13 Summer Programs for Middle School Students in Boston
- Stephen Turban
- Oct 12
- 8 min read
If you are a middle school student in Boston looking for a way to learn something new during your school break, consider a local summer program!
Summer programs typically allow you to dive into interests and topics beyond the standard school curriculum. These programs often offer exposure to advanced academics, projects, and industry insights. As a participant, you also get to pick up skills like teamwork, communication, and problem-solving while also connecting with mentors and peers who share your interests. From STEM-focused workshops to arts, leadership, and career exploration camps, you can find summer programs for middle school students in Boston that align with your interests.
To help you with your search, in this blog, we have a list of summer programs for middle school students in Boston.
13 Summer Programs for Middle School Students in Boston
Location: Virtual
Cost: Varies based on program; need-based financial assistance available
Dates: Vary by cohort; multiple cohorts each year, including in the summer
Application deadline: Varies by cohort
Eligibility: Middle school students
The Lumiere Junior Explorer Program allows you to work closely with a mentor from a leading research university to explore a topic and create a project that reflects your interests. The program mentors are typically Ph.D. candidates or researchers from prestigious institutions such as Harvard, MIT, and Stanford. During the program, you will meet regularly with your mentor over several weeks, learning how to deeply investigate a subject. Projects can range from research-based papers to creative builds, depending on your focus area, which could be in STEM, the humanities, or another field of choice. You can learn more about the program from its brochure.
Location: Virtual
Cost/Stipend: Varies; need-based financial aid available
Acceptance rate/Cohort size: Not specified
Dates: 25 hours over two weeks during the summer; exact dates vary
Application Deadline: Rolling deadlines
Eligibility: Students in grades 6–8
As an AI Trailblazers participant, you will spend around 25 hours learning how artificial intelligence works and practicing how to use it yourself. You will start by learning Python and then move on to understanding how algorithms analyze data, classify images, and make predictions. The program also introduces you to the ethics of AI through questions that focus on how to use technology responsibly and fairly. Classes are run in small groups with a 5:1 student-to-mentor ratio, so you can get direct feedback on your progress. By the end, you will have completed projects that could involve creating an AI solution for sorting music by genre or recommending educational resources based on certain inputs.
Location: Wellesley College campus (just outside of Boston), Wellesley, MA
Cost: Varies by camp
Acceptance rate/Cohort size: Not specified
Dates:
Session 1: Overnight: June 29 – July 12 | Day: June 30 – July 11
Session 2: Overnight: July 13 – 26 | Day: July 14 – 25
Application Deadline: TBA on October 15
Eligibility: Students entering grades 7–9 and ages 12–14
EXPLO’s summer programs allow you to design your own schedule and choose from 40 courses. You also have the option to choose between being a day participant or staying on campus for a two-week residential experience. Courses span disciplines, from robotics and wilderness survival to comedy writing, architecture, and veterinary science, allowing you to explore subjects you have always liked or try something completely new. Classes are taught by instructors with professional or academic experience, and many include hands-on projects, field trips, and collaborations with industry partners. Specialized tracks, like Medical Rotations or Veterinary Science, will introduce you to real-world settings, allow you to work alongside professionals, and explore career paths in action. You will learn alongside other middle school students, switching between workshops, labs, and outdoor activities throughout the day.
Location: Virtual
Cost: $275–$320, depending on the course
Acceptance rate/Cohort size: Not specified
Dates: July 7 – 25
Application Deadline: May 24
Eligibility: Middle school students
At the Sally Ride Science Academy, you can choose from week-long workshops in science, technology, engineering, arts, and math. The topics span various disciplines, ranging from robotics and marine biology to digital art, geology, and entrepreneurship. The workshops here focus on hands-on projects such as building a robot, coding an app, or developing a piece of digital media, while also introducing you to stories of real scientists, especially women, working in those fields. You will work with instructors who have both subject matter and teaching experience. Throughout each course, you will learn practical skills alongside peers.
5. MIT DynaMIT
Location: MIT campus, Cambridge, MA
Cost: None
Acceptance rate/Cohort size: Not specified
Dates: Mid to late August (separate one-week sessions for rising 6–7th graders and for rising 8–9th graders)
Application deadline: February 10
Eligibility: Rising 6th-9th-grade students
If you are curious about science and engineering, MIT DynaMIT offers a free week-long program where you work on hands-on STEM challenges with guidance from MIT undergraduates. The program takes place on MIT’s main campus, giving you access to labs and spaces where you can experiment directly with available materials and tools. Topics vary each summer but often include things like forensics, electricity and magnetism, coding, and materials science. Each day is split between group activities to introduce new concepts and project time to apply what you have learned. You will also work on a capstone project throughout the week, which you present to other students and families on the last day. The learning style is interactive and team-based, with plenty of opportunities to ask questions and explore ideas in a collaborative environment.
Location: Online
Cost: No cost
Acceptance rate/Cohort size: Not specified
Dates: July 7 – 25 + weekly online sessions in the fall
Application Deadline: March 20
Eligibility: U.S. students from low-income backgrounds in grades 6–7 who reside in and attend school in the U.S.
If you are interested in exploring challenging academics, the Stanford Middle School Scholars Program combines a three-week summer course in July with weekly online meetings through December. You will join a small cohort of about 12 students from across the country to work with instructors on refining skills like academic writing, math enrichment, and exploring selective high school options. This summer program for middle school students offers you opportunities to ask questions and collaborate with peers in real time. Weekly fall meetings build on that foundation, covering topics such as growth mindset and preparing strong applications for high school programs. Families are part of the process too, attending conferences and receiving updates.
