Tech-Focused Private School to Open in Reston With 18 Students

Ideaventions Academy, a new Reston private school focusing on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) says it will open for the 2015-16 school year with 18 students in grades four through eight.

Crews are putting the finishing touches on the new space at 12340 Pinecrest Rd. Tuition is $24,500 annually.

Ideaventions founders are Juliana and Ryan Heitz, area residents and graduates of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. They said they had an unsuccessful search to find a science enrichment class for their son, so they created their own teaching science center and started Ideaventions as an extracurricular and homeschool science program in 2010.

The Heitzes say Ideaventions is the only elementary/middle school in the country to offer computer science as a core class.

A Ideaventions spokeswoman says 18 students has “filled enrollment for the 2015-2016 academic school year. ” There are 10 students enrolled in the sixth and seventh grade class and eight students enrolled in the fourth/fifth grade class. The school expects enrollment to double next year.

Among the course offerings: computer science, cellular biology, computational design, Android app development and engineering, as well as arts, music, humanities, foreign languages and physical education.

Spokeswoman Emily Helpern says Ideaventions is also partnering with a number of local businesses and organizations. Among them:

• School lunches will be provided by Lokl Gourmet, a natural foods catering company.
• Foreign language classes will be provided by Reston-based Language Stars.
• Fine arts will be taught by teachers from Leesburg-based studio The Art Station.

Photo courtesy of Ideaventions