Saturday Academy strives to engage all motivated young people, including those from under-represented communities, in hands-on, in-depth learning by connecting them to community experts as educators and mentors. Our vision is that all interested, pre-college students in our region will have the opportunity to interact with community experts and experience professional environments in ways that assist them in developing intellectually and preparing for rewarding careers. Saturday Academy's innovative programs are open to all students in grades 2 through 12. We value all learning, and offer experiences in many disciplines. We emphasize science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), because these fields are critical for children's careers and their fast pace of change is difficult to address in traditional school settings. Saturday Academy was founded in 1983, and became an independent 501c3 nonprofit in 2006. Saturday Academy has provided instruction to more than 185,000 students throughout Oregon and SW Washington.