Location: Boston area sites
Cost: Tuition: $699 + Residential fee: $699
Acceptance rate/Cohort size: Not specified
Dates: One week in June – August (exact dates vary by program)
Application Deadline: May 15
Eligibility: Rising 6th–8th graders
Boston Leadership Institute runs week-long, in-person programs that blend hands-on activities with advanced academics in subjects ranging from science and medicine to engineering and business. Each session runs daily until mid-afternoon, with options to extend the day or stay overnight. You can explore neuroscience in Mini Med School, design experiments in Hands-on Physics, create a mock business pitch in Junior Shark Tank, or learn about animal care in Pet Medicine. Small class sizes make it easier to get involved and ask questions.
Location: Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, MA (about 1 hour from Boston)
Cost: $300; need-based scholarships available
Acceptance rate/Cohort size: Not specified
Dates: July 14 – 18
Application Deadline: Rolling; closes 1 month before the program begins
Eligibility: Students in grades 6–8
The Science Academy at Bridgewater State University offers science classes covering unique topics to middle school students. As a participant, you will get to work on STEM topics by taking on the role of a scientist through structured, hands-on learning. You will engage in experiments, discussions, and activities that help you understand scientific principles and how they apply to real situations. For instance, if you choose the “Avoiding a Campus CATastrophe” class, you will rely on biotechnology procedures, veterinary assessments, and critical thinking to assist the university’s laboratory staff in testing and diagnosing the stray cats on the campus.
Location: Graham & Parks School, Cambridge, MA
Cost: None
Acceptance rate/Cohort size: Not specified
Dates: Two-week sessions during the summer (dates vary by year)
Application Deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: Rising 6th–8th-grade girls and gender-expansive students from the Greater Boston area, with priority given to those most underrepresented in STEM
The Summer Rocketry Program offers middle schoolers an introduction to aerospace engineering. Over two weeks, you will engage in activities like creating model space stations, working with a robotic rover, building and launching rockets, and learning about physics and engineering concepts. You will also have access to a career panel led by women working in aerospace engineering to gain insights into careers in this field. Field trips to the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics are also part of the experience.
Location: Virtual camps available for Boston students
Cost: Free
Acceptance rate/Cohort size: Not specified
Dates: Various two-week sessions during the summer
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: Women and gender-expansive teens aged 13–18
Kode With Klossy’s Summer Camp is a two-week introduction to software development, machine learning, and programming. You will learn these concepts through one of four tracks. The machine learning track covers key AI/ML concepts, including algorithms, natural language processing, and data sets. In the camp’s web development track, you will learn and work with HTML, JavaScript, and CSS to create an online site. The mobile app track can help you learn how to code in Swift (Apple’s programming language) and develop an iOS mobile application. In the data science track, you will explore concepts like data visualisation.
Location: NuVu Innovation School, Cambridge, MA
Cost: $2,240
Acceptance rate/Cohort size: Not specified
Dates:
Session One: July 7 – 18
Session Two: July 21 – August 1
Session Three: August 4 – 15
Application Deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: Students ages 11–14
At NuVu’s summer program for middle school students, you will join a two-week “studio” or course where you will design and build creative solutions to real challenges. The studios cover a wide range of activities, such as building exploration rovers, creating viral video effects, designing treehouses, or constructing interactive escape rooms. Each studio has a dedicated coach who will guide you through brainstorming, prototyping, and refining your project. You will work in a collaborative, workshop-style space alongside other students, sharing ideas and testing designs. By the end of each session, you will have a completed project that you have built from start to finish.
12. Design at Advent
Location: The Advent School campus, Boston, MA
Cost: $1,350
Acceptance rate/Cohort size: Not specified
Dates: Two-week sessions in June – August (exact dates vary by program)
Application Deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: Students ages 5–12
At Design at Advent, you will choose from various themed STEM-based creative sessions that blend creativity with hands-on problem-solving. Each session offers exposure to the design process, from asking questions, researching, and prototyping to refining ideas, and allows you to design and complete a project relevant to the track you choose. In the Theater Engineering track, you will design characters, write short performances, and create props and backdrops while learning the basics of engineering for stage production. If you choose the Urban Agriculture track, you will explore where food comes from, how it is distributed, and ways to make food systems more sustainable in cities while working on small-scale solutions like farm-to-table practices. In Cardboard Carnival, you will design and build games from recycled materials while exploring physics concepts like potential and kinetic energy, along with simple machines and circuits.
Location: Remote and in-person options available across various locations
Cost: None
Acceptance rate/Cohort size: Not specified
Dates: Ongoing throughout the school year; clubs typically meet 1–2 hours per week after school or on weekends
Application Deadline: Rolling enrollment
Eligibility: Students in grades 3–12
Girls Who Code Clubs are free programs you can join during the summer, after school, or on weekends, either online or in person. The clubs offer flexible activities that let you start with beginner-friendly coding or explore more advanced topics like web development, game design, and artificial intelligence. The curriculum is project-based, allowing you to use your new skills to create something that addresses a real-world problem that matters to you. Younger members work with block-based coding and learn core computing concepts, while older students can choose to follow self-paced tutorials in multiple programming languages. Some sessions also focus on boosting AI literacy, showing you how machine learning works and how it impacts everyday life.
Stephen is one of the founders of Lumiere and a Harvard College graduate. He founded Lumiere as a Ph.D. student at Harvard Business School. Lumiere is a selective research program in which students work 1-on-1 with a research mentor to develop an independent research paper.
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