2025-2026 Calendar
September 12 – GAD Fall Workshop @ KSU Center
October 3 – GAD Staff Competition Coordinators’ Planning Session
October 15 – Season Registration Deadline
Oct 31 - Nov 8 – Scrimmage Test (Round 1)
January 8-20 – District-level Competition (Round 2)
January 9 – GAD Staff Competition Coordinators’ Planning Session
January 20 – Deadline to submit Wild Card score sheets
January 21 – Notification to teams: Wild Card Invitational
January 28 – All teams competing at state must have Roster submitted
February 2 – State Competition Registration Deadline
February 5-6 – Mandatory login practice with online system
February 9-10 – Online Essay & 1 - 3 Tests Event for State Competition
February 27-28 – State Competition (Round 3) - Students BYOD for in-person online testing.
March 13 – GAD Staff Competition Coordinators Debriefing Meeting
April 23-25 – USAD National Competition in Garden Grove CA (Round 4)
May 5 – GAD Honor Cord orders due (links to online store)
2025-26 Season Registration Memo
(click here for a printable copy of the memo)
Click here for additional Information for Superintendents and Principals.
The 2025-26 season of PAGE Georgia Academic Decathlon is here, and we want your school/district to participate!
ABOUT: Academic Decathlon® isn’t about mastering a single event, but ten different skills and disciplines. Every level of competition (local – national) follows the same multidisciplinary format. Students will deliver speeches, one on a self-selected topic, one on a topic they’ve never seen before. They’ll write an essay demonstrating not just what they’ve learned, but how powerfully they can argue an idea. They’ll be interviewed by a panel of judges asking thoughtful questions about past experiences and goals for the future. They’ll take challenging exams in Art, Economics, Literature, Math, Music, Science, and Social Science. During the final event of competition, Super Quiz™, students participate in a collaborative event comprised of all the topics covered in the year’s curriculum while being cheered on by a live audience.
The official team is comprised of 6-9 students. They are separated into the following categories by specially calculated GPAs: Honor (3.8 – 4.0), Scholastic (3.20 – 3.799), Varsity (0.00 – 3.199). All students participate in all events, but they are only competing against others in their same GPA category. More about calculating GPAs can be found on the How Does It Work? page of the website. Even though the official competition-day team has a limited number of students, many more students can participate in studying the curriculum, vying for a spot on the team, and supporting their teammates – especially if your school offers Academic Decathlon as a class.
CURRICULUM: Each year, the Academic Decathlon selects a new theme for teams all over the country to explore. The theme is developed with special attention to the national content standards. Because the theme shapes the entire course of study, you’ll find that decathletes become stronger all-around students.
The theme for the 2025-26 school year is The Roaring Twenties. Curriculum can be purchased directly from the national organization at www.usad.org. Each school participating in any level of competition must have purchased the curriculum. Click here to see a topical outline of the 2025-26 curriculum. Be sure to check the USAD website often for any curriculum updates.
SEASON REGISTRATION: To participate in the Academic Decathlon season, your district must register with the officially chartered state organization. In Georgia, that’s the PAGE Georgia Academic Decathlon. The cost to register your district is $200 plus a $65 per school testing fee.
Please submit the online Season REGISTRATION FORM before October 15. No refund can be given to a school/district withdrawing after October 31. If you are registering more than one school you will be asked to upload a spreadsheet/document listing your participating schools. You will also be asked to provide your testing dates for Rounds 1 and 2.
GAD FALL WORKSHOP: This year our fall workshop is scheduled for Friday, September 12 and is hosted by our collegiate partner, Kennesaw State University, at the KSU Center. The workshop is designed as a kick-off event for coaches, coordinators, and decathletes. Various sessions are offered on event topics and aspects of competition. The workshop is free for adults and $20 for each decathlete but you must register in advance. The registration deadline is August 29th. Please visit the Fall Workshop web page for more details and to register. (Registration for the Fall Workshop is separate from Season registration.)
PROMOTIONAL VIDEO: About 10 years ago, we produced a promotional video that can be used to recruit coaches, and explain decathlon to administration, parents and prospective decathletes. The video is a little dated, but the main information is still relevant today: