Middle School Program
Part of our College Bound Program, our middle school program starts the summer going into 6th grade, and supports students all the way through middle school graduation, when they transition to high school programming. The middle school component of NJ LEEP focuses academic skill development, building and sustaining a college-going identity, family engagement, STEM, and social-emotional learning. The Middle School Program serves first-generation* and low-income** students from the greater Newark area.
NJ LEEP’s Middle School Program takes place during the summer and two Saturdays a month at NJ LEEP.
For additional information on how to apply, please email recruiting@njleep.org.
*We define first-generation college students as those who are the first in their family to go to college and earn a four-year college degree in the United States.
**We define low-income as an income of $80,000 or below for a family of four (for each additional household member, we add $5,000 to the threshold).
Middle school programming by year:
6th-8th Grade School-Year
Students attend programming two Saturdays a month and take ELA and Math classes, focus on social-emotional learning, and do STEM and critical thinking enrichments. In addition, we support 8th graders with the Newark high school application process.
6th Grade Summer
Student teams participate in a Pitch Competition to convince a company to choose Newark as the location for their new headquarters.
7th Grade Summer
Student groups present on social justice issues like Human Trafficking, Bullying, and Black Lives Matter, and talk about the ''Game Changers" who lead and influence these movements.
8th Grade Summer
Students do independent social impact projects and presentations.
