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Summer on the Hill

a year-round enrichment and guidance program for promising public school students

Summer on the Hill (SOH) was founded in 1994 by the Horace Mann School to offer supplementary educational enrichment to promising, disadvantaged public school students from the Bronx, Washington Heights, and Harlem. A year-round program, SOH serves 250 students annually in stimulating, after-school classes taught by dedicated teachers. SOH is a 501(c)3 organization that is supported by private foundations, corporations, and personal gifts. Horace Mann School provides supportive services and the use of its facilities as a gift-in-kind valued in excess of $100,000 annually.

SOH’s mission is to enrich the educational experiences of selected students from Bronx and upper Manhattan public schools, prepare them for competitive schools and colleges, and offer guidance to their parents. Through partnerships with 80 local schools, SOH recruits promising students at the 2nd grade level and works with them through high school – for as long as ten years. SOH consists Grade 3-8 and High School Programs.

The Grade 3-8 Program has an annual enrollment of 190-200 students who participate in:

* A six-week, full-day summer session of accelerated academic classes, instruction in swimming and tennis and in the performing and visual arts. Performing arts classes culminate in exuberant productions.

* A mandatory, academic-year Saturday program of accelerated classes in language arts, math, and science, and a period of seasonal sports.

* Individual guidance on school choices for 8th graders and their families, and for younger students who are judged ready to make the transition to an independent school.

The High School Program is open only to alumni/ae of the Grade 3-8 program, regardless of the type of school they attend. The Director of the High School Program provides ongoing encouragement to 50 students, of whom two-thirds are the first in their families to be headed for college. SOH offers PSAT and SAT classes taught by faculty from local colleges, college tours and individual college counseling, and opportunities to talk to young professionals about such topics as college, careers, and social media.

SOH students have been regularly accepted to excellent schools, including De La Salle Academy, Bronx Science, Fordham Prep, Horace Mann, LaGuardia, and Riverdale. SOH college graduates are enrolled in graduate or medical school, or work in education, finance, insurance, law, and technology.

“Thank you for being kind to us and for teaching us things we didn’t know yet!” - a 3rd grader

We welcome queries (718-432-4117) and invite you to visit our website at www.summeronthehill.org