Projects

For students in Grades 9, 10, and 11, Project Week occurs every January. The winter semester break is intended for students to devote to a project of their choosing. Students participating in a two-week project may do so during the March break. 

During the week, students fan out across and beyond Boston for a wide range of internships and independent projects. They work in labs, nursing homes, hospitals, schools, theaters, newsrooms, political offices, law firms, and any number of corners of the working world. Students can also choose to participate in one of Commonwealth's international exchange trips to complete their Project Week. Alternately, students can also stay right here at Commonwealth, working with their teachers on a variety of projects pertaining to life drawing, computer programming, creative writing, and theater. 

Students find a mentor at an organization of their choosing and will typically spend the week shadowing that individual and exploring opportunities to actively participate. Projects often allow students to play a functional role in an organization and produce concrete results.

Preview a few Project Week adventures in this Commonwealth Magazine feature.

During Project Week, students venture forth into a wide range of professional environments. Students may partake in research while shadowing a university professor, learn the inner workings of small business, or develop new skills in a hobby or craft. 

Some recent project locations and topics include:

• Arlington Animal Clinic
• Boston Children's Hospital: Researching treatments for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
• Boston Health Care for the Homeless
• Carraig Dulra Organic & Permaculture Farm, Ireland
• East Boston Neighborhood Health Center
• Fidelity Investments
• Fiske Center for Archeological Research, UMass Boston
• Flutistry Boston: Instrument crafting
• Green Street Studios: Dance and theatrical swordfighting
• Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
• Lycée Collège Victor Duruy, Paris: Study abroad
• Massachusetts General Hospital: Neurological research
• MIT: Robot and artificial intelligence development
• Mujeres Unidas Avanzando: Teaching English as a Second Language
• Needham Finance Department
• Society for American Baseball Research
• Sperry: Footwear and industrial design
• Suffolk County Probate and Family Court
• Teaching English in Changsha, China
• Water's Edge Farm: Intensive equestrian training and farm work
• Yamato Restaurant

Like most things at Commonwealth, it starts with talking to your faculty advisor. They can guide students, and they know from experience what project work tends to be the most fulfilling. Past project reports can also give students a sense of the possibilities.

Yet, the work does not fall solely to faculty; student are encouraged to take the planning phase seriously and understand the scope of projects. 

One highly effective way to find a successful project is to connect with family contacts, such as aunts, uncles, neighbors, and family friends, or mentors you already have from previous schools or other organizations. Having someone you already know as a mentor often ensures success in a project. 

Just as valuable a strategy, though, is cold-calling professionals that you do not know. Recently, for example, a cellist walked into New England Violins, asked about Project Week, and was able to spend the week learning how to repair instruments. Another student, who was interested in doing math research, emailed and called numerous professors with a pitch, and heard many noes before getting a yes from a Boston University professor.

Parents are encouraged to remind their children of all the above strategies of how to find and complete a successful project. Parents can also utilize their professional and familial networks to connect their children with a mentor. And in many cases, parents themselves can be mentors to other students.

Current Commonwealth parents: please visit the Parent Portal for more detailed information and resources.

Students in grade 12 must complete a project of at least two weeks. Seniors have one week off from classes followed by the two-week spring break to devote to a more ambitious undertaking. The expectation is that more experienced students will take on challenging work in new settings such as a congressional office or the production of a major piece of work, which in many years includes a student-directed play. We encourage seniors to consider using the full three weeks to dedicate to their project, though they may do a two-week project and take one week of vacation. (Learn more about some recent senior projects.)