Summer Springboard Journalism & Digital Communication High School Course

Class runs from 9am to noon, Monday to Friday in the first week and Monday to Thursday in the second, which comes to nine three-hour sessions. In those mornings you write ledes, rewrite stories in AP style, interview sources and fact-check each other's work. Then you move on to branding, audience targeting and a content calendar and social campaign for your team's news brand.

Afternoons go to Academics in Action, a mix of academic excursions, guest speakers and course activities. You also choose two 90-minute College Readiness Workshops from Speaking with Confidence, Mastering Money, Developing Leadership and Prepping for College and Career, and join True You, a two-session group reflection. For this course, Summer Springboard says excursions could include a tech company such as Google and a working newsroom or digital media company.

On Summer Springboard's sample day at Barnard, breakfast is at 8am, class at 9am, lunch at noon, an activity or excursion at 1:30pm and a workshop at 3pm. Commuters leave at 5pm. Residential students have dinner at 6pm, clubs or evening activities at 7pm and dorm checks at 10:30pm. Weekends bring city trips, and the 2027 list includes Top of the Rock, a Circle Line boat tour and Six Flags Great Adventure.

Max Kalnitz leads the class. He wrote Summer Springboard's journalism curriculum and taught its Digital Marketing course in 2026. He spent eight years as an award-winning multimedia journalist with work in national and local outlets, and he has more than five years in social media strategy. That includes growing TikTok accounts and working on campaigns with brands such as Walmart, Target and Trader Joe's. He holds a master's degree from Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Summer Springboard doesn't publish a class size for this course, but it says morning classes break into small groups by course.

The course is open to students entering grades 9 to 12, which includes students starting high school in the fall and seniors who graduated in the spring. You must have finished 8th grade by the start date and have a 3.0 GPA or the local equivalent. International students show their English either in a telephone interview or with a minimum score: 490 on the paper TOEFL or 60 on the iBT, PET with Distinction or FCE at grade C from Cambridge, or 450 in SAT Reading and Writing. Summer Springboard says most students in its high school programs are 15 to 17.

Along with the short-answer essays in the application, Summer Springboard screens every applicant against its Essential Eligibility Criteria. These ask students to manage their own care and medication, walk more than a mile between buildings and follow staff instructions in English. It may ask for medical documentation, and it says plainly that its programs aren't therapeutic. There's no published acceptance rate. Places in a course are given out first come, first served, and once a course or session fills, new applicants go on a waitlist.

If you apply by 30 November 2026, a residential place costs $5,998 and a commuter place costs $3,298. Summer Springboard raises tuition on 1 December 2026 but hasn't said by how much. The residential price covers your room, all meals, the course, weekday excursions and weekend trips. The commuter price covers the course, lunch and weekday excursions, and weekend trips cost $125 a day extra.

Every family also pays an application fee you don't get back. It starts at $99, then rises to $149 after 21 February 2027 and $199 after 18 April 2027. On top of that is a $600 deposit to hold the place. Flights and health insurance aren't included. Airport transfers cost $95 each way inside the group arrival window ($195 outside it), the unaccompanied minor service is $145 each way and a two-week gym pass is $50. Summer Springboard also suggests bringing about $100 a week in spending money. If you apply before 10 March 2027, the balance is split into three payments due on 10 March, 10 April and 10 May 2027. Payments after 10 May carry a $150 late fee.

Need-based scholarships can cover up to 30% of residential tuition or 60% of commuter tuition. They apply to tuition only, never to the deposit or application fee. You apply with a form and the first page of your family's latest tax return, and Summer Springboard says it replies within 7 business days. If you cancel, Summer Springboard refunds less the closer it gets to the summer, from full tuition before 1 March 2027 to nothing after 1 June 2027. An optional Tuition Protection Plan, bought when you apply and listed at $699, lets you cancel for any reason up to the first day and get back everything you've paid except the plan's own fee.

Applications go through Summer Springboard's enrollment page.

1. 1

   Apply by 30 November 2026 for the lowest tuition. Summer Springboard closes or waitlists some programs after 21 February and again after 18 April 2027, when the application fee also goes up, and enrollment closes on 16 May 2027.

2. 2

   Enter basic contact details on the portal, confirm the verification email and complete your account details on the dashboard.

3. 3

   Start a new application and choose the Barnard campus, Session 2, Journalism & Digital Communication and residential or commuter tuition.

4. 4

   Finish the application with the student present, which takes about 30 minutes and includes short-answer essay questions and signed agreement forms.

5. 5

   Pay the $600 deposit and the application fee to hold the place, and expect a decision within 5 to 7 business days.

6. 6

   Once accepted, complete the extra forms. If you enroll before 25 April 2027, pre-departure documents are due by 1 May 2027, and missing that date costs a $50 late fee.

Summer Springboard staff live on every floor of the residence hall. The Campus Director, Assistant Campus Director and other staff live in the dorms too and are available around the clock. In 2027, students sleep in gender-separated suites in Elliott Hall, either in a single room or sharing with one other student, and they need their own access card to get into the building and their suite. Barnard Security patrols the campus and residence halls 24/7.

Students must be in their rooms after 10pm, with dorm checks at 10:30pm, and sneaking out is grounds for dismissal. Phones are allowed but must be off during activities. Students keep their own medication and take it themselves, and urgent care and Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital are close to campus. Read the Code of Conduct with your student before you commit, because a student who is sent home flies back at the family's expense and gets no refund.