Prep@Pingree, Pingree School's nationally recognized summer academic enrichment program enrolls seventh and eighth grade students from Lawrence and Lynn, as well as towns from throughout the Merrimack Valley.
The five-week program is taught by master independent and public school teachers. Students study math, English, engineering design, and history, in addition to co-curricular topics including public speaking, application and interview skills. The students also take weekly exploratory day trips in and around Essex county.
Classes are taught by experienced independent and public school faculty and Prep@Pingree alumni who are assisted in their teaching by Pingree student instructors. Past participants are invited to return as student mentors and receive additional academic preparation.
For 11 consecutive summers, thanks to the generosity of our donors and support of the Pingree community, Prep@Pingree has been a win-win partnership between our school and the cities of Lawrence and Lynn. Approximately two thirds of Prep@Pingree's students have matriculated to independent and parochial schools. Currently five percent of the Pingree student body is made up of Prep@Pingree alumni, and others are thriving at schools such as Brooks School, Central Catholic High School, Groton School, Kimball Union Academy, Noble & Greenough School, Notre Dame High School, Phillips Academy at Andover, Presentation of Mary Academy, Saint John's Preparatory School, Saint Paul's School, and The Governor's Academy. Prep@Pingree's first alumni graduated from college in 2011. Regardless of their secondary school destinations, program participants report that their experience with Prep@Pingree made the academic and social transitions from middle schools to high schools easier.
The program has been instrumental in breaking down cultural and social boundaries and in building understanding among young people from disparate backgrounds. We have witnessed the program's impact on Pingree students who have worked for Prep@Pingree over the years in their choices of majors and careers. One Pingree alumna started a program similar to Prep@Pingree in her local college community, while another Pingree graduate who earned a civil engineering degree in college decided to become a faculty member at The Governor's Academy and still teaches math and engineering at Prep@Pingree each summer.
The program has also had a ripple effect at independent schools such as Glen Urquhart School, Boston University Academy, and Noble & Greenough School, which have adopted our model. Prep@Pingree is working closely with The Steppingstone Foundation's National Partnership for Educational Access and an organization called Private Schools with a Public Purpose. We are encouraging other independent schools to initiate such programs so that more students will enjoy life-altering opportunities for summer enrichment and secondary school choices.
For more information or to apply, please click here or contact Prep@Pingree Director Steve Filosa at 978-468-4415 x265 or sfilosa@pingree.org.
