The first public school of its kind in the nation dedicated to highly gifted students will open next fall on the campus of the University of Nevada, Reno, UNR officials said Tuesday.
Up to 30 "profoundly intelligent" students in middle school and high school will be accepted into the Davidson Academy of Nevada, named after the pioneering couple in the children's computer software industry who made the school possible, UNR President John Lilley said.
"This prestigious new academy will play an important role in cultivating talented young students to address this country's most pressing challenges in the increasingly competitive global marketplace," Lilley said.
"Many of the next-generation Nobel laureates could come from these profoundly gifted youth who will be taught and nurtured by our faculty," he said.
The Nevada Legislature last year cleared the way for establishing the school. The idea came from Bob and Jan Davidson, who live at Lake Tahoe and founded the Davidson Institute for Talent Development in Reno in 1999. Their former company, Davidson & Associates, was known for the popular Math Blaster and Reading Blaster software series dating to the early 1980s. They also are co-authors of the book, "Genius Denied: How to Stop Wasting Our Brightest Young Minds."
"We are losing our brightest students because the one-size-fits-all approach to education is not working," Jan Davidson said Tuesday.
"That is why we are launching the Davidson Academy of Nevada, to provide an opportunity for these very bright students to learn at a pace and depth commensurate with their abilities and allow them to soar academically," she said.
About half of the 3 million gifted students in the United States are underachieving because they are not challenged by their school curriculum, and up to 20 percent of high school dropouts test in the gifted range, she said.
The students will accelerate through the required middle and high school curriculum at their own pace and eventually be absorbed into UNR courses as they meet prerequisites.
"We chose the University of Nevada for our Academy because of the quality of the teaching and research being undertaken here," Bob Davidson said.
"It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation among the top 150 research universities in the country and many of its faculty have academic credentials from the nation's top programs in their area of specialty."
The university's "safe, beautiful campus environment" is an added bonus, he said.
The Davidsons said the academy will help address the United States' slipping innovative edge and slowing productivity. They said nearly 45 percent of all new U.S. patents are now granted to foreigners.
"Our most talented students rank near the bottom of industrialized nations in math and science comparisons and only 39 percent of recent American university doctorates in engineering have been granted to American students," Jan Davidson said.