Gifted Atlanta

University of West Georgia has opened registration for its 2025 youth summer camps, being held this June and July. Camps are available for rising kindergartners through rising 12th graders.

For grades K-2, Wolves Exploration Camp will run daily from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. From UWG’s description, this is an immersive camp that emphasizes activity outside the classroom.

STEM camps are open to rising K-8. These camps are being operated by the Georgia Youth Science and Technology Center.

Students rising to grades 6 through 12 can enroll in UWG Immersion Camps. These sessions are led by UWG faculty and staff, covering such topics as film, archaeology, esports and more.

Georgia Tech has opened registration for its summer 2025 programs.

• The Summer P.E.A.K.S. Program is a series of one- and two-week sessions for rising 2nd- to 12th-grade students. Themes include drones, makerspace design and engineering, sports science, robotics, animation, architecture and coding. Elementary- and middle-school programs typically meet from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily on the Georgia Tech campus; some high-school-level sessions may run until 5 p.m.
• Scroll all the way to the bottom of the registration page to find information on the Robotics Institute, a one-week residential program for current high-school students who are passionate about robotics. This program requires an application for acceptance.
• NextGen Innovators is a new, middle-school Summer P.E.A.K.S. session that will be held June 23-27 in Technology Park in Peachtree Corners (Gwinnett County). Students will explore how STEAM solutions can address real-world challenges such as renewable energy and clean water. Find the details and register for this program by scrolling down the registration page to the middle-school section and looking in the Week 4 programs.

For most Georgia Tech programs, registration remains open until one week before the program’s start date. However, this may not be true for all programs, and there are limited available spaces for all programs.

Some summer programs have already opened registration for 2025, and those that haven’t yet will do so soon. To help you prepare, today I clicked every single link on the Summer Programs page to make sure they all lead where they should.

I added one program to the page: arts intensives at Kennesaw State University, one-week sessions focusing on visual art and design, dance, theater, or music.

I removed the following listings because the programs seem to have been discontinued:

• TEC Camp at Georgia Tech
• Summer University at Kennesaw State University
• Smart Girls Summer Camp at Atlanta Girls School
• Emagination technology camp
• Clemson Universtity Space Camp

If you know of a great summer program that’s not already on the Summer Programs page, please share it with our gifted community. You can leave a comment on this post or send me information by using the form on the About / Contact page.

VOX ATL, a non-profit organization that calls itself “Atlanta’s home for uncensored teen publishing and self-expression” is taking applications for its Media Cafe summer program.

Media Cafe is a two-week program that introduces teens to multimedia production, journalism and public speaking. Working in VOX ATL’s downtown office, teens get hands-on experience with writing, video editing, podcasting and graphic design. They also take field trips and meet creative professionals who work in Atlanta.

The program is open to ages 13-19. It’s free, although participants are asked to provide a $100 deposit to hold their spot. The deposit is returned at the end of the session. (Deposit waivers may be available, based on financial need.)

The application deadline is May 22. To learn more, visit the Media Cafe page.

Atlanta History Center is having a sale this week on its summer writing camps for students who are currently in 6th through 8th grades.

As they describe the camps, “Campers will learn how to become history detectives as they uncover museum mysteries, craft their own spooky stories, experiment with different styles of writing, and dream up their own imaginative worlds, all while having fun and exploring the past through games, historical simulations, and more!”

There’s no code required for the discount, which is $50 for non-members or $40 for members. The discount should appear automatically at registration. (Note that their history camps — which are for younger kids — aren’t part of this sale.) This offer ends this Friday, April 19.

Need more financial help for your child to attend a camp at Atlanta History Center? Camp scholarships are available for students who attend a Title I public school and receive free or reduced lunch. These are available for history camps or writing camps.

“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.”
— Henry David Thoreau

If this well-known quotation describes your gifted child, take a look at the Appalachian Institute for Creative Learning, a summer camp that revels in letting kids explore topics outside the expected.

AICL is one of the only summer programs I include on GiftedAtlanta.com that isn’t in the metro Atlanta area. It’s held at Mars Hill University, near Asheville, N.C. Why do I make this exception? First, my own kids attended this camp for two years, and my husband and I taught at the camp one of those years, so I’m personally familiar with it. And second, I know that AICL has given many quirky kids the priceless experience of feeling they’re with their true peers — including one kid whose mom read about AICL on this blog and who told me the camp was a godsend for her child.

Consider some of the classes they’re offering this summer: print making, the nervous system, Korean folk art, puppetry, short-story writing and French new wave films. Campers will create their own game shows, dismantle electronic devices, and program mini-robots to perform a play. In the afternoons and evenings, there are small-group clubs and large-group activities.

It isn’t just the classes AICL teaches that makes it work. It’s an underlying philosophy that celebrates personal and intellectual originality.

This summer, AICL will meet for two, one-week sessions. The camp is open to students rising to grades 3 through 12, with residential and day camp options. (Day camp at a location nearly four hours away is obvioulsy impractical, unless you make a sort of family vacation of it and rent a place around Asheville for the week — which we did the first year my kids attended.)

UWG has opened registration for a variety of youth summer camps this June and July, for students as young as rising kindergarteners, up to rising 12th graders.

For grades K-2, Wolves Exploration Camp will run daily from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. From UWG’s description, this camp will have children actively engaged in hands-on projects. Specific themes for each week haven’t been announced.

Students rising to grades 3 to 5 have two options:

1. Discovery Camp, which has lots of typical camp activities (crafts, outdoor play, and a gym), plus a touch of academic content about archaeology. Runs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
2. STEM camp, which is programmed in partnership with the Georgia Youth Science and Technology Center. Topics will include geology, esports, LEGO robotics, drones and more. This camp has sessions from 9 a.m. to noon and 1-4 p.m., so you can make it a half-day camp or all day, whichever you prefer.

Students rising to grades 6 through 12 can enroll in the UWG Immersion Center. These sessions are led by UWG faculty and staff, covering such topics as literature, art, film, esports, personal finance and more. Sessions are split into 9 a.m. to noon and 1-4 p.m., so you can choose to attend half-day or all day.

You can see all the summer program information and register for sessions by following the link provided at the top of this post.

I say the same thing most every December: Can it really be time to make summer plans already?

Indeed, it really can. Summer camps and programs are starting to open registration for summer 2024. Even if you’re not ready to make a decision, you might want to start thinking about the possibilities.

The Summer Programs page on GiftedAtlanta.com lists dozens of options. I’ve organized them by age — one section for elementary- and middle-school, and another for high school. I verified all the links today, so I hope you won’t hit any dead ends.

Programs do make changes from time to time, particularly with ages served or location, so there may be a rare case where the brief description on the Summer Programs page doesn’t match up exactly with the details on a program’s website. If you find any discrepancies, would you please let me know by sending a message through the Contact page?

Also, if you have summer programs to recommend, please let me know. As my kids have gotten older, I haven’t done as much searching for programs as I used to. I’m sure there are new options out there that could be added to the list. Thank you.