For Middle School Students

Timeline and Course Schedule

This information is for STEM Academy Ignite (grades 6-8).

Visit the high school program page for grades 9-12.

Ignite courses are offered on a quarterly basis, with two six-week sessions in the fall and two in the spring. Ignite is not currently offered during the summer.

All Ignite courses are conducted in person. Courses take place in APL’s STEM Center learning laboratories located at:

South Campus: Semmel Center (Building 201)
11091 Johns Hopkins Road
Laurel, Maryland 20723

*Note: APL is not accessible by public transit and is located in Laurel, Maryland. For additional information, including directions, please visit APL’s Locations and Directions page.

Important Reminders

  • Review the course timeline.
  • There will be no classes during the week of Thanksgiving break or spring break.
  • STEM Academy will have classes on all other scheduled days, including scheduled school holidays.

The timeline below is for the 2025–2026 calendar year. Next year’s timeline will be posted by July 2026. Dates are subject to change.

Two courses are offered at a time during the fall: session A and session B. Courses are offered one day per week from 5 to 6:30 p.m. ET for each six-week session.

Fall 2025

Date
August 7, 2025 STEM Academy Open House at APL
August 13–16, 2025 Returning Student Registration Period
August 15–25, 2025 New Student Application Period
September 10, 2025 Student/Parent Fall Semester Virtual Orientation
September 15 to October 20, 2025 Fall Session A
October 27 to December 8, 2025 Fall Session B
November 24–27, 2025 Thanksgiving Break (No Classes)

Two courses are offered at a time during the spring: session A and session B. Courses are offered one day per week from 5 to 6:30 p.m. ET for each six-week session.

Because we may experience inclement weather during the spring session, a class may be canceled without being rescheduled. If a class is canceled, we will attempt to reschedule it or offer it online.

Spring 2026

Date
January 7–10, 2026 Returning Student Registration Period
January 9–20, 2026 New Student Application Period
February 4, 2026 Student/Parent Spring Semester Virtual Orientation
February 9 to March 16, 2026 Spring Session A (Inclement Weather Makeup: March 23, 2026)
March 30 to April 2, 2026 Spring Break (No Classes)
April 6 to May 11, 2026 Spring Session B

Courses listed below are tentative for the fall 2025 session only, and are subject to volunteer instructor availability. The finalized course schedule will be updated in August for fall courses and in January for spring courses.

For more information about courses, including descriptions and prerequisites, please view the course catalog.

Reminder: All Ignite courses are conducted in person.

Fall 2025 Courses

Session Day Course
Session A: September 15 to October 20, 2025 Monday Code Quest: Scratch Adventures
Session A: September 15 to October 20, 2025 Monday Junior Detectives: The Science of Solving Crimes
Session B: October 27 to December 8, 2025 Monday Code Quest: Make It Move with micro:bit!
Session B: October 27 to December 8, 2025 Monday Artificial Intelligence (AI) & You: Learning to Think Critically