Junaid Academy is a tech and robotics academy launching in Chicago. Students aged 8–17 move through a single connected path — from first lines of code to autonomous robots to competition teams — with real hardware on the table every session.
// curriculum tracks
Each track is a sequence of 10-week units. Students can enter at the level that fits them and move between tracks as their interests sharpen — the skills are designed to stack, not silo. Full unit-by-unit syllabi are on the programs page.
From a first motor spin to a robot that maps a room. Mechanics, electronics, and control — built with hands on real kits, not simulations.
Block-based logic for the youngest, then Python, then real projects with files, APIs, and version control. The goal is fluency, not syntax memorized for a test.
What machine learning actually is, taught by building it: training small models, testing where they fail, and reasoning about what AI should and shouldn't decide.
A team program for students aiming at robotics leagues and coding contests: engineering notebooks, strategy, iteration under deadline, and presenting to judges.
// how a cohort runs
A cohort is at most twelve students with one lead instructor and one assistant. Every student codes every session; every pair shares a robot kit. No lecture runs longer than ten minutes before hands touch hardware.
Parents aren't guessing at progress. Each 10-week unit ends with a demo day — students present what they built, what broke, and what they'd do differently. That last question is the one we care about most.
Instructors are working engineers and educators. We publish role descriptions, not stock photos: our hiring standard is that every lead instructor has shipped real software or hardware and has taught before.
| 00–10 | Stand-up. Each pair states today's goal in one sentence. |
|---|---|
| 10–20 | One concept. Short instructor demo of the day's new idea. |
| 20–70 | Build time. Pairs work; instructors circulate, ask, don't grab the keyboard. |
| 70–85 | Show a thing. Two pairs demo progress — working or not. |
| 85–90 | Log it. Students write three lines in their engineering notebook. |
// scholarships
Junaid Academy is pre-launch. Tuition, scholarship counts, and the first campus address will be published here before the first cohort enrolls — and scholarship terms will be in writing, not fine print.
If you'd want a scholarship application when they open, say so on the waitlist form and we'll flag your family first.
scholarships open with cohort one
// parents' faq
Foundations. Ages 8–10 start with block-based coding and simple machines; ages 11+ with no experience start in an accelerated bridge unit that reaches Python within ten weeks. Nobody is placed by age alone — we do a short, friendly placement session before the first class.
Less than you'd think. Robotics sessions are mostly hands on hardware — wiring, building, testing on the floor mat. Coding sessions are on screens, but writing and debugging a program is closer to building with LEGO than to watching videos. There is no homework app and no gamified points system.
Something that works, and a record of how it got there: a demo-day presentation, the project itself, and their engineering notebook. By the end of a full track, older students have a small portfolio they can genuinely show a high school or future employer.
Lead instructors must have professional software or hardware experience plus teaching experience; assistants are typically engineering students. All staff will be background-checked before the first session, and we'll publish our instructor standards in full before enrollment opens.
No. Debugging teaches patience; robotics teaches that failure is information; competition teaches teamwork under pressure. Those transfer to any path. Some of our future students will become engineers — all of them will become better problem-solvers.
We're planning the first Chicago location now. Dates, address, and tuition will be announced to the waitlist before anywhere else — joining the waitlist is free and commits you to nothing.
// founding cohort
Founding cohorts will be small on purpose. Waitlist families get the enrollment announcement, tuition and scholarship details, and first pick of session times — before anything is public.
No payment, no commitment. Just a hand raised.