History

The Center for Talent Development (CTD) Summer Program has been serving the gifted community with excellence for almost 30 years.

The Summer Program began simply as Spectrum, a program offering intensive college preparatory courses designed for students in grades 7 and 8. Today, we offer six thriving programs serving students in PreK through grade 12. 

Started in response to gifted students’ needs and desires for rigorous summer academic opportunities to complement a school-year education, the Summer Program has grown and continues to evolve alongside the gifted community. We consistently seek and analyze feedback from students and their families. We apply the lessons of high-quality research, and we strategically incorporate new technologies to make our processes efficient and our programs more effective. 

The result is the CTD Summer Program, a comprehensive social and intellectual enterprise that engages, inspires, prepares and challenges students from early childhood to early adulthood. 

While we are proud of our history and the powerful impact our programs have made on thousands of students’ lives, we believe our success lies not in our reputation, but in our ongoing commitment to setting the standard in service to the gifted community.


Summer Program Timeline

1983	Spectrum, serving gifted students in grades 7 and 8, begins, and the Center for Talent Development (CTD) Summer Program is born.
1985	The first Spectrum students are in high school, and the Summer Program creates Equinox, an initiative designed for students in grades 9 through 12.
1995	Talent is identified in younger children, so the Summer Program launches Apogee, meeting the needs of students in grades 4 through 6.
2000	Leapfrog, for students in PreK through grade 3, starts, addressing growing interest in a summer program for younger students.
2003	The Summer Program launches a new Equinox site at Case Western Reserve University (Case) in Cleveland, Ohio.
2005	Leapfrog adds a new site in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, to serve gifted youngsters living in Chicago's western suburbs. The Summer Program goes high-tech, accepting online applications for the first time.
2006	A commuter-only Spectrum program begins at Case, continuing to expand the number of students served by CTD.
2007	The Summer Program seeks to ease students’ transitions from one program to the next, launching all-day Leapfrog classes for students completing grade 3 and a one-week Apogee program to bridge Leapfrog and Apogee. CTD initiates online training process for instructors, increasing their knowledge of gifted students’ needs and effective teaching strategies. Summer Program enrollment exceeds 3,000 students, and Leapfrog grows by more than 50% in one year!
2008	The Summer Program expands its curriculum within Apogee, Spectrum and Equinox, venturing into non-traditional subject areas such as aviation, immunology, logic and ethics.
2009	Leapfrog adds a location in Palatine, bringing the total number of sites to three.
2010	Leapfrog adds a new location in Chicago. The one-week Apogee program officially becomes known as Spark, and a two-week program for students completing grades 4 through 6 is introduced.
2011	Apogee two-week expands and becomes Solstice.
2012	Spark and Solstice expand to a second location in Elmhurst, Illinois. Creative Studies courses are introduced.