Spring 2026
Session Dates: January 26-April 27
(No classes Monday, February 16 for Presidents’ Day, and March 30-April 4 for spring break)
Early Bird Application Deadline: Monday, December 1, 2025
Final Application Deadline: Wednesday, January 7, 2026
Tuition Assistance Deadline: Wednesday, January 7, 2026
SPRING 2026 ONLINE COURSES
Click a course block for details!
Course Description
What does the Sun have to do with auroras? Why do some planets have atmospheres while others do not? How are we protected from the DNA-scrambling forces of far-away stars? The answer to all these questions (and more!) can be found in a special kind of space science: heliophysics, or the study of the Sun and its mindblowing effects throughout the solar system. Featuring guest speakers from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, students will learn about basic physics principles like energy, gravity, electromagnetism, and thermodynamics through the lens of this exciting space science.
NOTE: All classes are held in Pacific Time.
Course Description
From Kehinde Wiley, who painted the official portrait of President Barack Obama, to Corita Kent, a nun who used pop art techniques and screen printing to advocate for peace and justice during the 1960s and ’70s. Jackson Pollock, a leading force behind the abstract expressionist movement, and Emily Kame Kngwarreye, one of Australia’s most significant contemporary artists. In this course, students will learn about a new artist each week and how they responded to and shaped the social and cultural contexts of their times. Students will gain insight into diverse artistic approaches, and then, inspired by these masters, create their own artworks, blending stylistic elements of the artist with their own personal expression.
NOTE: All classes are held in Pacific Time.
Course Description
Unleash your inner secret agent in this exciting course, “Codes, Ciphers, and Secret Agents”! This interactive adventure will transport you into a world of mystery and intrigue as we learn real spy skills—like cracking secret codes, creating invisible ink, and building your own decoder gadgets. Each class is packed with hands-on activities, brain-teasing puzzles, and thrilling stories of famous spies, all while encouraging creativity, teamwork, and problem-solving. By the end of the course, your new agent skills will master the art of secret communication and even design your own spy mission! If you love adventure, solving mysteries, and using imagination, this is the class for you–let the secret agent training begin!
NOTE: All classes are held in Pacific Time.
Course Description
Media changes constantly. How are we supposed to keep up? From print journalism to television to social media to new developments in the age of AI, it’s up to us to figure out how to understand what we are consuming and how it shapes us. In this course, students will explore the aims and impacts of different forms of media in the modern landscape. Through interactive activities, class discussions, and personal reflections, students will study what they see, hear, and read across traditional and digital media, and use critical thinking to analyze the messaging and intent. Together, we will develop strategies to categorize media by its function and evaluate it for its utility, and determine our own relationship with the media we consume.
NOTE: All classes are held in Pacific Time.
Course Description
Spark your creativity and curiosity in Inventors’ Lab! In this course, young inventors will explore the fascinating world of science, engineering, and design through fun experiments and creative projects using everyday materials. Each session inspires you to think like real inventors: brainstorming ideas, building prototypes, solving challenges, and sharing unique creations in a supportive, collaborative environment. From designing wild contraptions to testing you own inventions, you will build confidence, critical thinking, and teamwork skills—all while having a blast! If you love to tinker, imagine, and make things come to life, Inventors’ Lab is the perfect place to let your ideas soar.
NOTE: All classes are held in Pacific Time.
Course Description
Girls in STEM is an engaging, hands-on class where students explore a variety of science, technology, engineering, and math careers through interactive lessons and activities. Guest speakers from diverse STEM fields share their experiences and answer questions, inspiring students to imagine their own future paths. The course culminates in a creative project that connects what students have learned to real-world STEM applications.
This course is designed for female and nonbinary students.
NOTE: All classes are held in Pacific Time.
Course Description
Einstein was not a traditional inventor like Edison or Tesla. Yet, Einstein was an inventor of thought by studying space, time, matter, and energy. During his time as a visiting scientist at Caltech in Pasadena in the early 1930’s, Einstein attempted to unify the fundamental forces of physics between elementary particles into a single theoretical framework in his Unified Field Theory. While he was unsuccessful in studying this particular theory, his many significant and successful theories or “inventions” include: The Quantum Theory of Light, the Special Theory of Relativity, Bose Einstein Condensate, General Theory of Relativity, Photo-Electric Effect, and Wave-Particle Duality. In this class, students will gain an understanding of Einstein’s theories through visual and modeling approaches and find out what Einstein worked on while living so close to IEA!
NOTE: All classes are held in Pacific Time.
Course Description
Do you want to know what it’s like to be in a real Hollywood writer’s room? In this course, TV writer Mike Leffingwell will recreate the experience of creating a television series. From outlining the script, to breaking the episodes, to giving constructive feedback, students in this course will cover all of the steps from idea to production. Each student will have an opportunity to have their own short script written for the TV series they create!
NOTE: All classes are held in Pacific Time.
To download a PDF version of the Spring Academy schedule, click below.
General Session Dates
Academy is offered year-round. Here is an overview of when sessions run and how often classes meet:
- Classes meet once per week for 12 weeks.
- Courses are available Monday through Saturday.
The schedule is usually available in late July.
- Classes meet once per week for 12 weeks.
- Courses are available Monday through Saturday.
The schedule is usually available toward the end of October.
- Classes meet daily, Monday through Friday, for two weeks, with multiple course options offered throughout the day.
- Each of the three summer sessions offers a different schedule of courses.
The schedule is usually available in early March.
Please note that recording of live online classes is not permitted per IEA’s privacy policy.
To be notified when information about new Academy sessions becomes available, please sign up for our email list and indicate an interest in Academy.
