For The Academy, an encouraging second year
The Academy, a cost-free, summer residential enrichment program for Greater Boston-area middle and high school students—one of four components of Boston College’s Pine Manor Institute (PMI) for Student Success initiative—held its second round of week- and two-weeklong sessions this summer, attracting more than double last year’s number of attendees.
More than 100 eighth and ninth grade students from 25 partner schools participated in the July 30-August 12 session, including more than half of last year’s 48 summer program participants, according to Joy Moore, vice president and executive director of the institute.
Just over 50 percent of the students attend public schools, while 40 percent are enrolled in Catholic schools, and eight percent attend charter schools. Communities represented include Allston-Brighton, Brockton, Chelsea, Dorchester, Hyde Park, Jamaica Plain, Lawrence, Mattapan, Quincy, Roxbury, Springfield, and Worcester.
Beginning in the summer after seventh grade and continuing through grade 12, the residential program combines academic preparation in English, mathematics, and science with overnight adventures, field trips, and volunteer experiences.
The Academy students, who stayed in Williams Hall on Upper Campus, began their typical day at 7:30 a.m. with breakfast, followed by an assembly. Morning classes rotated between STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), language arts, and electives, including 3D printing, textile arts, photography, cellular agriculture, digital storytelling and more. The evenings included family-style dinners, small-group reflection, campus “walk and talk,” journaling, and quiet time before lights out at 10 p.m.
“We place an emphasis on values,” said Moore. “Each grade level has a set of three values that are integrated into all aspects of our programming. We want to instill the virtues of courage, tenacity, confidence, identity, harmony, and companionship in our eighth and ninth graders. We then build upon these values in grades 10-12 and add compassion, service and solidarity, awareness, curiosity and open-mindedness and finally, transition, responsibility, and self-discipline.”
A ninth-grader discusses an assignment with staff of The Academy. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)
Throughout the school year, each Academy student’s “success coach” (a BC sophomore, junior, or senior) provides tutoring and mentoring to help them achieve success in middle school and prepare for high school. As those students head to college or other post-secondary institutions and begin their careers, PMI will continue to provide coaching and mentoring for up to two years, a distinguishing characteristic unlike any other enrichment program.
“We are fortunate to see first-hand the deep connections made between the success coaches and the Academy students,” said Moore. “In addition to mentors, they are companions, and help guide the students along their journey. It’s the Academy’s ‘secret sauce.’”
Robin Goffigan, whose son, Mekhi Goffigan-Mercer, returned to the program for the second time this summer, had all of her expectations met.
“The mentoring is very important,” she said. “Reconnecting with the BC students [coaches], plus meeting new people from different places, and connecting with them; it’s big to me, as is the program’s academic focus. He will absolutely return, all the way to the end!”
Mekhi, who this fall will attend Meridian Academy, an independent school in Jamaica Plain, enjoyed the electives he took.
“I really liked the classes in digital storytelling and the chemistry sampler,” he said. “The program got me out of my comfort zone.”
When Gladys Tejada first learned about The Academy, she expected it to be an opportunity for her daughter, Emma, a rising ninth grader from Lawrence Catholic Academy, to grow as an individual, meet new people, and improve as a student.
“The program met all those expectations,” said Tejeda. “Emma has become more independent, she has made several friends that she’s remained in contact with, and she’s developed new academic strengths that she’ll continue to apply as she enters high school. She’s also gaining a better sense of herself and her interests, while also learning how to navigate her social life.”
Emma wants to return next summer, citing what she characterized as “the profound social and academic opportunities” offered at The Academy.
“I eagerly look forward to the atmosphere, the Boston College campus, and the connections,” she said.
Students at The Academy (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)
The PMI’s capstone initiative is the launch of Messina College—opening on the former Pine Manor College campus in Brookline in fall 2024—which will offer 100 first-generation students with high financial need a residential college experience steeped in Jesuit values, coupled with resources tailored to help students excel. BC’s ninth school and its first two-year associate’s degree program—named for the first Jesuit school, founded in Sicily in 1548—is designed to offer multiple pathways to success by preparing students to transfer to a four-year institution or for a professional career. Associate degrees in such high-demand areas as general business, health sciences, applied data science, and applied psychology and human development will be offered.
“I can’t wait to welcome our newest Eagles to the Brookline Campus!” exclaimed Messina College Dean Erick Berrelleza, S.J., the son of immigrants and a first-generation college graduate who was appointed last summer. “Messina College brings together the best of what we offer at BC in a two-year, residential experience. The formative education our students will receive will set them apart from their peers in the workplace, and prepare them for impactful contributions to the world around them.”
The PMI also serves as an umbrella organization for the University’s mentoring and academic achievement pillar, including the former Learning to Learn office, Options Through Education, the College Transition Program, and McNair Scholars, all of which serve a wide range of students. The institute also now is the administrative center for BC’s partnership with QuestBridge, a nonprofit organization that helps high-achieving, low-income students gain admission and scholarships to the country’s top-ranked colleges and universities.