General

RHS was one of five high schools in the country selected in 2010 to be in the SEAD program. It was invited as one of four schools to participate in a second four-year period that started in 2013 and runs through the summer of 2016. The RHS SEAD students are selected in their freshman year and they spend two or three weeks at Dartmouth in each of four summers. The three schools participating with RHS in the current cohort are: Bronx (NY) Center for Math and Science, Schenectady (NY) High School and Urban Science Academy, West Roxbury, MA.

SEAD empowers promising high school students from under-resourced backgrounds to thrive in high school and college.

The Summer Classes at Dartmouth

The culture in the SEAD summer sessions is extremely nurturing with considerable individual attention paid to the students by the staff, most of whom are professional educators or Dartmouth students. SEAD pairs each student in the summer program with a mentor who is a Dartmouth sophomore. The mentor spends up to ten hours a week with his or her SEAD student engaging in various activities and keeps in touch with the students via e-mail or Facebook after the program ends.

Dartmouth Weekend

In the fall or winter following each of their summers at Dartmouth, the RHS SEAD students go back to Hanover for a Reunion Weekend. This gives the students an opportunity to reconnect with their mentors and one another and serves as a reminder of the focused, motivated work the students did during the summer and can do during the school year.

College Interns at RHS

The SEAD program sends a Dartmouth undergraduate to RHS for about nine weeks each fall, winter and spring. These Interns work in RHS full-time, spending half of their time with the program's students and helping with their academic progress. They meet regularly with the students and bring information about the students and RHS back to Dartmouth that allows the program to develop effective curricula for the following summer.

The balance of the Interns’ time is spent promoting college awareness with all RHS students who are considering tertiary education at a four- or two-year college, with emphasis on students not served by either SEAD or the Reach High Scholars Program. They explain the variety of educational institutions available, give advice on colleges that are a good fit for each student, promote summer enrichment programs, college fairs and college visits and help with college applications, financial aid and preparation for standardized tests.