Come learn about who you are, build new friendships and develop skills that will help you become who you want to be in Cajal Academy’s Summer Program!
June 29-July 22, 2026, 9:30 am - 2:30 pm
Parent conferences July 23; no camp July 3
Open to Students Entering Grades 1-12
Priority Application Deadline: June 10, 2026
Tuition: $5,550 plus Summer Intensives supplemental fees (see below)*
*Sibling discount: 5% off second child’s tuition
Accessible by train to points from New York City to Westchester to New Haven to Danbury!
Just Announced: our Summer 2026 Project!
Check out this Summer’s Project-based Learning Challenge!
We’re so excited about this summer’s project that we decided to release a preview! Our campers will learn all about the Amazon and its critical ecological and cultural roles, along with America’s tradition of fantasy-based mini golf and how universal design can be used to maximize inclusion for all abilities and needs! We’ll be taking field work trips to neighboring Maritime Aquarium and of course we’ll go play mini golf ourselves. Then we’ll pull this all together by creating our very own mini golf course at our beautiful, air conditioned home in South Norwalk. We can’t wait to get started!
Discover new interests, develop new skills and make new friends while collaborating with other bright, gifted & 2e kids to solve real world challenges!
Cajal Academy’s unique summer program offers kids the chance to discover new interests, build thoughtleadership skills and make new friends—all while experiencing our groundbreaking, neuroscience-driven approach to reducing the challenges that hold kids back.
Just like our academic year program, Cajal’s summer session has two components:
Camp Innovation (all campers): Collaborate with other bright and gifted kids to solve a real world problem while developing the skills that innovative thinkers need to realize their ideas
Summer Intensives (add-on programs): Cajal’s exclusive, neurodevelopmental approach to address learning, social-emotional and neurophysio needs will be integrated into the programming day for students with specialized needs including sensory, social-emotional, executive function, delays in reading and written expression, motor coordination disorders and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.
Program participants will be invited to register with the Summer Intensives that are appropriate to your child’s needs, based on an application and participation in an afternoon screening event.
Camp Innovation (all campers)
STEAM, Skill Building & Project-Based Learning
9:30-2:30; Tuition: $5,500 (Additional fees apply for Summer Intensives, where applicable)
Cajal Academy’s full-service summer program for bright, gifted and “twice exceptional” kids empowers students with tools they can use to better understand their own unique profiles and to learn tools they can use to foster truly inclusive neurodiverse communities, and to self-monitor, self-manage and self-advocate for their needs. Like our year-round program, kids in our summer program will build social and executive function skills while collaborating with peers to solve real world problems through project-based learning—all with embedded support for OT, PT, SLP and social skill needs.
All summer program participants will collaborate together to solve a real world problem, developing critical executive function, critical thinking and peer collaboration skills. Past projects include creating a news broadcast teaching area residents all they need to know about the local watershed, creating a website raising awareness for organizations who train service animals to support a range of disabilities and creating robotic sculptures with embedded seismometers that provided visual alerts of how vibrations from the nearby Norwalk bridge construction project are impacting native species in the river below.
Now in our second year at our new location in the heart of South Norwalk, we’ll be building the confidence and communication skills our innovative kids need to thrive in the community while exploring our natural and urban environment and engaging with local businesses and the Maritime Aquarium, just one block away. Meanwhile, afternoon workshops in arts, fitness and more will give kids a chance to discover new interests, and provide opportunities to work with our expert licensed therapists.
Summer Intensives
Supplemental fees: $1,400-10,000; see accordion menu for details
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Increase your independence through strategies use can use to manage Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome & other complex medical conditions within school & social environments.
Included Services:
Manual PT reducing pain and realigning joints
Strengthening PT stabilizing hypermobile joints
Occupational therapy increasing proprioception essential to maintaining safe body positioning’’
EDS coaching in strategies for self-monitoring, self-managing and self-advocating for EDS needs
Daily sensory integration therapy
Community with other kids who “get it”
Supplemental Fee: $1,400
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Cajal’s unique reading interventions identify and enhance core skills holding back reading fluency and comprehension that are under-addressed through many other reading programs, including orthographic processing disorders (a form of dyslexia) and oculo-motor coordination (visual tracking) deficiencies.
Included Services:
Screening for orthographic processing, visual tracking and other under-identified reading challenges
Multi-modal reading and spelling instruction, enhanced through Body-Informed Learning increasing retention
Neuroplasticity Interventions reducing letter and number reversals, letter sequence memory and other essential reading ‘splinter’ skills through OT & PT-led activities
Occupational therapy improving reading comprehension by making visual tracking more efficient
Daily sensory integration therapy
Supplemental Fee: $2,495
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Students with dysgraphia or written expression challenges (or aversion!) will build their confidence and joy as authors while developing key writing skills from the ground up, through our unique neuroscience-based approach to writing instruction, including for students with handwriting, dysgraphia and other graphomotor difficulties.
