Beginning in the sixth grade, the pupils are asked to make a two-year commitment to take on the workload from the program—which Mead said includes not only additional class time during the year, but also six weeks of classes and two hours of homework per day in the summer.

“It’s pretty intense for a 10-year-old to commit two years of his life to a program,” Mead said.

In order to find the most intellectually curious students, representatives of Summerbridge visit every fifth-grade classroom in Cambridge public schools each year in a recruitment effort, said development intern Adam G. Zolesk ’07.

This year, twice as many students applied as there were spots in the program, Mead said.

In return for their commitment, the 100 students receive their instruction tuition-free. In addition, Mead said students can opt to return to the program for a third year, beginning with the summer before eighth grade. Former students still invested in the program can become junior teachers, Mead said.

In the summer, students attend class from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Every student must take one mathematics and one literature class.

Students also take two elective classes—the curricula of which are designed by the teachers themselves, Mead said. The subjects of this year’s electives included the chemistry of cake baking, sports literature, electing a president, natural disasters, and ethnic enclaves using Chinatown as a case study.

But academics are not the sole focus of the summer program. Students are encouraged to participate in extracurricular activities ranging from field hockey to pretzel-making, Mead said.

“It’s really about building their cultural capital,” Mead said. “One of those habits they’re learning this summer might be the hook on their college applications later down the line.”

In addition, each day features an extended lunchtime with student and teacher performances and community meetings in which students discuss issues in their lives with their teachers.

About once per week, students receive special programming, like the “Olympics” athletic competition or the “math trails” scavenger hunt through Cambridge.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Mead said the average cost of running Summerbridge for a summer is $300,000.

While the program receives 10 percent of its funding from Cambridge schools, Summerbridge still needs to mount a significant fundraising effort.

Harvard donated to the program for the first time last year, Mead said. She added that not only did Harvard increase its donation this year to $6,000, but it also made free housing for teachers available at Peabody Terrace so that qualified applicants would not be deterred by the cost of living in Cambridge for the summer.