Spring HSSP 2013 ended on April 27th, 2013. Summer HSSP 2013 will run from July 7th to August 18th. A class catalog will be posted in mid-June.
Program Vitals:
What: An in-depth look at a variety of both academic and nonacademic subjects.
When: MIT Spring HSSP 2013 will run on Saturdays, March 2nd through April 27th (excluding March 16th, which is Spark, and April 13th).
Who: Students in grades 7 to 12.
Where: All classes will be held on the MIT campus.
Contact E-mail: spring-hssp@mit.edu
Registration: The Spring HSSP 2013 catalog can be found here. The second phase of student registration will open on has opened. Click here to register before Tuesday, February 26. Note that even if you missed the first phase of registration, you can still register during the second phase of registration starting on Tuesday.
Cost: $40, but please note that very generous financial aid is available. We encourage any and all students for whom this cost is prohibitive to register for the program and apply for financial aid as part of the registration process.
Times and Dates
Classes
Eligibility
Sixth Graders and Below
Signing Up
Application Process
Cost and Financial Aid
Email
Middle School Students
Food
Lunch Activities
Directions and Parking
Attendance
Class Changes
Contact Information
General HSSP Info
Insurance
Times and Dates: This spring, HSSP will run from 10:30am to 4:30pm on Saturdays March 2nd - April 27th, except for March 16th (the Saturday of Spark), and April 13th. There are three class periods and an hour break for lunch. Check back in early February for more specific time block information.
Classes: HSSP has a wide variety of classes for students in grades 7-12. The classes being offered vary from year to year, but range from from "Bookbinding 101" to "Introduction to Traditional Chinese Poetry." For this year's classes, view the Spring 2013 Catalog.
Eligibility: Students in grades 7-12 may participate. Students of all interests and levels are welcome to participate. If you would like to take a class open only to students of a higher grade level, email spring-hssp@mit.edu with a short explanation of why you would like to take the class and why you feel you are ready. We'll pass this on to the class's teacher and may be able to grant an exception.
I'm in sixth grade (or younger!): Our policy is that students must be 7th grade or older to attend our programs. (If homeschooled, please calculate your age based on your expected graduation year.) Additionally, all students must be at least 11 years old or older to attend our programs.
We do not make exceptions to this policy.
Please understand that we have created this policy after much careful thought and deliberation. We have to take into account the needs of our teachers and students first and foremost. Older students may not be comfortable being in a class with another student many years younger than them. In addition, our teachers may not be prepared to deal with a much younger student in both their approach to the teaching material and supervision. Finally, there is a fairness issue. Many of our programs are very oversubscribed, and allowing a student to attend before 7th grade gives them more years of our programs than any other student, even if they are completely mature and ready for the program.
For more information, please click here.
Signing up: The lottery phase of registration will be open from February 6th to February 15th. See below for more details on the registration process.
Registration Process: For each time block, students can rank up to three classes in order of preference using the "Add Class" button. Enrollment will be determined via a lottery, and will be based on rankings and chance. You will be able to check your class schedule online after the lottery is run. We strongly recommend that you select three classes per timeblock, to maximize your chances of getting a full schedule.
In mid-February, students will have the option to either add or remove classes. We may also accommodate some class changes during check-in on the first day of HSSP.
Cost and Financial Aid: Spring HSSP will cost $40. We accept payment on the first day of the program, in cash or check made out to MIT ESP. Very generous need-based financial aid is available, and the request form will be available when you register online. If your family would have any problems paying for HSSP, we strongly encourage you to apply for financial aid.
Email: Email is the main way that HSSP coordinators and teachers communicate with students. After you register for HSSP, you should get a confirmation email. Unfortunately, sometimes our emails are marked as spam, and don't go through. If you don't get a confirmation email, you should try the following:
- Check what email address your ESP account is configured for. Sometimes, people mistype their email address, or type in their parents' email instead of their own. You can check here.
- Check that the email was not caught in a spam folder.
- If you still can't find the email, email us individually, and we'll send you a confirmation email. Also, make @esp.mit.edu an allowed source.
