Andover Welcomes Students to Campus for Summer Session 2009

Summer Session will offer more than 60 dynamic courses in math, science, English, ESL, and foreign languages.

June 30, 2009 — Phillips Academy’s 68th annual Summer Session kicks off today with the arrival of more than 650 students from 35 states and 48 countries. For five fun and challenging weeks, these students will immerse themselves in a supportive community devoted to intellectual curiosity and personal growth. An enriching pre-college experience, Summer Session consists of challenging academic courses and a full range of activities and events presented in a boarding school environment.

Summer Session 2009 promises to be one of the most exciting sessions yet, offering more than 60 dynamic courses in math, science, English, ESL, foreign languages and visual and performing arts, as well as history, social science and psychology. All students take at least two courses during the summer for a combined offering of at least 18 hours of instruction per week.

“Students arrive at Summer Session from a variety of experiences and backgrounds all seeking the rigorous academic experience that sets Andover apart,” said Fernando Alonso, director of Summer Session and coordinator of the Academy’s outreach programs. “They all leave a little more independent, more focused, and hopefully more sure of who they are as thinkers and leaders.”

In addition to the class work, students choose from more than 20 different afternoon activities, including Tai Chi, ultimate Frisbee, soccer, squash and gospel choir. Students also experience an array of weekend activities, including trips to Boston, outlet malls, amusement parks, Plymouth Plantation, museums and the beach.

Students have access to all Academy resources, including the Oliver Wendell Holmes Library and its more than 120,000 volumes, the state-of-the-art Gelb Science Center and its world-class astronomical observatory, and the Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology, which houses more than 600,000 artifacts.

One of Summer Session’s most popular features is its College Counseling program, consisting of a workshop series that brings to campus college admissions experts from the best colleges throughout the country. These experts engage students on a variety of topics including financial aid, how to write a college essay, and what colleges are looking for. Students also are offered the opportunity to tours many New England colleges, including Harvard, Brown, MIT, and Boston College. The program also hosts a College Fair featuring nearly 100 college representatives from around the nation. This year’s fair will be held on Friday, July 10, from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Case Memorial Cage on campus.

The concept of global community is key to Summer Session. Of the 656 students expected this year, 616 will live on campus, and 40 will commute from surrounding towns. The boarding student population is nearly half international, and the vast majority of Summer Session students (over 95 percent) do not attend Phillips Academy during the regular school year. Of the boarding students, 108 will participate in the (MS)2 program, a challenging three-summer math and science program for economically disadvantaged public school students from across the country.

A number of other programs and institutes share the Andover campus during the summer. Among these are the Andover Bread Loaf Writing Workshop for domestic urban public school and international teachers, founded in 1987 with the Middlebury College Graduate School of English. This program also includes a student component, bringing to campus more than 50 students from the surrounding communities. The Institute for Recruitment of Teachers (IRT), founded in 1990 by former Andover dean of faculty and current IRT executive director Kelly Wise, identifies college students and graduates from diverse backgrounds who are committed to eradicating racial disparities at all levels of education and helps prepare them for graduate school and careers in teaching.

In addition, PALS, a Phillips Academy community service program for academically capable seventh- and eighth-grade students from three Lawrence, Mass., middle schools, invites these students to the Andover campus—as it has for 21 years—for a month-long program of math, science, reading, writing, vocabulary building, and computer technology. Plus, the Andover Soccer Camp, now in its 33rd year, will host more than 700 children, ages 5 to 18, in five weeklong sessions grouped according to skill levels.

More information on all programs may be found on the school’s Web site, www.andover.edu/summersessionoutreach.