National History Academy High School Residential Program

National History Academy is a four week residential summer experience for rising 10th-12th graders interested in the history, law and government of the United States. Students will spend their summer walking in the footsteps of leaders who helped define and shape the American story. The Academy offers an immersive educational experience that includes historical site visits, Harvard Business School case method discussions, parliamentary debate, guest speakers, and much more. 

What if you had the opportunity, not just to learn American history, but to live it?

Spend your summer walking in the footsteps of leaders who helped define and shape the American story, including Presidents, civil rights leaders, and soldiers who fought for the birth and survival of the nation. See and learn about seminal documents that shaped our history from subject matter experts and master teachers. Get behind-the-scenes access to historic sites no other program can provide.

The Academy offers a unique blend of formal and informal learning with opportunities for first-hand experiences at the nation’s premier historic landmarks in Washington, DC, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. The program explores the extraordinary events and leaders of American history from pre-colonial times to the 21st century with a special emphasis on the century of extraordinary change from 1765 to 1865. This was the period when the idea of America took shape and when this idea survived the trauma of Civil War.

At the same time, the Academy will focus on major themes—everyday life in the American colonies; the principles of liberty and equality embodied in America’s founding documents; the divisive and decisive debate over slavery; the transformation of the national economy through the industrial and transportation revolutions; and the social and cultural impact of the struggle for civil rights.

National History Academy offers an inspiring and engaging learning environment. Each week, you will spend three days visiting our country’s seminal historic sites and three days in the classroom delving deeply into major themes related to those site visits.

You will read primary source documents and engage in rich debate and discussion about significant periods in American history. The Academy utilizes a hybrid of formal and informal learning methods through case discussion, debates, reading texts, watching films and documentaries, and lectures by noted scholars. You will further explore all of this through collaborative learning experiences during the immersive on-site visits.