Congratulations, 8th Graders!

This month, BEAM students found out where they will be attending high school.  We are pleased to announce that, so far, 51% of our 8th graders will be attending Tier One high schools and 56% will be attending either Tier One or Tier Two high schools. At this point, 67% will be attending "trusted" schools, which meet BEAM's minimum standards for college preparation. We say "at this point" because every year a few students are under-matched in the process. We are currently working with students who were not admitted to high schools that meet our standards to make sure that they can navigate the appeals process and find a good fit for the next four years.

BEAM students were admitted to: 

• Bard High School Early College (15)

• The Beacon School (4)

• Brooklyn Latin (4)

• Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics (4)

• Manhattan/Hunter Science High School (4)

• Brooklyn Tech (3)

• The Laboratory School for Finance and Technology (3)

• NEST+m (3)

• University Heights High School (3)

• Benjamin Banneker Academy (2)

• Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts (2)

• Hostos-Lincoln Academy of Science (2)

• Millennium Brooklyn High School (2)

• NYC Museum School (2)

• Baccalaureate School for Global Education

• Bronx Science

• Midwood High School

• Millennium High School

• NYC iSchool

• NYC Lab School for Collaborative Studies

• Stuyvesant

• Central Park East High School

• East Side Community School

• Bedford Academy

• Collegiate Institute For Math And Science

• High School for Health Professions and Human Services

• Urban Assembly NY Harbor School

Aamirah, Brooklyn Tech

Ahmed, University Heights

Kathy, Brooklyn Latin

Ethan, Bard High School Early College

““At first I was overwhelmed and confused but BEAM gave me good advice and I ended up getting into my first choice school!””

— Ethan, 8th Grade

These 79 8th graders join 300+ BEAM students already in high school. We're so proud of you all!

New Names, Same Great Programs!

At BEAM Discovery 2018, two students work together to solve a math problem.

Here at BEAM we are incredibly excited for the new year! We are already diving into hiring our summer staff and admissions for our summer programs. We anticipate many highs and lows as waves of college and high school acceptances for our current BEAM students roll in. As BEAM braces for all the fresh and familiar that the new year is bound to bring, this seems like the perfect time to debut our programs’ shiny new names. Throughout the fall of 2018, BEAM staff spent some time carefully thinking about how to update our program names to make sure they truly showcase what our programs are about. After much thought, we are excited to announce our new program titles.

Our summer program after 6th grade, formerly BEAM 6, will now be known as BEAM Discovery. We’ve made an even bigger change to our other program, BEAM 7. Recognizing that we now support students from 7th grade through college, we’ve renamed it the BEAM Pathway Program, which comprises the summer program and all that comes beyond. The idea behind these new names is that first you discover BEAM, then you walk down the pathway with us, which culminates in college graduation! There are many steps in the BEAM Pathway Program, each with its own name: BEAM Summer Away (the residential summer program), BEAM 8th Grade Support, BEAM HS Support, BEAM College Prep, and BEAM College Support.

Of course, being our usual nerdy selves, we had to throw around some rather mathy name suggestions before we settled on this sensible line up. While we ended up choosing names that are a little more practical and prosaic, we felt these whimsical, mathematical suggestions deserved an honorable mention as runners-up:

• 7th Grade Summer Program: BEAM Axiom

• 8th Grade Saturdays: BEAM Hypothesis

• 9th-10th Grade Saturdays: BEAM Conjecture

• 11th-12th Grade Saturdays: BEAM Infinity

• College Support: BEAM Omega

As fun as these names were, we wanted to make sure that our new names clearly conveyed what each step of our pathway is really about. We believe we have captured each BEAM program with the name we have chosen, and we are excited to fully transition to using our up-to-date names here in 2019!

Students at BEAM Summer Away 2018 explore a waterfall together!

Welcome to BEAM 6 2017

Week 1: Start of Something New

The summer is in full swing, but BEAM is just getting started. So far students have been assorted into one of two sets, either Calderón or Granville, and begun taking classes in Logical Reasoning, Math Fundamentals, Applied Math, and Math Team Strategies.

Faculty member David assists Justin, Jose, and Conaré during Open Math Time. 

Some students are excited about taking their first class on computer programing, while others are asking hard hitting questions about force and relativity in their Space class.

