The Davidson Academy of Nevada, commonly referred to as the Davidson Academy, is a public school for gifted middle and high school students located in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

on the

University of Nevada, Reno The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada, United States. It is the state's flagship public university and prim ...

campus. The school is a division of the Davidson Institute for Talent Development, a nonprofit organization established to support the needs of profoundly gifted children through informative resources, networking, educational opportunities, family support, advocacy, and scholarships. Founded in 2006, the school is the first public school in the United States for profoundly gifted students, a unique classification in the Nevada legislature. As of the 2024–25 school year, 169 students are enrolled in the school's Reno campus and 100 students are enrolled in the online campus, launched in the 2017–18 school year. The school groups students by ability, rather than age, and allows students to take courses at any level, including university-level coursework as part of a dual-enrollment program with the

. The school was designed with the purpose "to provide profoundly gifted young people an advanced educational opportunity matched to their abilities, strengths and interests." Eligible candidates must score at or above the 99.9th percentile on accepted intelligence and/or achievement tests (about 145 on traditional IQ tests); perform at a required academic level; exhibit intellectual and academic achievement; be, or intend to be, residents of Nevada; and pass other criteria such as an in-person assessment.

Academics

The school is consistently ranked as one of the top academic schools in the nation, being ranked as the "best public high school in America" by Niche.com in 2024 and the 4th best public high school in America by U.S. News. According to the ''Washington Post''

Jay Mathews Jay Mathews is an author and education columnist with the ''Washington Post''. Career Mathews has worked at the ''Washington Post'' writing news reports and books about China, disability rights, the stock market, and education. He writes the ''Cl ...

, the Davidson Academy is one of the nation's "top-performing schools with elite students." and its students have the highest average ACT score of any public high school in the United States. The school's average class size is 4. The school's directors are Colleen Harsin at the Reno campus and Stacy Hawthorne at the online campus. The average class size is less than 15 students, with some classes as small as 3–4 students. Courses offered include advanced mathematics classes (including differential equations), Spanish and Chinese language classes, as well as various electives such as machine learning and animation. Students can enroll in classes not offered by the school through dual enrollment with the

, where students are encouraged to enroll when their abilities or interests exceed the school's offerings.

History

The school's Reno campus was founded following state legislation passed in 2005 providing for the creation of a "university school for profoundly gifted pupils." Bob and Jan Davidson, former owners of

Davidson & Associates Davidson & Associates, Inc. was an American developer of educational software based in Torrance, California. The company was founded in 1984 by husband-and-wife Bob and Jan Davidson, the latter of whom led the company as president until January 1 ...

and supporters of gifted education, established the school as an outgrowth of the Davidson Young Scholars program following requests by many of the parents in the program to establish a full-time school, with some saying they would move for their students to attend. An online campus was launched in the 2017–18 academic year. The online option provides profoundly gifted students in the United States and Canada a "rigorous online academic environment where these students can thrive among their intellectual peers."

Awards and honors

*Consistently ranked as one of the nation's "top-performing schools with elite students" by the ''Washington Post'' Jay Mathews. *Ranked #1 public high school in America by Niche.com. *16 out of 25 seniors were named 2024 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists. *2016, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024 winners of the Nevada Science Bowl. *One presidential scholar in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2020, and two presidential scholars in 2017. *2023 and 2024 winners of the Nevada Mathcounts competition. *2017, 2018, 2022, and 2024 "Elite Eight" team in the International Public Policy Forum. *The school's DECA chapter regularly sends about half of its students to DECA's International Career Development Conference."Nevada DECA Takes Home the Glass"
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Notable alumni

Taylor Wilson Taylor Wilson (born May 7, 1994) is an US, American nuclear physics, nuclear physicist and science advocate. Wilson achieved controlled nuclear fusion in 2008 when he was 14 years old. He has designed a compact radiation detector to enhance air ...

(born 1994), nuclear scientist and youngest person to build a working

Farnsworth–Hirsch fusor A fusor is a device that uses an electric field to heat ions to a temperature at which they undergo nuclear fusion. The machine induces a potential difference between two metal cages, inside a vacuum. Positive ions fall down this voltage drop, bu ...

References

External links

*
Davidson Institute for Talent Development
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson Academy (Reno, Nevada) High schools in Reno, Nevada Public high schools in Nevada