SAVY at a Glance

SAVY serves gifted and high-achieving students in Kindergarten through Grade 8 during the academic year and rising 1st through 8th grade in the summer. Students in 7th and 8th grade participate in Career Connections at SAVY, a program within SAVY designed specifically for this age group.

See the “How do students qualify?” section below for more information on student qualifications for SAVY or Career Connections.

Classes are designed for the academically talented and motivated learner. SAVY offers accelerated courses led by Vanderbilt professors, master teachers, and/or graduate students in a variety of course topics that change each session. Class size is limited to approximately 14 students for grades K-2 and 16 students for grades 3-8.

Programs for Talented Youth may use curriculum and resources from a variety of sources to design classes that engage your learners. The extent to which particular resources are used varies by course. Please note that the publishers and content creators of resources PTY instructors use do not endorse Programs for Talented Youth.

Please visit the “SAVY Academics and Course Listings” page for more details.

Fall and Spring classes meet on three consecutive Saturdays from 9:00 AM to 2:45 PM. Summer classes are offered in one-week sessions during June and July, Monday through Friday from 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM. Students may register for one or more sessions, with courses varying by week.

Please visit the “SAVY Session Dates and Application Information” page for more details.

SAVY is held on Peabody Campus at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN.

For SAVY, we accept any standardized achievement or ability test including, but not limited to, the following: RIAS, CogAT, ERB, Stanford Achievement Test, OLSAT, Woodcock Johnson, WIAT, WISC IV/V, ITBS, Iowa and MAP/NWEA. We also accept a variety of state achievement tests, including AIMSweb, STAR, TCAP, Fastbridge testing, and other progress-monitoring assessments for provisional placement. Out-of-level standardized assessments (e.g., Explore, SCAT) are also accepted.

While scores around the 90th percentile are typically a strong indication that SAVY is an appropriate curriculum match for a student, feel free to contact the SAVY office for questions about scores that do not meet these criteria, as alternative documentation may be acceptable. Returning SAVY students do not need to resubmit test scores unless their scores are more than three years old. Students without test scores should work with their schools to obtain documentation of their assessments.

The eligibility requirements for Career Connections at SAVY are slightly different from our K-6 SAVY program. The eligibility options for Career Connections at SAVY are the same as those for Vanderbilt Summer Academy (VSA, PTY’s rising 7th -12th grade residential program).

In order to determine if the Career Connection program is a good fit, all students are required to submit qualifying documentation as part of their application.

There are two eligibility documentation options for Career Connections, a portfolio option or submission of test scores.

Visit the Student Program Eligibility page for more information about eligibility for SAVY and Career Connections at SAVY.