Computer and Information Science
NACLO is a fun (and educational!) contest for U.S. and Canadian high-school students in which contestants compete by solving compelling and creative puzzles in linguistics and computational linguistics. Requiring no previous knowledge of linguistics, languages, or computing, these puzzles can be solved by analytic reasoning alone, and serve as a fun introduction to a field to which many high school students have never been introduced. Winners of NACLO are eligible to compete in the International Linguistics Olympiad, one of twelve international high school science Olympiads.
The main NACLO webpage with dates, times, rules and regulations can be found here.
Registration is open for the Open Round of the competition on January 29, 2026! Register Here!
Student Handbook
The University of Pennsylvania is a NACLO testing site. Information for the Penn site is:
Address: Computer & Information Science 3330 Walnut Street Room 307 Levine Hall Direct Line: 215-898-8560 Contact Person: Cheryl Hickey Email: cherylh@cis.upenn.edu
Driving Directions | Campus Map | Parking Info
We are very excited that your students will be participating in the NACLO Competition and thank you for your time in partaking this experience with them. We would like get things rolling since the Testing is right around the corner.
We will need teachers and students to be here at Penn in room 307 Levine Hall between 9:00 am – 9:30 am to register and get situated prior to the testing which starts at 10:00 am. sharp. **No Exceptions**
Please leave plenty of time for travel. Traffic around Penn can get hectic and can delay you in getting here on time. It is important as we can not delay the testing for any reason.
If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact us at the information provided above
