Exeter Summer Program Celebrates 100 Year Anniversary
For every summer since 1919, Phillips Exeter has opened up its campus to over 750 students for the Exeter Summer program, offering a taste of the Academy’s rich education and campus life. This summer marks the 100 year anniversary of the five-week summer program.
According to Director of Summer School Elena Gosalvez-Blanco, the program’s original goal was to help Exonians whose academics were falling behind and who could therefore benefit from extra schooling over the summer breaks, which were often three month gaps in learning during which students forgot much of their studies.
“I know Exeter has people from everywhere as well, but you were hearing so many different languages being spoken all the time. That was so cool,” [Cristal Reyes] said.
To celebrate the 100th anniversary, Gosalvez, along with seniors and former program participants Gregory Zhu, Anna Clark and Andrew Hong, planned a reunion for April 29.
According to Hong, the event was a chance for students to reconnect. “Most of us aren’t planning any structured activities or formal testimonials for this kind of reunion, but I’m still hoping that this weekend’s event will be a chance for students to grab some food, sit down and reconnect over their shared summer experiences,” Hong said.
Lower David Kim thoroughly enjoyed the reunion. Kim especially liked how the reunion consisted of students poring over photos of themselves and friends at the summer school, enjoying cake and treats to commemorate the anniversary and reminiscing with one another about their times over the summer. “They spread out pictures of the three years of summer school, and it was really fun finding our friends in the pictures….It was a great relatable moment for us,” he said.
Summer session students typically hail from over 40 states and 50 different countries. Rising 10th-12th graders are placed into the upper school, and the rising 8th-9th graders are placed in Access Exeter.
Students in the upper school can design their own curriculum from over 100 available courses. They are encouraged to take at least one course that employs the Harkness method, however this is not required. The participants take three regular courses and can choose to add in music as their fourth course.
Prep Violet Goldstone realized her aspiration to apply to boarding schools while in seventh grade. At first, Goldstone was worried that Exeter might not be a good fit for her. Goldstone and her family researched Exeter further until they came across Exeter Summer’s Access Exeter—for her, it felt like the perfect way to assess whether she would enjoy attending Exeter. She participated in the program the summer before eighth grade. “I ended up totally loving it, so that’s why I’m here,” she said.
Goldstone’s story is just one of many students around campus who have benefited from Exeter’s summer program.
According to Biology Instructor and Exeter Summer faculty member Christopher Matlack, teachers can experiment with their curriculum during the summer because the program doesn’t depend on traditional grades. “We piloted an ebook on a classroom set of iPads in advanced biology about 6 years ago,” Matlack said.
The program encouraged many current Exonians to apply to the Academy. It showed them the most compelling aspects of Exeter, including the Harkness-based classes and the facilities.
Lower Fiona Madrid remembers her math instructor from Exeter Summer, current Dean of Multicultural Affairs Sami Atif. “Dr. Atif was one of the best teachers I could have asked for during the summer session,” she said.
Madrid attended Exeter Summer knowing she would return to campus in the fall. Though she explained that Atif’s teaching style was difficult to adjust to, she remembers how she fully experienced the Harkness method. “He would never tell us when we were right. However, [this] also taught us that we had to think for ourselves and always question everything.”
Other students also appreciated the Harkness instruction. Exonians noted that this part of the learning helped better prepare them for Exeter. Kim explained that the primary difference between regular session Exeter and the summer school was how Harkness was taught.
In summer school classes, the students did “no-interrupting games, where you got two pieces of candy and could only speak twice, and the class had to make sure that everyone spoke. It was very systematic in its approach,” Kim said.
In regards to the summer session’s Harkness teaching method, Blanco saw that the quality of Harkness increases over the summer because students are not graded. “I feel strongly that Harkness is a lot better when there are no grades at stake, because everyone can be more relaxed,” she said. “It really becomes learning for the love of learning.”
Another aspect of Exeter’s summer program that participants enjoyed was students’ diversity. According to Gosalvez, 45 percent of students that attended Exeter’s summer program traveled from a different nation.
Lower Avery Clowes enjoyed making friends during summer school, particularly with students from around the world. “The kids we met spoke very little English, just enough to get in. The social scene was really different with more international kids. It was a fun experience,” Clowes said.
Lower Cristal Reyes was also fascinated by the multicultural group that participated in the program. “I know Exeter has people from everywhere as well, but you were hearing so many different languages being spoken all the time. That was so cool,” she said.
Most Exonians who attended Exeter Summer agreed that the program significantly prepared them to attend Exeter. Kim said that the summer school “instilled that confidence of ‘I kind of know the place.’ ”
Goldstone shared similar sentiments. “It definitely prepared me—I was a lot more confident coming in than I would have been if I hadn’t come because I felt more familiar with Exeter as a whole,” she said.