Brown and Providence Schools

Engaging with High Schools

Brown’s diverse programs and initiatives equip high school students with the academic and problem-solving skills they need to prepare for careers and college.

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Engaging with High Schools

Brown’s diverse programs and initiatives equip high school students with the academic and problem-solving skills they need to prepare for careers and college.

Through a diverse set of programs and initiatives, Brown’s students, faculty and staff help equip participating Providence high school students with the academic and problem-solving skills they need to prepare for careers and college.

During the academic year, student volunteers provide one-on-one tutoring to city high school students, helping them hone their math and reading skills in the classroom, prepare for SATs and submit college applications. Elsewhere, Brown faculty and students work with Providence public high school teachers to introduce robotics and environmental science curricula to high school classrooms, inspiring local teens to consider careers in emerging STEM fields. 

110 students enroll each year

PPSD students enroll in Brown Summer High School each year

87% of students receive financial aid

of Brown Summer High School students receive full or partial financial aid

87% of students receive financial aid

PPSD students participate in Brown’s Pre-College program each year; 97% receive financial aid

In the summer months, Brown Summer High School and the University’s robust lineup of pre-college programs provide more than 100 local high school students with opportunities to boost college readiness, explore new academic subjects and strengthen their reading, math, science and social studies skills — often at little to no cost to them.

Program and Initiative Highlights

Brown Summer High School

A summertime enrichment program led by graduate teaching students at Brown provides students from Providence, Central Falls and other local communities with a chance to pursue hands-on, experiential study across subjects such as literature, math, science and social studies.

Pre-College Programs

Each summer, high school students have a chance to experience firsthand the challenges and opportunities of collegiate life at Brown through engaging courses, social programs and off-campus excursions. Providence students who apply to Brown’s pre-college programs are eligible for tuition fee waivers and scholarships.

K-12 Tutoring Initiative

With a mission to narrow educational inequities in Rhode Island’s urban core, the K-12 Tutoring Initiative hosted by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform is mobilizing Brown students to provide free tutoring for students in need at participating Providence schools.

High-flying Robotics

With funding from the National Science Foundation and Amazon, a computer science professor at Brown adapted an introductory robotics curriculum for high school classrooms, helping teachers across 10 Providence high schools get an autonomous aerial drone-making course off the ground.

News about Brown in high schools

News from Brown

Med student mentors guide teens on health careers... and more

With bright futures of their own, dozens of Alpert Medical School students every fall mentor local teens from disadvantaged high schools to help them plan their paths. Each January, mentees present the health and medical research guided by their mentors, who introduce them to health care careers and encourage them to thrive in other ways, too.
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News From Brown

NSF grant to fund STEM teaching program

The National Science Foundation has awarded a five-year, $2.2-million grant to a team of education researchers led by Daniel Bisaccio, lecturer in education, for a summer program to test a model that gives STEM undergraduates an opportunity to teach science and math to high school students
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News from Brown

Teachers and students: Everybody learns

Brown University’s SummerPrep program and 47th Summer High School drew nearly 325 local students to July sessions designed to brush up and expand knowledge in an enjoyable way. Their teachers are also learning ...
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News From Brown

Camp stokes girls’ math interest

From Thomas Jefferson’s own cipher to the algorithms that enable digital image editing, math offers an almost limitless menu of experience. Thirty-one 10th- and 11th-grade girls plunged in at GirlsGetMath camp this month.
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News from Brown

Brown Science Prep engages local students

Every Saturday morning Brown undergraduate volunteers and local high school students gather for fun, education, and sharing their love of science. The mutual enthusiasm of the high schoolers and their slightly older mentors shined through at an end-of-semester science fair on campus May 5.
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