About The Davidson Academy

Three years ago, Jan and Bob Davidson opened The Davidson Academy of Nevada.You may know them from the programs Reader Rabbit or Math Blaster. The academy was opened so the nation's extremely bright young students could have an opportunity to learn at their own pace, and take the classes that were at the right level for them. Because of this learning plan, students at the academy are now taking anywhere from middle school courses to upper level college classes.

The first year of the academy was 2006. Thirty students attended the school, which was occupying the upper level of the KNPB building at UNR. Although it was fairly small, the students still loved the great opportunity that it provided. Unfortunately, the first year of any school makes it difficult to get everything right. There were some issues with teachers, and the classroom space, but everything went pretty well.

The main hallway was the hub of the school. When you first walked in, there was the information desk. This is where Carol Gabbert welcomed people in and out of the Academy. Past that, there was the staff room, where only staff were allowed, and the bathrooms. During the second year of the Academy, the cubbies that the students had used during the first year were replaced with nice lockers. Also, the amount of students increased from 36 to 44.

In the main section, there were numerous couches, chairs, tables, and other studying utilities that students could use. Next to that, there was the largest classroom in the whole school. All of the classrooms were named after the lakes of Nevada, so this one, named after the largest of them all, was named the Tahoe room. This is where some classes were held, and where the students ate lunch.

Also, there was only one administrative office in the whole school that was boxed in. This was Colleen Harsin's office, the director of the whole school. The rest of the administrative officers where desks scattered around the school. The only other hallway in the school consisted of four other classrooms, named the Pyramid room, the Walker room, the Topaz room, and the Mead room.

Now, for the 2008-2009 school year, the Academy is living in the old student union. Because UNR decided to build the new Joe Crowley Student Union, the Academy had the chance to move into the Old Jot Travis Student Union. The Davidsons donated millions of dollars to renovate the building. Now, there are many more classrooms, and the overall feel is much nicer.

The front has a large sign saying "The Davidson Academy of Nevada". As you approach the building, there are two sets of doors. The one of the left are the doors to the Academy, while the doors on the right are the doors to the UNR honors program. The Academy is upstairs and the honors program is downstairs. As you walk up the stairs into the Academy, if you are a student, you enter4 through another set of double doors into the min hallway. If you are a visitor, or a teacher, you must first enter through the waiting area. This is where you can talk to Carol, or if you work at the Academy, you can go into the staff area, which is separate from the school.

The front hallway is lined with lockers on the right side, and signs for various clubs and school events on the other side. Also on the right side is the school library. This is where the extra textbooks and books for students. Right now, there are not many books, but there soon will be. The next room that you will find in Ms. Faker's science room, and then Mrs. Walenta's science room. There have been many awesome experiments that have happened there. Click here to read about them.

Then, you come to the common area. This is where students can hang out on the chairs and the couches. This is also the central area in the school, where all the hallways connect to. There are exposed beams that add to the character of the school. if you turn in one direction, you will reach the pine lounge. This is the new largest room in the academy, and it is where all of the students eat lunch. With comfy chairs and some couches, it is extremely nice to sit in. Also, on the second level of the pine lounge is the writing center. This is where students can receive help on their writing, along with the math center, where they can receive help on their math homework from other students. Also, both art classes as well as presentations are taught in the pine lounge.

Another hallways that leads out of the main area of the school in the hallway with the music rooms. These are new rooms that are soundproof so the Jazz Band and Music Theory can be as loud as they want without disturbing the other classes. Also, there is Chris Blandford's room, where he teachers english and philosophy. Also, Mr. Ripley teaches math in those rooms as well. At the end of that hallway, there is the courtyard, containing a patch of grass and some concrete where students can play and have fun during lunch. This is also where a lot of the experiments that started in Mrs. Walenta's room take place.

The third hallway that leads out of the main area is the hallway where Erin Vienneau's room is. This room is the nicest room in the whole school, because one wall is just windows looking onto the small quad at UNR. In this room, there is one comfy chair that students love to sit in for class. Erin teaches english, history, and creative writing in that room. Digital media is also taught in there. There is also a door that connects this classroom and the classroom next door. This classroom is where middle school history is taught by Aimee Cummins, because the old history teacher was fired at the beginning of the year. Also down that hallway is the tahoe room. This is where the drama club meets, as it is the only room in the school that has a stage. It also has chairs for some study halls.

At the end of that hallway is the door to the overlook. This is where the students can buy lunch instead of bringing it. This is the cafeteria that the students at UNR can use as well, but the problem is that it is hard to open the door back to the academy and hold your lunch at the sane time. That is why there have been some spills.

The last hallway is the hallway that attached to the hallways that I just talked about and the main area. This is the hallway with Gael Oswald's room. This is where she teaches pre-algebra, algebra 1, and algebra 2 (which is the equivalent of pre calculus at UNR). Also, there is the computer lab. If you want to know more about this, read the part of my technology page about the new building. There is also Mr. Kramp's office, and two additional rooms that are not used for much.