new friends
· have traditional summer-camp fun

Camp Philosophy:  "At FCSEC, we believe that a healthy self-concept is essential for fully developing one's talents and skills. The daily academic program is balanced with a variety of social and recreational activities designed to promote personal growth, team-building and an appreciation of individual differences and abilities. The camp motto is reinforced daily in a variety of ways as campers are encouraged to approach new learning situations with an "I CAN DO IT" attitude."

SUMMER ENRICHMENT PROGRAM (SEP) at UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA (UVA)

http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/go/enrich/index/home.html

The University of Virginia announces the 29th year of its residential summer program for gifted and talented students. The mission of the Summer Enrichment Program (SEP) is to create an education program which models appropriate instruction for gifted learners. SEP teachers and interns, as well as administrative staff and residential counselors work as a community of learners to create an intellectually safe, stimulating, and enriching environment for all.

Students who are currently enrolled in grades 4 - 10 may apply to attend a two-week session in our program where curriculum emphasis will be on extending a student's capabilities in problem-solving, creativity and critical examination and evaluation of content rich fields of study. Areas that are new or of special interest to students will be investigated through hands-on simulations, demonstrations, lectures, discussion and/or individual or small group investigations. The 9th - 11th grade program will also emphasize the acquisition and practice of research skills within advanced topic areas. A depth and breadth study that often cannot be achieved in the regular classroom will receive particular emphasis and will be facilitated by a low teacher-pupil ratio and by the use of the facilities of the University and the historic Charlottesville area.

Brochures for the SEP at UVA are available in October.
 

SATURDAY AND SUMMER ENRICHMENT PROGRAM at THE COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY

http://www.cfge.wm.edu/sep.htm
 

The Center for Gifted Education provides unique opportunities for high ability students to attend Saturday and Summer enrichment courses on the campus of The College of William and Mary.  The Saturday and Summer Programs are targeted for courses for students entering preschool through Grade 10.  The programs recognize the importance of allowing able youngsters to explore specialized areas of science, mathematics, and the arts and humanities.  The program does not take the place of the regular school curriculum.  Behaviors fostered by the enrichment program include students' abilities to apply process skills used in individual fields of inquiry, to recognize problems and approaches to problem-solving, to understand and appreciate individual differences, and to become self-directed learners.