Gifted Atlanta

The Appalachian Institute for Creative Learning, which has been offering summer enrichment camps since 1982, will introduce a new camp this summer for students rising into grades 8 to 12.

Dubbed “Week Zero,” the new residential camp will maintain AICL’s emphasis on hands-on learning and the fun of exploring new ideas, but will have a greater academic focus than AICL’s other camps. It will be held at Mars Hill University, near Asheville, N.C.

My children have attended AICL, and last summer I taught there. I was impressed with the dedication of the camp instructors and staff, and with the overall vibe of the camp, where campers who defy the common mold are not only accepted but appreciated for their unique qualities. If your child is often the odd kid out in their everyday life, AICL may be where they finally find their tribe.

Registration is open for Midtown International School’s 2016 summer camps, open to students in kindergarten through 8th grade.

This summer, the one-week camps will cover a range of topics including rocketry, robotics, art, photography, and volcanoes. Campers will be grouped by grade level. Groups are limited to 12 campers each.

Camps will be held on the school’s campus in northeast Atlanta. A limited number of scholarships are available.

Space Camp‘s annual Black Friday sale is back. From Friday, Nov. 27 through Monday, Nov. 30, you can save $200 off programs for kids and families.

The discount can be used for a week of Space Camp or Aviation Challenge summer camp, or for the weekend family camp versions of Space Camp or Aviation Challenge.

If you’re not ready to commit to specific dates for summer camp, that’s okay. Space Camp will let you register now, take the $200 discount, and select your program dates later.

This is the only sale Space Camp offers to the general public.

The University of West Georgia in Carrollton has several day camps for kids in kindergarten through age 18. Topics include science, arts and crafts, and a film camp where teens write a screenplay, learn acting skills, and ultimately have their film curated by a film professor.

The university is holding additional STEM summer camps at satellite locations in Paulding County and Douglas County.

Rising 4th to 6th graders will become magazine writers and creative directors in a one-week camp at Georgia Tech run by Katori Education Company.

Campers will choose their stories, write them, and lay out the look of their online magazine, which will be finished at week’s end.

Highwire Comedy Co. invites teens to its acting and writing workshop, a two-week summer program in which kids will write, rehearse and perform an original, live sketch comedy show — like creating their very own “Saturday Night Live.”

Students ages 13 and up will learn both improv and sketch comedy from an experienced faculty that includes a former instructor at Chicago’s Second City theater.

Highwire is located near Decatur.

The CougarBots, a robotics team made up of students at DeKalb County’s Henderson Middle School and Lakeside High School, will run a one-week programming camp this summer for rising 3rd-6th graders.

The camp will be led by the students and their coaches, who will introduce children to the simple Scratch programming language and LEGO NXT robotics programming. No prior experience is necessary.

The CougarBots camp will take place June 29 to July 3, 2015, on the campus of Henderson Middle School. Cost is $180.

To register or for more information, download the PDF flyer.

Walton Robotics, the Walton High School robotics team, will host three summer camps for kids entering 6th to 9th grades.

Camp topics are:

• LEGO NXT, an introductory class in basic robotics for rising 6th to 8th graders
• VEX Advanced, using robotics to study basic principles of engineering, for rising 7th to 9th graders
• Java programming, for rising 7th to 9th graders

Each camp runs Monday through Thursday, June 1-4, 2015.

* NOTE: The online information says applications are due April 3, but I’ve been told by the organizers that they will continue to accept registrations until all spots are filled.

Wheeler Magnet School in Marietta will host three summer camps for elementary- and middle-school students interested in science and technology.

Science Spectrum Camp will be held June 1-5, 2015. The camp is open to rising 7th-, 8th- and 9th-grade students, and will allow exploration in such areas as robotics, chemistry, electronics and drafting.

Camp GAMES, June 22-26, is for girls entering 4th, 5th and 6th grades. It, too, will include a range of science and engineering topics.

This year, Wheeler has added a third camp, STEM Explorers, also June 22-26, for rising 4th, 5th and 6th grade boys. This is the boys’ counterpart to Camp GAMES.

Wheeler Magnet is a science, technology and math magnet program housed at Wheeler High School.