Davidson Academy Online

Currently, Davidson Academy Online is only available to students living in the United States and Canada.

See the DAO Tuition and Aid page.

Yes, there is a 10 percent discount for each additional sibling. The full, personalized tuition rate (determined by FAST) applies for the first student from each family. Then, each additional sibling would receive a 10 percent discount off of that personalized tuition rate.

Students are required to have a desktop or laptop computer running either Windows or Mac OS. Mobile devices and Chromebooks are appropriate for those rare occasion when a student needs to access a live session outside of his/her normal work space, but will provide a more limited experience. We issue a drawing tablet to students as some courses will require handwritten work, and these tablets may be unusable without a Windows or Mac based device. We use the Blackboard and Canvas learning management systems for course delivery, Microsoft Office 365 and Google Workspace for Education for productivity software, and Zoom for live sessions. Students will need a web camera and noise cancelling microphone or headset for live sessions. Since our live sessions do use audio and video streaming, a robust internet connection is necessary. Additionally, all science and math courses, starting at Algebra I, require students to have a graphing calculator.

While we recommend that students have 6th grade in progress, we will review an application from a younger student who has qualifying scores if they have completed at least the age appropriate grade (or the equivalent, if homeschooled), and have qualifying IQ, SAT, or ACT test scores (see accepted tests).

While age and ability do not necessarily correlate, it’s been our experience that profoundly gifted students in the posted age ranges have been the most successful at the Davidson Academy.

The 2025-2026 application will be available in late 2024.

Davidson Academy Online began offering English and math courses for single-course enrollment beginning Fall 2019.

The homework is an extension of classroom discoveries and interactions. It is not busy work but meaningful assignments that engage students in applying information and skills for mastery. Students are responsible for prioritizing their homework assignments and managing their time. The Academy staff is available to guide students with their study skills. Students taking five courses report having up to 10 hours of homework each week.

Our online courses are modeled from existing face-to-face courses at the Davidson Academy's Reno day school, where instructors often adapt the courses to the specific learning needs of the students. Additionally, almost all of our courses incorporate a variety of resources and primary sources instead of relying on a traditional textbooks. Therefore, we do not publicly release text titles or detailed syllabi at this time. Please see our Courses page for detailed descriptions of all courses. 

Our courses focus on depth and application of concepts designed to engage profoundly gifted students. This often means that the content is beyond the Common Core grade level designations, although the content for most of the topics in our core courses are identified in the Common Core State Standards.

Both. All courses will have regular, live synchronous meetings via web-conferencing as well as pre-recorded videos and other online learning activities. Accepted students will receive their live session schedule in August each year. Please see the Online Admissions Process page for more information about the diagnostic period.

Classes are typically capped at 15 students, but often have less. Our focus is on offering classes that our students need, rather than ensuring that each class is full.

All core classes will be a full academic year. Most electives are semester-long classes.

Courses are not self-paced, but they are designed for young, profoundly gifted students who have some variation in their preparation. Individual attention will be available throughout the courses to ensure success of all participants.

Yes. Participants will interact with peers through a variety of course activities. It is our goal for this to be an engaged and inspired community of gifted learners.

The science courses will include hands-on labs. These are typically in the form of lab kits that are mailed directly to each student. Depending on the lab, the students may work through parts of the lab during live sessions or the teacher may provide lab goals and instructions in our learning management system for students. Some labs may require students to videotape themselves doing parts of the lab. Our goal is to ensure that the online science courses have the same level of depth and rigor as our face-to-face courses.

Yes. The Davidson Academy is accredited by AdvancED.

Our course listings increase on an annual basis. Please see our Courses page for a current list of courses.

We offer Spanish and Chinese. More advanced courses in these two languages are currently under development.

Parents should expect to help their students develop routines to work on their courses, interact with teachers and peers, and reach out to teachers through all of the tools available (synchronous lessons, email, discussion boards, office hours, etc.).