"Give me more challenging problems" -Lilly (Calderón) proudly displaying her decorated binder

Jason, Brianna, Messiah, and Mohammad are enjoying an exciting game of Kickball. 

Open Math Time (OMT) gave everyone a chance to work on problem sets in groups or ask for assistance from the Teaching Assistants.

Nicole, Maryam, and Aamirah working during OMT

Last week many students have attempted this week's challenge problem during their OMT. Ten students have already completed the Challenge Problem. Students are discovering they have a lot in common with kids from both sets during their daily and weekly activity times.

"End of the Year" BEAM Spring Party 2017

Each year, BEAM invites all of their alumni to come together and celebrate the end of a successful school year. It's always great to see our alumni, play board games with them, and celebrate their accomplishments!

This year we added some cool stuff to our Spring partying! We had the return of the photo booth, some fun math puzzles (with prizes for those who completed them), a modular origami station, food including amazing Jollof rice made by Chuka's mother, and some piano playing. 

Modular Origami

Board Games

Photo Booth

Math puzzles

We even had time to show off some of our talents. Pictured here is Mariam (8th grader) singing and Laura (BEAM staff member) playing the piano. Needless to say, we had an amazing time!

BEAM 6 Family Lunch

This past Saturday, April 29th, our new BEAM 6 students and their families attended our Family Welcome Lunch to learn more about the program. Our BEAM 6 alumni joined us to talk to families about what it's really like to be a BEAM 6 student. Kai, Lismary, Maryam, Storm and Thays talked about why they chose to come to BEAM and gave our future BEAM 6ers some GREAT advice! Read more from our experts! 

question: Why did you decide to come to beam?

“Math was too simple in my school. I wanted something to challenge me.”

— Storm, 7th grade

“I came to BEAM to learn advanced math because my school didn’t provide it.”

— Kai, 7th grade

Question: What was your favorite part of beam?

“It was great to be in a community with other students that love math too. I’ve always loved math but was never challenged. ”

— Lismary, 7th grade

“In my school it is rare to like math. BEAM 6 allowed me to meet people that also liked math and be in a community of dedicated people.
You want students to have all the possibilities and BEAM did that for me.”

— Thays, 7th grade

question: How is 7th grade like, After having finished beam?

“I take a regents math class and I use what I learned in BEAM 6 to answer difficult questions. ”

— Maryam, 7th grade

“Going back to my class was easy, but I also learned how to approach problems differently”

— Kai, 7th grade

Welcome 6th graders! We are so excited to spend our summer with you. 

Welcome extern Janaya to the BEAM team!

It is 2017! And here at BEAM we have started the new year with a new addition to our team. Janaya Shelly joins us as an extern (a shorter version of an internship) from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT – our very own Dan Z’s alma matter). Janaya will be with BEAM for the month of January working on a project to create a database of good-fit colleges specifically catered to BEAM students.

More about Janaya:

Janaya is currently a sophomore at MIT majoring in Biology and minoring in Chemistry. She was born and raised in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania and attended public schools all throughout her adolescence. She knew she wanted to be a doctor since she was 11 and is interested in pursuing an M.D/Ph.D. (two doctoral degrees in the medical field). Her dream is to run clinical trials for anti-cancer therapeutic drugs and be the head of a laboratory.

“MIT is hard. MIT is intense. But the people are great.”

Janaya’s journey to MIT:

Janaya attended public high school in Lehigh Valley. She was very active in her community and was involved in many clubs and sports. She volunteered, took AP classes and college courses. Janaya applied early action to MIT. She applied to 20 colleges and universities! But MIT was her number one choice. Janaya believes that MIT has the resources to help her succeed and attain her goals of becoming a doctor.

Why BEAM?

While Janaya looked through her MIT online database that contained a plethora of possible externships she could apply to, BEAM stood out to her. What BEAM aims to accomplish is very similar to what Janaya does with her free time. Janaya tutors and mentors low-income students who are academically talented (in all subjects). She’s the co-founder of a start-up called “Lean On Me,” which is a dedicated volunteer organization designed to give college students a non-judgemental space to text-in and share their experiences. Janaya is also an activist who values doing things that are beneficial to her community. She values working with underserved populations of low-income backgrounds to assist in “bringing up the next generation of influential people who are going to make a difference.” Though Janaya joins the BEAM team for a month, she will be a huge asset for everyone at BEAM!