Wisconsin Center for Academically Talented Youth

Kids Experimenting

Wisconsin Center for Academically Talented Youth (WCATY) is a university-based non-profit organization committed to providing year-round, state-wide programs for academically talented youth from the elementary grades through high school. Affordable access to programs and opportunities is a cornerstone of WCATY values. Each year, WCATY serves approximately 2,000 gifted and talented students from across the state and beyond through its two main initiatives: WCATY Academy and WCATY Summer Programs.

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Young Students Summer Program (YSSP) provides Wisconsin’s elementary students with a stimulating intellectual environment in a nurturing academic summer camp setting. Students completing grades 4-6 especially enjoy the novelty of having just one class with motivated classmates in a subject area they love, quickly recognizing they have entered a new world of learning possibilities.

Summer Transitional Enrichment Program (STEP) gives students who are finishing 7th or 8th grade an opportunity to spend two weeks on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus studying one accelerated course. STEP is designed to enrich, intellectually challenge, and inspire. It offers a learning atmosphere that nurtures students’ talents and abilities, enriches social life, and encourages creativity.

Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) provides talented high school students with a rigorous academic experience.  This three-week accelerated summer camp occurs in a collegiate setting where high school students study one subject in great depth and have access to scholarly resources available on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.

WCATY Academy is a nine-week program that provides advanced coursework for middle school students designed to supplement and enhance a district’s classroom offerings with cross-curricular, gifted-focused content.  It uses a highly innovative online curriculum, combined with face-to-face workshops, to enable academically talented students to interact in a gifted learning community.

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