Media Contact: Alondra Ponce, alondra.ponce.432@my.csun.edu, or Javier Rojas, javier.rojas@csun.edu, (818)-677-2130

The Summer Academic Program for Elementary School Students (SAPESS) is accepting applications for summer 2025. The five-week program, divided into different weekly themes, gives elementary students—grades one through five—an opportunity to be in a creative learning environment.
“This is a very unique opportunity because students can explore the college campus and have some kind of pre-college experience,” said Minsung Kwon, an associate professor in the Department of Elementary Education and the Director of SAPESS. “Sometimes, students do not have rich experiences with subjects like science and social studies during the regular academic year, but we do.”
The different themes for the 5-week program are “Animals”, “Inventions”, “Heartbeat of America”, “Music” and “Space.” The courses will implement the themes into the lessons to create an interactive and engaging learning experience.
After the SAPESS programs in the morning, there will be a variety of electives that students can choose. They include; “Auditioning for TV Commercials,” “Math Investigators,” Robotics,” “micro:bit,” “Magical Dancing Adventure,” “Dancing Through the Decades,” ‘Bring Your Storybooks to Life,” “The ‘Wicked’ Experience,” “A Disney Sing-A-Long,” and “Acting in Sitcoms.”
“We started our program in 1983 and so we have a long history of providing meaningful learning opportunities for students during the summer to have a more product-based activity across different subjects,” Kwon said.
Many of the teachers are from local school districts, and TAs are teacher candidates from the Department of Elementary Education who have experience with student teaching.
Parents may register their children for the five-week program or for one of the weekly themes. There is a financial aid opportunity for eligible families.
To see testimonials from parents whose children have attended the program, information about financial aid, and to learn more about SAPESS, visit https://www.csun.edu/eisner-education/summer-academic-program-elementary-school-students.
If you have any questions or inquiries, please contact sapess2@csun.edu.
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