Frequently Asked Questions About ESP

1. What is ESP?
2. Does ESP have meetings?
3. Where are ESP programs held?
4. Who teaches for ESP programs?
5. Who runs ESP?
6. I’d like to visit ESP, where is the office?
7. What programs does ESP run?
8. How can I be notified about upcoming ESP programs?
9. How much do ESP programs cost?
10. How can I help?
11. Can Splash come to my school?
12. Can students younger than middle school age participate?
13. Does ESP offer tutoring?
14. How do I volunteer to teach?
15. What can I teach?

1. What is ESP?

ESP is a non-profit student organization at Stanford. We bring together passionate teachers (from the Stanford community and beyond) and students who want to learn (from the Bay area and beyond) through enrichment classes on and off of the Stanford campus. The result is, of course, great learning.

For more information, see our Discover ESP section.

2. Does ESP have meetings?

ESP meets weekly in the ESP Office (Old Union Lobby, next to Tressider Union). See the Get Involved section to get involved.

3. Where are ESP programs held?

ESP programs are mostly held on the Stanford campus in Stanford, CA. See the program specific sights and the Stanford map for more details. See also Getting to ESP.

4. Who teaches for ESP programs?

ESP teachers are Stanford students, alumni, faculty, and community members; they are also students at other universities, local professionals, and other interested people in the Bay area. All of us are drawn together because we share a love of teaching, because we want to share what we are most passionate about, and because ESP brings together the students most interested in learning.

5. Who runs ESP?

ESP is a student group at Stanford. See the Who runs ESP? page for more information.

6. I’d like to visit ESP, where is the office?

We’ll update this section once we hav a permanent office. For now, if you wish to contact us, email is the best option.

7. What programs does ESP run?

ESP is always experimenting with new programs. Right now, we plan to run:

• Splash!, a weekend-long extravaganza of classes, workshops, and seminars. Splash! runs each year the weekend before Thanksgiving.

8. How can I be notified about upcoming ESP programs?

A great deal of information is available by browsing this Web site. In order to be added to out mailing list, you can just join our mailing list. You should also create an account for yourself. Once you have done so, you will receive periodic emails with information about upcoming ESP programs.

9. How much do programs cost?

ESP is constantly working to make its programs as cheap as possible. We are a non-profit organization; teachers in most programs are volunteers. Thus our enrichment programs (such as Splash and HSSP) cost around $20-$40.

10. How can I help?

The most important thing to us is to spread information about ESP as widely as possible. We also welcome input about how our program is run: please speak to a director at a program or contact us.

11. Can Splash come to my school?

We have plans for initiating a Splash on Wheels program, but as of now, ESP activities will be confined to Stanford University Campus.

12. Can students younger than middle school age participate?

ESP requires that all student participants be in at least sixth grade. In addition, we absolutely are unable to accept students younger than nine years of age (for liability reasons). If you are in doubt about your situation, contact us.

To participate, all students must have their parents sign a liability waiver. Parents should keep in mind the nature of our program, and should keep in mind that we expect a high school level of maturity from our students. Students are unsupervised between classes and during time off and are free to wander the Stanford campus. Parents should be comfortable that their children are mature enough for this level of freedom.

13. Does ESP offer tutoring?

No.

14. How do I volunteer to teach?

Just go to the volunteer to teach website.

15. What can I teach?

One thing that sets ESP apart from most other programs is that we put almost no restrictions on what teachers can teach. When we say anything, we mean it: classes can range from particle physics to pottery, from swing dancing to algebraic number theory. Some classes, such as cooking, have been hands-on, while others have built giant geodesic domes. One group of classes put on a play during the weekend of Splash. If you are interested in teaching, all you have to do is tell us what you want to teach, and the class is entirely in your hands to run.