Academic

Academic Camps

Five Academic Camps Await Girls and Boys Entering Grades 4-12

Start Strong • Intro to Middle School Speech & Debate • Calc-U-Gators! Middle School Math Bootcamp • Algebra 1 Review and Refresher • Geometry for Credit

Start Strong: Summer Work and Strategies to Prepare for the Year Ahead

Ages: Girls entering Grades 4-10
Format: One one-week session
Location: Laurel’s Lyman Campus in Shaker Heights
Dates: July 21-25 - $500
Time: 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.

Get Organized, Gator! Summer work got you down? Pack it up and head to camp! This week-long camp will provide students opportunities to fine tune their executive functioning skills and get ready for the upcoming school year. We'll work with students to develop the strategies and habits necessary to improve their organization, planning, time management, attention regulation, and overall metacognition. We'll use examples from daily life as well as academic domains in their assigned summer work. Between lessons, campers will play games, get active in and around the Lyman Campus, enjoy some special cold summer treats all while reconnecting with old friends and making new ones.

Introduction to Middle School Speech & Debate

Ages: Girls entering Grades 6-8
Format: One week-long session
Location: Laurel’s Lyman Campus in Shaker Heights
Dates: July 14-July 18 - $425
Time: 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.

Calling all future public speakers and debaters! Do you love engaging in spirited debates? Do you have great ideas you want to share? Or, perhaps, you might want to step out of your comfort zone and practice your public-speaking skills? This camp is designed for rising 6th through 8th Grade girls who are interested in getting to know more about and competing in the competitive world of Speech and Debate. Students learn about the different competitive Speech and Debate events before selecting one they'd like to prepare for competing in. At the end of the week, family members are welcomed to spectate a mock tournament.

Calc-U-Gators! Middle School Math Bootcamp *NEW*

Ages: Students entering grades 6th - 8th (students who have not completed Algebra 1)
Format: Three one-week sessions; three hours a day with the option of adding on Start Strong week three for a full day.
Location: Laurel’s Lyman Campus in Shaker Heights
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Week 1: July 7 - 11 - $300
Week 2: July 14 - 18 - $300
Week 3: July 21- 25 - $300 with Start Strong from 12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.  - $500

Calc-u-Gators! is a focused, three-week summer program designed to strengthen key math skills for middle school students entering grades 6-8. This engaging boot camp provides a comprehensive review and reinforcement of foundational math concepts, including pre-algebra skills, number sense, measurement, geometry, and problem-solving strategies. Through a structured yet interactive approach, the program aims to boost students' math confidence and prepare them for the upcoming school year.

The primary goals of Calc-u-Gators! are to reinforce essential math skills, build a strong foundation in pre-algebra, and enhance students' understanding of number sense, measurement, and geometry. Additionally, the program focuses on developing problem-solving strategies that can be applied across various math topics while improving students' confidence and readiness for middle school math challenges.

The curriculum covers a range of core math topics, with interactive and hands-on activities designed to make learning enjoyable and effective. Students will work on number sense and operations, including fractions, decimals, percentages, positive and negative numbers, and absolute values. They will also explore pre-algebra skills such as understanding variables, simplifying expressions, and solving basic equations. Measurement and geometry lessons will include calculating area, perimeter, volume, and surface area, as well as understanding geometric properties and relationships. Finally, students will tackle problem-solving strategies, focusing on word problems, logical reasoning, and breaking down complex problems into manageable steps.

This summer program offers a supportive environment where students can develop critical math skills and gain the confidence they need to excel in the new school year.

Algebra 1 Review and Refresher

Ages: Students taking Algebra 1 in the fall and those wanting to review material
Dates: July 8-25  $900
Format: One three-week session; half-day
Location: Laurel’s Lyman Campus in Shaker Heights
Time: 9:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (Tuesday - Friday) 

This three-week preparation and review class is intended for students taking Algebra 1 in the fall, or for those students who may have already taken Algebra 1 but would like to shore up their understanding and skills for the upcoming school year. This program serves as a reinforcement of key concepts and foundational skills that will help students find success in the classes at Laurel.

There will be opportunities to practice pre-algebraic concepts such as: operations involving numbers with the same/different signs; an understanding of the number line and number sense; how to use/look for patterns in sense-making and estimation; the meaning of fractions and operations involving fractions; how to solve multi-step single-variable equations; secure understanding of the coordinate plane; develop an understanding of expressions and functions; independent and dependent variables; slope-intercept form of equations; systems of equations; solving inequalities using addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division; understanding the relationship between fractions, decimals, and ratios; solving proportions, ratios, rates, and percentages; factoring and finding the equation of a line; how to read and interpret a graph; the difference between perimeter and area; exponents and order of operations; practicing math facts; and how to take math notes.

Geometry (for Credit)

Ages: Open to Laurel students who have completed Algebra I and have received department approval
Format: One six-week session, half-day; for credit $1675
Location: Laurel’s Lyman Campus in Shaker Heights
Dates: June 17-July 25
Time: 8:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. (Tuesday-Friday) 
Instructor: Gina Palmer

This course emphasizes traditional geometry topics such as lines, angles, polygons and circles. Students explore concepts directly through their own inquiry-based exploration, make and test conjectures about what they observe and apply these conjectures to solve problems. In addition to the discovery of geometric relationships, students’ investigations also develop cooperative learning and problem-solving skills.

Students will be asked to complete some amount of independent study outside of the class sessions in order to use class time for exploration. A typical class session may include group explorations, presentations of new material, individual and small-group practice and/or assessments. A passing grade on a final, end-of-course exam is required to earn high school credit. Students completing this course are prepared for Algebra II.

Financial Aid is available for those Laurel students who qualify. Please contact aSteinberg@LaurelSchool.org for information.