Cambridge Harvard Summer Academy Celebrates its Seventh Year in Style

CAMBRIDGE _ Mentors, teachers, and students gathered in the cafeteria of the Cambridge Rindge & Latin School on a recent Friday afternoon <Aug. 10, 2007> to enjoy a sense of accomplishment… and a little ice cream.

The ice cream social is an annual part of the closing ceremonies of the Cambridge Harvard Summer Academy, a six-week academic program that draws more than 300 high school students from across the city to study everything from philosophy to physics with 42 Harvard teacher education students, 22 mentor teachers and various support staff.

“The true purpose of the program is to enrich the learning experience of students during the summer months,” said Jamalh Prince, Principal of the Cambridge Harvard Summer Academy. “It is a different kind of intensity, the atmosphere is a bit different than what you find in a CRLS classroom during the school year.”

Mr. Prince, who is a dean of students at CRLS during the school year, administers the CHSA program along with Harvard Director Keith Castone.  CHSA was established seven years ago by Harvard University as a joint program between Cambridge Public Schools and Harvard University to serve Cambridge youth.  The Summer Academy is a key component of the Harvard Teacher Education Program whereby teacher education students are mentored by area classroom teachers from places including Cambridge, Boston and Brookline.

Teacher education students teach in the mornings at the Academy and then take courses at Harvard in the afternoons.  “This is a fabulous win-win situation for everyone” according to Katherine K. Merseth, Director of Teacher Education at Harvard.  “The interns benefit, the high school students benefit and the mentor teachers benefit.” 

Students said the program, which this summer concluded its seventh year, will help them when they return to school in the fall.

“It was fun, I learned a lot. I really enjoyed physics. The teacher made things interesting and fun,” said Tevin Brown, a 15-year old 10th grader at CRLS.

Samantha Ulysse, a 17 year old junior at CRLS, said the teachers made the difference.

“My teacher made it easy for me to understand the subject matter. We played games that helped us, like Jeopardy, that were based on the subject matter we were learning about. It was definitely a lot of fun,” she said.

Cambridge Public Schools superintendent Thomas Fowler-Finn said the program is one of many hidden gems within the Cambridge Public Schools.

“I’m always amazed at the commitment from teachers and the dedication of students, not to mention the community support for programs as enriching and fulfilling as the Cambridge Harvard Summer Academy. You won’t find this kind of summer enrichment program anywhere else.” said Dr. Fowler-Finn

To learn more about the Cambridge Harvard Summer Academy, or to inquire about enrollment next summer, contact Keith Catone, Harvard Director of the Cambridge Harvard Summer Academy, at 310 Longfellow Hall, Harvard University or catoneke@gse.harvard.edu