The Science Academy STEM Magnet Supernovas

We are proud to announce that has, once again, earned the Platinum AP School Honor Roll for 2025. This recognition reflects the hard work of our students and faculty, as well as the support from our parents. We’re proud of our school’s strong college culture and appreciative of the many AP opportunities available to our students. Way to go, Supernovas!

𝐀𝐋𝐔𝐌𝐍𝐈 𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐓𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓: At The Science Academy, learning STEM is a given, but in the case of two of our alumni, 𝗚𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗡𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗸𝘆 𝗥𝗮𝗺𝘀𝗮𝘆 (𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗳 ’𝟮𝟰), they’re literally a part of science.

Gillian and Sky have been participants of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, the largest long-term study of brain development ever conducted in the U.S.

Launched by the NIH in 2015, this 10-year study has followed our alumni and nearly 12,000 other children nationwide, beginning at ages 9–10, to better understand how the brain develops through adolescence. Researchers have tracked everything from brain imaging and cognitive development to health, environment, and lived experiences, creating an unprecedented, open-access dataset that’s been used by scientists around the world.

Why does this matter? Findings from ABCD have already deepened our understanding of mental health, learning, environmental influences, and how social and economic factors shape brain development in kids. The collected data has already contributed insights into a variety of areas like the effects of screen time on children, healthy sleep habits and brain development, and the way ADHD medications might really be working in the brain.

ABCD has reached their 10th and final year, but thanks to a 7-year funding extension, they will be able to follow participants into young adulthood when many lifelong patterns and outcomes take shape. Both alumni plan to continue participating in this second round of the study.

We are incredibly proud of Gillian and Sky’s dedication to science and contributing to research that’s helping shape the future of neuroscience, public health, and education.

𝑉𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑡 𝘵𝘩𝘦 The ABCD Study 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦 (https://abcdstudy.org/) 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺, 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘈𝘉𝘊𝘋 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘢.

Congratulations to Adrian Ge**er (9th), who just competed at the International Optimist Dinghy Association’s 2025 South American Championships this past September in Salinas, Ecuador.

Adrian was one of twelve US sailors to be invited to represent and be a part of the United States National Team. He and his teammates competed against 180 of the top sailors from Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Peru, Columbia, Ecuador, Mexico, Puerto Rico, American Virgin Islands, and Canada.

For the last 5 years, Adrian has been training and competing nationally in countless local and national competitions, as well as internationally in a number of European and South American regattas. He is on the US Optimist National team as one of the top 30 sailors in the country, and will be advancing to compete in the US National c420 and International i420 class vessels.

Congratulations to Jeron Leonard (9th) and Atharva Shimpi (9th), who have been named 2025 Top 300 Junior Innovators in the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge (JIC), the nation’s premier STEM competition for middle school students hosted by . This honor places Jeron and Atharva among a select group of Junior Innovators who were name from among 1,890 entrants from 34 states and Puerto Rico.

Jeron and Atharva’s 2024-2025 science fair project “Making Different Types of Filaments from Recycled Plastics to Reduce Carbon Footprints and Measuring Their Properties” used recycled plastics to create 3D-printing filaments and explored eco-friendly and sustainable alternatives to reduce plastic waste.

The Leonard and Shimpi families would like to extend their gratitude to the administration and faculty of The Science Academy for their support and guidance, and in particular to Mr. Bradfield and Mr. Knauss for their invaluable mentorship.