The Center for Gifted Studies

For gifted students who have completed sixth, seventh, or eighth grade, SCATS, The Summer Camp for Academically Talented Middle School Students, presents a unique learning environment to explore new ideas, develop concepts, make friends, and share experiences. SCATS classes open new doors of learning for gifted young people and provide a comfortable social atmosphere where they can be who they truly are.

SCATS provides a diverse curriculum and a wide range of enrichment experiences for about 200 middle school students every summer. A two-week program, SCATS provides both residential and nonresidential options. Nonresidential students attend classes and return home in the afternoons. Residential campers live in an air-conditioned residence hall on the WKU campus.

From almost thirty different course options, students are placed in four of their top ten choices and attend these classes every day. Class choices range from arts and humanities to mathematics and sciences, opening the doors to a wide variety of interests. SCATS courses are taught by veteran teachers with experience teaching gifted children. Teachers provide students with a great deal of individualized attention in the classroom. SCATS classes go beyond the limitations of the traditional classroom to allow students to learn and create in their own ways.

Though academics are at the heart of SCATS, emphasis is also placed on the social aspects of camp. When not in class, students are likely to be playing sports, participating in cookouts, dances, and talent shows or hanging out on the lawn in front of their residence hall, playing music, making crafts, and getting to know one another. Enjoying learning is the norm at SCATS, where students can find peers who share a wide range of academic and social interests. In many cases, the friendships students form at SCATS are life-long. “It’s not just a learning camp,” one participant remarked. “It’s a place where you feel accepted, loved and respected by your friends. A place you will never want to leave.”