- Performing step 3 will not guarantee that you get all of our emails - our emails keep getting caught in spam filters, and there is very little we can do about it. You should check this page on the website regularly to make sure you're up to date. We will announce sent emails on the website. Also, email spring-hssp@mit.edu to let us know that you're not receiving our emails, so we can see if there is anything we can do about this.
Middle School Students: Standard classes for middle school students (grades 7-8) are offered mainly during the first and third blocks. The second block will have mostly classes for high school students only. Second block will instead feature a Sprinkler program in which students from grades 7-8 can pick each week from a choice of several different Splash-style classes to attend.
Food: HSSP does not provide student lunch. There are various places to eat around MIT (at the student center, building W20, as well as at nearby restaurants; see food map. Alternatively, students are welcome to bring a bagged lunch.
Lunch Activities: When the program breaks for lunch, students will be free to find and eat their lunch in the ways mentioned above. Additionally, HSSP will host a variety of optional lunchtime activities. The activities this year range from "Learn to Juggle!" to "Eat Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream". A complete schedule of this year's lunch activities can be found here.
- Directions to MIT
- Instructions about Parking at MIT.
HSSP does not provide any parking arrangements, so you will have to make these on your own. MIT has some parking options which can be found at http://web.mit.edu/facilities/transportation/parking/index.html. There is also public parking available.
- Pick-up/drop-off
Attendance: It is important that you try to attend all 7 weeks. Many of the courses will build upon previous material, and so missing a week will put you behind. You must show up on the first day of classes, if you cannot show up to the first day of classes you must email us or risk losing your spot. If you plan to miss a week, you should fill out the Class Absence Form.
Class Changes: If you want to switch classes, you should come to the HSSP office after checking in at Lobby 13 the first day. Paper class catalogs will be available. If the class you want has an open spot, we will place you in the class.
If the class you want is currently full, you can fill out a form online (the link will be posted soon!) to apply for a mid-week class change up to the second week of the program. These applications will be processed before the second week, and you will be placed into the class if a spot becomes available.
Contact Information. If you have any questions during the program, you can call us at 617-253-4882 or email us at spring-hssp@mit.edu. At all other times, please e-mail us at spring-hssp@mit.edu. Starting at 11:00am on the first day, check-in will move from Lobby 13 to our office. On subsequent weeks, you should visit the office if you need to change classes, obtain a refund, or have other concerns. The deadline for obtaining refunds is 11:00am on March 23.
HSSP runs once a week, either on Saturday (Spring) or Sunday (Summer) for 5-10 weeks. Each day it runs from 10:30 am to 4:30 pm with three class periods and a break for lunch. HSSP does not provide food for students. Your child may attend any or all of the class periods. This will not affect the cost of the program.
HSSP has a wide variety of classes that vary from semester to semester. Our teachers are volunteers, so they may or may not teach a particular class again. If your child does not like his or her class, he or she may switch into any class that has openings and lacks application questions during the first two weeks of the program. After that, we do not allow any class changes or new registrations. In addition, if you are dissatisfied or cannot attend the program, you may obtain a full refund by the third week of HSSP. We do not offer any refunds past the third week.
It is necessary to attend the first day of HSSP to claim your spot. If you do not show up, we may give away your spot to another student. If you have a conflict or emergency that renders you unable to attend, please contact us at spring-hssp@mit.edu before the first week of HSSP and we will hold your spot.
If your child has any physical handicaps, please inform us ahead of time so we can make suitable arrangements. If your child has any other special needs, please inform us. While we will work with your child to the best of our ability, our teachers are college students and are not trained in how to handle special-needs children.
Insurance: Starting 2012, all ESP programs require students to have medical insurance valid in the state of Massachusetts. This means that your health insurance will cover health care costs at Massachusetts facilities in the unlikely event that medical care is necessary during Splash. If you have questions about your particular situation, email hssp-medical@mit.edu. There are no exceptions to this policy.
If you do not currently have medical insurance, you can obtain temporary travel insurance, which suffices if it covers medical emergencies.
For more information, check out our medical FAQ.
Last modified by fbastani on May 01, 2013 at 07:24 p.m.