Description:
Exploration Junior Program on the campus of St. Mark’s School: courses, activities, expeditions, and friendships that open your eyes to things new and different.
Located on the picturesque campus of St. Mark’s School in Southborough, Massachusetts, the Junior Program is the perfect place for students entering grades 4+5 and 6+7 to gain independence, explore new interests, and tackle new ideas and subjects in a fun, pressure-free summer environment. Combining the best aspects of traditional camps—close friendships, activities, and adventure—with intellectual inquiry and discovery, the Junior Program has thrived by focusing on the fact that children can be good decision makers and that by making choices about their daily schedules, children build self-confidence, independence, and maturity.
Students from more than 35 states and a dozen countries come to the Junior Program each summer because they are interested in learning. At Exploration, our courses are ungraded and pressure-free, so students are encouraged to try academic fields and extracurricular activities that are new and interesting to them. This is the place to try marine biology for the first time, or to solve a crime using forensic science, or to learn how to play wall ball, or to perform a swing dance in front of an audience. Students feel comfortable trying new things and expanding their horizons at the Junior Program, because everyone here is trying new things and expanding their horizons.
Our students are led by a faculty comprised of current and recent college students from some of the country’s top colleges and universities. Supported by a network of full-time, professional educators, our faculty members are instructors in the classroom, advisors in the dorm, and coaches in extracurricular activities. At Exploration, we see every moment in the day as a teaching moment, and our faculty is with our students at all times, providing support, encouragement, energy, and enthusiasm.
- Exploration is an active place, and we have designed the Junior Program to let students make the most of their time here. Students take two academic courses each session, choosing from 30 - 50 different offerings. Subjects range from Lego Engineering to Greek Mythology to Creative Writing to Slingshot Physics. Throughout the rest of the day, we sponsor a variety of different athletics, activities, and special events for students to choose from. On Wednesdays, students take two mini-courses, with subjects ranging from Web Design to Pastry Making to Lacrosse to Swimming Lessons. On weekends, students go on trips throughout New England and Boston. Saturday trips tend to be more educational, while Sunday trips tend to be more recreational in nature.
While there is no typical student that attends the Junior Program, there is one common strand that holds the Exploration community together: a love of learning. As a self-selected group, our students have chosen to spend their summer at Exploration because they are excited about learning. This student enthusiasm, coupled with the Junior Program’s fun and exciting programming, creates the perfect environment for students to have a fantastic summer of Exploration.
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