BY DESIGN is featured in
Architect Magazine, September 2010.

Pre-college summer enrichment programs for high school students

Wonderworks is a non-profit organization that provides Houston-area high school students with pre-college learning experiences in arts, literature and media. By exploring challenging subject matter and techniques in a college setting with college-level instructors, students acquire skills, information, outlooks and connections that significantly expand their cultural and academic horizons. In the process, they also become better-qualified college applicants and better equipped to succeed in undergraduate studies.

Wonderworks was formed in 2004 by a group of concerned university and secondary school educators and parents who saw a need to offer students of special promise and ability age-appropriate but sophisticated extra-curricular learning opportunities to increase cultural literacy and stimulate creative development. Wonderworks initially functioned under the umbrella of the Cultural Arts Council of Houston/Harris County, but since June 2005 has operated as a freestanding 501 (c) (3) organization under the IRS code.

Wonderworks courses and summer workshops are held on the central campus of the University of Houston, which is accessible by bus and light rail for students commuting from within the Metropolitan Transit Authority service area. These programs are supported in part by Houston Endowment Inc., The Brown Foundation, the Architecture Center Houston Foundation and the Texas Film Commission, whose generosity helps keep tuition affordable and underwrites scholarships in the form of tuition waivers for students who need them. No qualified student is prevented from participating in any of the Wonderworks summer programs because of inability to pay tuition.

Admission to all programs is competitive and based on school grades, supplemented by standardized test scores if available (PSAT, SAT, and/or Stanford) and teacher/counselor recommendations. Students who will be entering the 11th or 12th grade the following fall, or who will have just graduated from high school before the summer begins, are eligible to apply. All admission decisions are made on a need-blind basis. Scholarships in the form of tuition waivers are available only to students who demonstrate need. Students who receive a federally-subsidized free lunch at school and/or who are enrolled in the State of Texas Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) automatically qualify for tuition waivers, as do students whose family income falls within 400 percent of the federally-defined poverty level (http://aspe.hhs.gov/POVERTY/10poverty.shtml).

Courses and workshops carry neither high school nor college credit. Regular attendance and satisfactory participation are expected of all students.

For more information: info@wonderworkshouston.org