Included Services:
Screening for dysgraphia and other graphomotor challenges undermining authoring confidence and engagement
Writing instruction differentiated to enhance access to authoring skills and enjoyment
Coaching in strategies for using Body-Informed techniques to increase organization of thought and materials to support the writing process
Occupational therapy improving organization of thought, and instruction in sensory strategies improving access to learning centers
Physical therapy services strengthening core postural muscles to sustain writing activities
Daily sensory integration therapy
Supplemental Fee: $2,495
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Our ADHD Intensive uses sensory and movement-based strategies to increase organization in the body, and a combination of Body Informed Learning techniques and graphic organizers to help campers with ADHD increase organization and regulation.
Included services:
Daily sensory integration therapy
Occupational therapy
Physical therapy
Social skills group
Supplemental Fee: $1,500
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We rebuild gross and fine motor skills from the ground up, improving students’ academic access, increase ADHD symptoms and undermine social experiences
Included Services:
Academic instruction tailored to optimize access to students’ cognitive gifts, by separately advancing analytical and motor abilities
Daily sensory integration therapy to support regulation and organization of the body, improving coordination, motor control, and overall body awareness
Occupational therapy focused on enhancing organization of thought, fine motor skills, visual-motor integration, and motor planning for greater independence in daily tasks
Physical therapy services strengthening core postural muscles to improve balance, stability, coordination, and posture for functional movement and participation
Social skills groups designed to support participation and confidence in peer interactions, particularly where motor coordination challenges impact play, group engagement, and social access
Supplemental Fee: $3,000
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Our Social Cognition Intensive uses relationship-based and experiential learning strategies to increase awareness of self and others, and a combination of structured social thinking techniques and guided practice to help campers with social cognition challenges improve communication, perspective-taking, and regulation in social settings.
Included services:
Screening for social cognition challenges impacting communication, peer relationships, and engagement in group settings
Social communication instruction differentiated to improve perspective-taking, conversational skills, and understanding of social cues
Coaching in strategies for using relationship-based and body-informed techniques to increase awareness of self and others and support regulation during social interactions
Occupational therapy supporting emotional regulation, flexible thinking, and organization of responses to improve participation in social and learning environments
Physical Therapy to work on social skills within gross motor activities
Daily structured social learning opportunities to reinforce skills through guided practice, peer interaction, and real-time feedback
Supplemental Fee: $3,450
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Students requiring psychotherapeutic programming in order to access academic or social programming, or who have pronounced mood regulation difficulties. As with our academic year program, our focus is on developing strategies the student can use to self-monitor, self-manage and self-advocate for their needs in real time. Families often note seeing changes at home over the course of our summer program. This programming level is only available to students who have already enrolled in Cajal Academy for the 2026-27 school year by the 1st day of the summer program.
Services included:
Counseling with PhD level psychologist
“Flowcharting” and other Growth Mindset & Agency Coaching techniques increase the child’s ability to distinguish between their triggers, reactions and responses, and gain agency over their emotional experiences.
Daily sensory integration therapy to support nervous system regulation, helping students maintain an optimal state for emotional control and engagement
Occupational therapy focused on developing self-regulation strategies, emotional awareness, and organization of responses to support participation across settings
Physical therapy services supporting body regulation, movement, and core stability as foundations for improved emotional control and stress management
Social skills groups providing structured opportunities to practice emotional regulation, communication, and peer interaction in a supported environment
Supplemental Fee: $10,000
Campers joining our summer program who are not yet fully able to access their gifts will be invited to register for our program with a Summer Intensive applying our unique, research-backed approach to reducing learning, social-emotinal and neurophysio needs—not just accommodating them. These Summer Intensives move chidren forward through a neuroscience-driven, solutions-based approach that integrates movement, sensory instruction, social-emotional learning, our unique Growth Mindset and Agency Coaching and direct services sessions with our occupational and physical therapists and clinical neuropsychologist/psychologist.
Programming needs are identified through our summer application process. Use the accordion menu to learn more about each intensive and its supplemental fee. Custom programs and fees will be developed for students having multiple overlapping needs.
Eligibility & Admissions
Cajal Academy programs are tailored to meet the needs of students who have strong analytical and/or creative thinking skills. Many of our students have sensory, executive function, learning, social-emotional, neurophysio or chronic medical conditions, including ADHD, ASD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, EDS, POTs, MCAS and more. Program eligibility is determined by parent application and review of prior evaluations; screenings can be conducted during our admissions process for students who don’t already have evaluations, for an additional fee.
Attend an Info Session to Learn More
Now in historic SONO!
Now accessible by train from NYC, Westchester County, Danbury, New Haven and points in between!
