BEAM began serving students across New York City in 2011. In 2017, we expanded to Los Angeles, and in 2020, we launched the pilot of our National Program.

In 2011, the Summer Program in Mathematical Problem Solving (SPMPS) was founded by Daniel Zaharopol with 17 students attending.  These students came from nine partner schools across four boroughs of New York City: the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens.  Of the original nine partner schools, seven still partner with BEAM.  

In 2012, SPMPS expanded to 38 students. 

In 2013, 39 students attended the summer program, and SPMPS began to offer comprehensive year-round academic advising to alumni along with numerous activities to further their pursuit of math and science. 

In 2014, the program doubled in size again, opening a second summer campus serving a total of 77 students with continued advising for all 171 alumni.  

In fall 2015, the program name was changed to Bridge to Enter Advanced Mathematics (BEAM) to reflect the growing importance of year-round mentoring in addition to the original summer-only program.

In 2016, BEAM opened a new pilot program for 6th graders, BEAM Discovery (for its first few years called BEAM 6). These 76 students spent four weeks studying mathematics in a non-residential program in NYC.

At this point, we rename our long-running 7th grade residential program first to BEAM 7 as a complement to BEAM 6, and then eventually to BEAM Summer Away, the first step in the longer BEAM Pathway Program. BEAM Summer Away serves 80 students in 2016 at Bard College and Vassar College.

In fall 2016, BEAM's first cohort (class of 2011) enroll as college freshmen. We are in touch with 16 of 17 alumni. All 16 graduated high school, and 15 are enrolled in college (with the 16th working for an AmeriCorps program and starting his college applications two years later). They attend institutions ranging from Bard College, Northeastern University, Manhattan College, University of Rochester, to SUNY Albany, in many cases with significant merit scholarships.
 

In summer 2017, 95 students attend BEAM Discovery and a total of 82 students attend BEAM Summer Away, 40 at Bard College and 42 at Union College. 

As of school year 2017-2018, BEAM partners with 35 schools, serving 180 6th and 7th grade students each summer, as well as 400+ program alumni in grades 8-12. 

In summer 2018, BEAM expands, holding its first ever BEAM Discovery site in Los Angeles. Between the New York City and the Los Angeles site, a total of 269 students attend Beam Discovery, and a total of 79 students attend BEAM Summer Away.

In summer 2019, BEAM extends its Summer Away program to Los Angeles, serving 41 students at Harvey Mudd College. As for the rest of summer, a total of 115 students attend Beam Summer Away, and a total of 199 students attend BEAM Discovery.

During the school year 2019-20, BEAM partners with 37 NYC schools and 14 LA schools, serving 400+ NYC program alumni in grades 8-12, as well as 41 LA program alumni in 8th grade.

In summer 2020, due to COVID-19, BEAM programs moved entirely online, with BEAM serving a record 420+ students online across six program sites. BEAM’s programs will again be online in summer 2021.