Summer

Strength Development

Summer Fun!

Summer courses and experiences should nurture student interests and talents and/or help them to grow socially and emotionally. But that doesn't mean skimping on the fun.

Our students have had a lot of success with the Bridges summer offerings (to find these, go here, then click on summer enrichment) and programs/classes from: Johns Hopkins, Landmark, Coursera, Otis, and California Community Colleges. See below for these and other opportunities.

Art programs:

Otis Summer of Art is a great intensive program that offers college credit!

Gnomon has individual classes and a high school summer camp that our students have loved.

Also check out Loyola Marymount's offerings.

Check out Bridges Summer Classes (usually posted in the Bridges Newsletter by the end of March or available through the 2e Center) for some great summer art and fashion courses.

UCLA animation courses and the UCLA Game Lab summer institute offer courses that can help you build your college portfolio.

Check out the extended studies program and pre-college classes at CalArts and Art Center's summer extension classes for teens.

California Summer School for the Arts (CSSSA) offers classes in animation, writing, film, music, theater, dance, and visual arts. Apply early. Applications generally close in the last week of February.

Digipen offers courses in art, game design, music and sound design, and programming.

Pratt offers summer workshops for teens in multiple disciplines (including glassblowing, blacksmithing, figure drawing, and portfolio development!)

Stem:

Rose Hulman's summer courses include online and in-person offerings in science and engineering.

See Digipen's Computer Science and Engineering and Game Design courses.

Summer Stem Institute offers an online summer data-science research program. This program offers financial aid.

Girls Who Code Summer Immersion: FREE, 2-week program for current 9th–11th grade girls and non-binary students (rising sophomores, juniors and seniors), to learn about computer science, gain exposure to tech jobs, and join a supportive sisterhood of thousands of students around the world.

Stevens Pre-College Summer Programs (online): Stevens offers courses in business, pre-med biology, pre-med bioengineering, coding, game design, engineering, cyber-security, and electronic music production. Stevens focuses on active learning and creation.

WPI College Credit Jumpstart for High School (online): "WPI’s five-week online pre-college summer programs will allow students to explore STEM curriculum alongside WPI’s world-renowned faculty. Students will have access to WPI tutoring to ensure they are able to receive their college credit." IN PERSON offerings at WPI include their Launch (9-11) and Frontiers (10-12) programs.

USC summer pre-college courses. A wide range or summer courses. Students can commute or live on campus.

The Story School in MA combines LARP (live action role play) and STEM. Programs include overnight and day camps as well as a virtual camp. For students 8-17.

UCSD Cosmos Program "four-week Summer Residential Pre-College program for students who have demonstrated an aptitude .... in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects. Talented and motivated students completing grades 8-12 have the opportunity to be mentored by renowned faculty, researchers, and scientists in state-of-the-art facilities...." Apply in mid-January through mid February.

Bridges Summer Classes (usually posted in the Bridges Newsletter by the end of March or available through the 2e Center) offers some intriguing STEM classes for children and teens.

Summer health career oriented internships: Inspire internship at Cedars Sinai; LA General Medical Center; Glendale Memorial; Providence St. Josephs

Summer opportunities at City of Hope. City of Hope cancer hospital has a summer student academy which focuses on individual research, a STEP training program, and a summer research program.

USC's Young Research program. High school students work in USC labs with faculty including summer. USC also has a summer marine lab.

Foreign Language:

Concordia Language Villages (online and in person) offers an immersion experience. "Villagers leave with the ability to better speak and comprehend, in a surprisingly short time." Languages include: Arabic, Chinese, Danish, Finnish, French, Italian, German, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, and Swedish.

For students who are independent and ready for travel, check out EF summer language programs.

Fun Camps and Programs that Teach Skills, Pragmatics, and College Transitions:

Camp Sequoia: Camp Sequoia is a traditional summer camp in Pennsylvania for students with ADHD (or others working on social skills). LIT (leaders in training) and CIT programs for older students. They also offer weekend adventures during the school year and a Hawaii trip during the summer.

Camp Akeela is a great program for younger kids and teens on the spectrum. "When neurodivergent kids and teens come together in a traditional camp setting, amazing things happen.... This sense of belonging and community – paired with ongoing, informal coaching from our skilled counselors – leads to unmatched growth in social skills, executive functioning, self-advocacy, independence, flexibility" and more.

Summit Camp has a resident camp in Pennsylvania for students with learning differences that offers classes and programs as well as opportunities for friendship. Their "Super Teen" program--for students 15+--give students some (paid) work experience.

Camp Ramah: Jewish summer camp with overnight and day camps in many US locations in the US (and one in Israel). See the Tikvah programs in Wingdale, NY; Ojai, CA; Utterson, ON; Clayton, GA; Palmer, MA; Monterey, CA; Lakewood, PA; Deckers, CO; Conover, WI. Day camps in more locations and vocational training in multiple locations.

Satori Camp: Camp for gifted youth (8-18+) at Eastern Washington University. CIT opportunities for youths over 18.

PG Retreat: Family retreat for families with profoundly gifted children.

Renaissance Adventures: Summer camp in CO offering a variety of week-long creative quest adventures and a CIT leadership program - D&D, Magic the Gathering, and more.

Quest Leadership Academy: Quest Therapeutic Camps in Orange County, designed for neurodiverse students, has an instructive Leadership Academy for past campers and high school students with the goal to empower role models.

Camps that support the College Transition:

CIP Summer Programs "help high school students with autism, ADHD, and other learning differences learn valuable skills to make a successful transition to college and beyond."

Beyond Akeela has a College Transition summer camp program for grades 10-12+ that is amazing!

Landmark offers summer programs for high school students and graduated seniors focused on personal and academic growth in anticipation of college readiness.

Beacon Summer for Success: Live on a college campus, take interesting classes, make friends, and learn how to make the transition.

Westchester University College Autism Retreat: Programs for rising juniors, seniors, and high school graduates in preparation for college attendance. Students spend time on a college campus, eat in a dining hall, learn about campus services, learn about the ef and soft skills necessary for college success, and gain knowledge about the college accommodations process.

Mercyhurst's CREATE summer program is open to rising seniors and recent graduates. "Students live in a Mercyhurst residence hall, eat in the college dining hall, enroll in a three-credit college course, and interact with fellow students in a variety of social activities and settings. The students also participate in the College 101 Series and the Mini Lecture Series to familiarize them with college departments and expose the participants to different faculty and lecture styles."

Music:

The Colburn School (CA) offers private lessons through their community school.

Also see Digipen's music and sound design course and Stevens offering in electronic music production.

Check out Bridges Summer Classes (usually posted in the Bridges Newsletter by the end of March or available through the 2e Center) for some great summer music courses.

Summer at Berklee College of Music. Some courses are online. Courses include a five week performance intensive, electronic production and sound design, music business, songwriting, music production, and composition and scoring.

Acting, Screenwriting, and Film:

The Young Actor's Studio (CA) has year round courses in acting and voice work.

UCLA Film (CA) offers courses in screenwriting, cinematography, filmmaking, and animation. All courses earn UC college credit and credit may be transferable to other institutions.