A UCLA-Affiliated Independent School in Los Angeles, CA

Welcome to Geffen Academy

Geffen Academy at UCLA is a university-affiliated school for students in grades 6-12. We value academic depth and inspiration within a humane educational environment. Our community is guided by principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Geffen Academy students are encouraged to be questioners, analysts, and presenters, who are creative, collaborative, and active young adults. Our students practice their skills, competencies, and relationships with deliberation.

Geffen Academy graduates believe that knowledge is beautiful, transformative, and relevant to one’s life and civic responsibility in a global community.

Adaptable Learners

The lessons learned in school go far beyond the classroom by adding value and skills in order to adapt throughout every stage of human development. Students will draw upon the full spectrum of knowledge gained at Geffen Academy to become well-rounded individuals who are capable of transferring their experiences into positive outcomes. They will forge a strong interdependence between their cognitive and psychological disciplines to develop resiliency. Students will flourish intellectually, socially, physically, environmentally, emotionally, and spiritually. The successes and balance that Geffen Academy students achieve will be the result of their ability to apply what they learned in school to all areas of their lives.
Persistent Inquirers

Curiosity and the art of asking questions lie at the heart of learning. Persistent inquirers recognize that authentic learning requires consistent, active engagement. Geffen Academy students cultivate a curiosity towards the world and about themselves, seeking problems to solve and pushing boundaries to learn more. As skilled researchers, they are adaptable, adjusting their approaches when additional information is discovered and further questions arise.
Compassionate Partners

As a UCLA-affiliated school we value the relationships that emerge from a close proximity to the university. We value the facilities and cultural institutions bordering our campus and look to connect students with the world beyond their school and communities. As such, Geffen Academy students will be compassionate partners to their peers, school community, university, local, and global partners.
Thinkers & Creators

Individuals who make an impact on their communities are both thinkers and creators. Working from a solid foundation of acquired knowledge, they dare to enact novel solutions to complex problems. A challenging, content-rich, individualized curriculum prepares Geffen Academy students for such thoughtful action and leads them to embrace a life both contemplative and active. As they cultivate the traits of honesty and kindness and acquire the habits of reflection and reasoned judgement, students become better equipped to considerately act in a complex and changing world.
Powerful Communicators

Communication has and continues to be at the heart of human selfhood and mutual understanding. Powerful communicators express themselves with kind eloquence, listen with intent, and shift perspectives to understand and engage diverse audiences through effective mediums. Students master a broad range of communication arts not just as a means of participating in the exchange of information but also as avenues to self-expression, self-discovery, self-formation, and social action. Aware that a mode of communication is never neutral, students investigate the subtle interplay of audience, form, and content.

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List of 1 news stories.

A Look Inside 12th Grade Advanced Rhetoric: A Microcosm of Democratic Learning
10/14/2025

This past week, Mr. Simoneaux’s 12th Grade Rhetoric class gathered for their X block class at 3:05 p.m. Students assembled desks into a circle to form a Socratic seminar before taking their seats to discuss their first topic: how to discuss. One student took notes on the classroom whiteboard as the group established norms for class discussions. Questions and comments posed by the group included...

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List of 1 news stories.

Advanced Astrophysics Students Take Their Learning from the Lab to UCLA and Beyond
10/14/2025

Dr. Megan’s Advanced Astrophysics students have been charting a journey that begins in the Geffen Academy science lab and stretches to the UCLA campus and Westwood Park. This month, students began exploring how ancient civilizations understood their surroundings, using charts and derivations to connect the Earth, Moon, and tides with special help from a fellow Geffen Academy parent who is also a hydrologist.

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A Look Inside 11th Grade Advanced Aesthetic Inquiry
10/14/2025
In Dr. Reed’s 11th grade Advanced English class, students gathered for a Socratic seminar activity with a student-centered discussion on Washington Irving’s “Rip Van Winkle.” The class has been practicing the technique of literary close reading, which means looking at what is actually on the page, rather than some idea “behind the text.” After a preparatory reading quiz that asked students to define a handful of unusual words from this unusual story, they discussed the one word that they found to be the most important. Prime candidates included “hen-pecked,” “azure,” “approbation,” “addled,” and “Babylonish.” No matter the word, the question was the same: why is this the most significant word in the story?
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