GRACE Scholars Begin 2023 Summer Program

Fifty-five GRACE Scholars are on campus this summer for four weeks of academic challenge, marking our eighth iteration of the program and the largest in-person enrollment since it began in 2016.

Each summer, GRACE (GRoton Accelerate Challenge Enrich) offers a variety of courses—along with a healthy dose of recreation and art—to rising Fourth Formers. The program is designed to propel students to advanced classes and to fill preparation gaps during the summer before Upper School. This summer’s group includes seven new Fourth Formers.

Most GRACE Scholars take two courses, choosing among math, science, English, Latin, French, Spanish, Chinese (new for 2023), and Modern Global History.

 

All GRACE classes are led by Groton School faculty, and this summer’s group once again includes Headmaster Temba Maqubela, who will teach science. Nine teaching assistants from the Forms of 2020, 2021, and 2023 will also participate; seven of the nine were GRACE Scholars themselves.

 

The 2023 scholars are ready for several hours a day of classroom learning, as well as afternoons spent swimming in the school pool, paddleboarding, and playing games such as kickball and Capture the Flag. Wednesday nights are for special outings, to a trampoline park, for instance, or to go bowling or to the movies. Activities on campus will include movies on the Circle and the third annual GRACE Olympics, while weekend off-campus excursions will take GRACE Scholars to the beach, whitewater rafting, and ziplining.

This summer, GRACE will also help address any student preparation gaps in math or English that were extended or intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, Anna Martinez, Groton’s new assistant director of academic skills, will serve as a resource to GRACE faculty and be available for individual sessions with scholars during evening study hall.

Welcome to the 2023 GRACE Scholars!