Summer Programs and College Partnerships

Our vision at Vertex Partnership Academies is to develop internationally-minded, tenacious learners guided by the four cardinal virtues of Courage, Justice, Temperance, and Wisdom. As such, we seek out world-class partners who share the goal to develop high school students who have acquired the habits, knowledge, and personal agency necessary to lead self-determined, purposeful lives of American and global citizenship.

Towards this end, Vertex Partnership Academies has partnered with the School for Ethics and Global Leadership (SEGL). SEGL’s mission is to provide intellectually motivated high school juniors who represent the diversity of the United States with the best possible opportunity to shape themselves into ethical leaders who create positive change in our world.

Via this partnership, two Vertex rising juniors will participate in the prestigious five week 2024 SEGL Summer Institute in London, England. Through this overseas experience, our Vertex students will join a select group of rising high school juniors and seniors from across the country. What an opportunity! 

For five weeks, Vertex students will live and learn in the heart of London, one of the world's finance and arts capitals. They will run along the Thames River; present a policy memo to Members of British Parliament; talk business with an investment banker from London’s Square Mile financial district; grow their public speaking, political communication, and collaboration skills; and ultimately will better learn how to succeed in college.

Over five weeks, students will complete SEGL’s flagship Ethics and Leadership curriculum. By the end of the summer, they will have gained new best friends and new leadership skills. They will also have completed three capstone projects to prepare:

When a student graduates from Vertex Partnership Academies, over the course of their four year high school tenure, they will have had direct exposure to, and knowledge of, the words and worlds that shape our collective future.

One way this is achieved is through a partnership that Vertex Partnership Academies has formed with Tianjin University, the oldest institution of higher education in the modern history of China. To experience traditional Chinese culture, two Vertex students will spend fourteen days in Summer 2024 in two Chinese cities: Tianjin & Beijing as part of Tianjin University’s programming for international students.

During those two weeks, the Vertex students will learn the foundations of Chinese Culture (Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism), take Mandarin Classes, visit with a Master in Martial Arts, practice Tai Chi, study Chinese calligraphy and practice Seal Carving. 

Beyond classroom work, during the Summer Camp, the two Vertex students will also  travel throughout China with their Tianjin University guides, including having the opportunity to visit the Magnificent Forbidden City, reflect at the Temple of Heaven, walk upon the Great Wall of China and take a tour of the Dajia Eco-Agricultural Park.

At the New American International Culture Corp summer program, students participate in a 12-16 week Mandarin language program with Chinese universities such as Xi'an International Studies University and Shandong University. 

At the Einstein Montefiore Summer HS Research Program, students participate in a 5-week full-time summer research experience. Students are expected to present their work at Einstein’s Annual Summer Research Day together with college students in the Einstein Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP).

At the Fordham University Change Leaders: Impact Innovation and Social Entrepreneurships summer program, students participate in a nine-day workshop designed and taught by an award-winning social entrepreneur, where they'll master the art of crafting (social) entrepreneurial solutions to confront contemporary global challenges.

At the Fordham University Fordham STEM Bootcamp: Future Leaders of AI summer program, students participate in an immersive 4-day summer program. Through a combination of lectures, hands-on activities, guest speaker sessions, and a personal interest project, participants will come face to face with the powerful potential of Artificial Intelligence while developing an understanding of specific ways that AI can be harnessed in an area of special interest.

At the Georgetown University summer program, students will participate in an immersive learning experience. Ranging in length from one to eight weeks, their programs span a wide range of subjects, covering everything from forensic science and politics to creative writing. 

At the Hillsdale College: Frederick Douglass Leadership Seminar, students participate in a one-week seminar, Hillsdale College aims to give students a vision of what it looks like to overcome life’s challenges, by studying historical men and women who have stood for liberty despite their circumstances.

At the Smith College summer program, students participate in one-week immersive programs ranging from creative writing to science and engineering.

A pesky gadfly. A numbing torpedo-fish. A seductive satyr. These are only three of the many images found in Plato’s dialogues that are used to describe Socrates. During this week of Summer Academy at St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland, a student at Vertex Partnership Academies will have an opportunity to encounter this many-sided and much-debated figure. 

The reading and discussion will consider Plato’s dialogues about Socrates’ final days, including the trial that sentenced him to death, his decision to stay in Athens despite that, and his final hours on his deathbed arguing for the immortality of the soul.

Summer STEM at the Naval Academy is a vibrant week of problem-solving, exploratory learning, critical thinking, and team building for rising 9th-11th graders interested in a future in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.

At the Worcester Polytechnic Institute summer program, students will be challenged to explore the outer limits of their knowledge in STEM and explore unsolved global issues, along with a touch of humanities through another aspect such as business entrepreneurship, digital painting, psychology, and more.