COVID-19 Update

2/3/21: Since April 2020, all BEAM activities have been running online, including year-round programs (weekend classes, advising, mentoring, tutoring, and more) and summer programs (BEAM Discovery and BEAM Summer Away). We will continue virtual programming as we monitor pandemic developments. Moving forward, we will keep the health and safety of our students, staff, and community as our top priority.

BEAM's programming begins the summer after 6th grade at BEAM Discovery, an intense five-week summer program where students learn advanced math.

1IMG_5530 cropped.jpg

BEAM Discovery runs at two sites in New York City and one in Los Angeles, serving about 300 students total each summer. At Discovery, students learn advanced math unlike anything most of them have seen in school, make friends with others who love math, and build the skills confidence, and self-identity for success.

Highlights of the program include:

  • Student choice. Students choose classes from four different areas: Logical Reasoning, Math Team Strategies, Math Fundamentals, and Applied Math (such as astronomy, genetics, and programming).

  • 100 Problem Challenge. Students work alone or together on these difficult math problems (geometric, pattern-finding, puzzle-like), which begin to lead them towards the idea of mathematical proof. (Try a problem for yourself.)

  • Guest speakers. Mathematicians and other STEM professionals share their mathematical work.

  • Activities. Led by counselors, these include familiar activities like basketball and crafts, as well as popular pastimes in math communities, like chess and Rubik’s cubes.

  • Field trips. Trips, like renting out a movie theater, add a sense of specialness to the summer.

BD DT Relays.jpeg

One of the keys to the success of BEAM summer programs is our faculty and counselors. Faculty are top educators from across the country, including university professors and K-12 teachers. The students are on a first-name basis with their instructors, and it is not uncommon to spend meals talking together about math, college, or even video games.

Read about what it’s like to teach at BEAM.

Photo Aug 09, 11 42 41 AM.jpg

Following the summer, BEAM Discovery completers are sent monthly Challenge Sets and have access to online classes through the Art of Problem Solving. This gives students interesting math to continue to do independently, and also helps inform admissions for the BEAM Pathway Program.  Learn more about the BEAM Pathway Program.