The 3-week WPS Summer Leadership Institute is crafted to empower students by developing their leadership skills, exposing them to innovative city spaces, and inspiring them to shape their own futures. Throughout the program, participants will: Immerse themselves in hands-on experiences. Visit first-rate institutions, such as an MIT maker space. Engage with experts in engineering, biotech, social innovation, and more. Develop skills in entrepreneurship, digital storytelling, networking and influencing, which they can apply in internships and community impact projects. The Summer Leadership Institute is a competitive admissions program and requires students to submit an application at wpsinstiute.org/sli. As part of this 3-week WPS Summer Leadership Institute, we offer an optional, stipended, Innovation Everywhere Internship, a non-traditional internship during the 2024-2025 school year in which students receive funding to incubate their own community impact projects with expert mentors either individually or with a cohort of peers.

Our campus is located at 160 Herrick Rd. in Newton Centre, Massachusetts, just a short walk from the Newton Centre T-stop on the Green D Line.

Our three-week WPS Summer Leadership Institute takes place July 8-26 from 9AM-4PM Monday - Friday. There is a one-hour break for lunch and unstructured time.

We are also working to develop a network of internships (linked to page) in the Greater Boston area along with “internship-ready” workshops for students in 9-12 grade who need to develop work-related skills. We provide with our out-of-school organization partners (linked) workshops in mentoring, speaker event series, and team-building workshops.

Since its inception in 2017, the WPS Institute has offered programs for teachers and students with a focus on fostering educational innovation and opportunity. As a non-profit education start-up, we seek to advance a model of education where learning thrives everywhere, not just in school; where young people and their families are empowered to shape their own educational journeys; and where entire communities contribute to the education of their young people. As a partner to communities, WPS provides wraparound support to launch innovative experiments in student-centered learning, including research and development; program design; professional learning; implementation support; evaluation; and seed funding. In 2022, we launched our first Community Innovation Partnership in Salem, MA, working in collaboration with local schools, families, and community partners to reimagine middle school with offerings that are relevant, experiential, and open-walled. In 2023, we opened the WPS Community Learning Lab on our campus in Newton, Massachusetts. In the Community Learning Lab, we partner with out-of-school organizations to develop capacity and resources to imagine greater educational possibilities and programming that is learner-centered, empowers youth voice and fosters choice and agency. We collaborate with universities and community organizations to research best practices for out-of-school learning that can inform and influence what happens in schools and also to connect a network of greater-Boston area institutions that advance innovation in student-centered learning.

Our three-week WPS Summer Leadership Institute, which is open to rising 10th, 11th and 12th graders, is competitive and requires an application. We accept students on a rolling admissions basis and review applications once per week. We will reach out to you via email to set up a zoom interview before final confirmation of your candidacy. Both the parent and the student will receive an email informing the family of our decision within approximately 7-10 days’ time. If you are accepted into the program, you will register through Newton Community Education’s website.

Vegetarian entrees are available at every meal. For families whose students have food allergies, vegan or kosher diets, gluten-free diets, or other special dietary needs, they should indicate that on their application form and WPS staff will work with students individually to create a plan.

You can secure your seat with a deposit. The deposit for three-week programs is $250.

The cost of the WPS Summer Leadership Institute is $1500 for the full three weeks.

Tuition payment is due in full by May 15, 2024. For families registering after May 15th, the payment is due two weeks after the deposit is made and not later than the program’s start date.

We offer full and partial scholarships to students on the basis of financial need. In the application here (linked), select “yes” if you require a scholarship to attend and fill out the required information.

Withdrawals before or on May 15th, 2024 will be refunded minus a $250 cancellation fee. If you register after May 15th you are only eligible for a refund within 24 hours of registration and more than a week before the start date. Please email staff@newtoncommunityed.org.

Email info@wpsinstitute.org, or call 978-317-2218