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Membership Questions

Who Can Join Lyceum of Santa Clara Valley?

Membership is open to academically gifted students in grades 2 through 8 who are residents of Santa Clara Valley or attending a school within Santa Clara Valley. Families residing outside of Santa Clara Valley are welcome to join if they are willing to commute for seminars and other events. See How to Qualify section for evidence needed for admission.

How Much Does Membership Cost?

Membership is free. Seminar attendance may require additional per-child fees for materials, facility or instructor charges, etc. Costs for seminars typically range from $5 to $105, the average seminar charge is about $40.

Lyceum requires an annual $100 "job" deposit per family (any number of children). Job deposits are rolled over year-to-year or returned only if a family's parent volunteering requirements are satisfied. Please refer to Volunteering section to understand Lyceum volunteering expectations and how the job deposit is handled.

A limited amount of financial aid is available. If you need financial aid for the enrollment fee, please email the membership chair. If you need financial aid for a seminar, please email the seminar operations chair. Seminar aid is limited to one seminar per child per month.

Job deposits are returned only upon written request and completion of volunteering requirements. Submit your request for deposit refund in writing (e-mail acceptable) by August 31st of your final year with Lyceum.

Membership Responsibilities

Lyceum cannot function without volunteers. We expect all parents to contribute their time and skills by chaperoning seminars, organizing social events, helping in backend teams, Seminar Development, or Seminar Operations. We also expect members to follow Lyceum Policies by being respectful, responsible, and punctual.

Can Siblings Attend Lyceum Events?

Each child must qualify to enroll in Lyceum individually. Our liability insurance only allows children enrolled in Lyceum to attend seminars. Therefore, a non-Lyceum sibling or a guest will not be allowed in the seminar unless seminar instructions indicate that it's open to siblings and/or guests.

Every Lyceum parent is welcome to organize and join group events or visits. These events differ from the seminar program in that they include students, their parents, and non-Lyceum siblings. Among the possibilities might be concerts and shows, art exhibits, whale watching tours, backpacking trips, plays, game nights, etc.

How Does Renewal Work?

The Lyceum year ends on June 30th. Lyceum will automatically email you a reminder to renew your child's enrollment for the next year. Renewal is free, however families who did not meet the parent volunteering requirements must also renew their $100 "job" deposit for the next year.

How Can I Register Another Child?

Additional children in your family can be registered with Lyceum using the registration link available from the main page after you log into the Lyceum website. You will need to provide the same information for any additional children as you did while registering your first child: his/her first and last name, birthday, test scores, school name, and school district. Birthday information is necessary for the seminar development and seminar operations teams.

What If My Child Has Behavior Difficulties?

We recognize that many gifted children are twice-exceptional and can have behavior issues such as over-excitability, challenges with managing feelings and reading social cues, or attention difficulties. Each Lyceum event has two adult chaperones to support instructors and students. Please refer to the Behavior section in our Policies to understand behavior expectations and the steps Lyceum takes to ensure that all students have positive experiences during our seminars and events.

Note that school and district information will not be used to contact schools - this information is used by the social events team to determine locations for social events.