Please reach out to us if you cannot find an answer to your question.
Great question! It means: Project Contemporary Competitiveness Advanced Studies Program. Okay, that is just a bunch of words, right? Well they do have a deeper meaning. This is quoted from PCC Alumni James Semple, "it all started in 1967 when the superintendent of Brockton public schools, Edwin Nelson, boasted to the superintendent of Abington public schools John McGovern that Brockton was buying school supplies (pencils, paper, mimeograph fluid, etc) at much cheaper prices than Abington because Brockton, with its total student population of roughly 17,000 could by these things in bulk. John McGovern saw that this price difference put Abington at a Competitive disadvantage. John McGovern looked for a Contemporary way to Compete with Edwin Nelson's low, bulk rate, prices. So, John McGovern pulled together 12-14 (depending on how and when you count) small local school districts and formed Project Contemporary Competitiveness so that these school systems could pool their orders for school supplies and get the lower bulk rate prices. Each superintendent was made a board member of P.C.C. and John McGovern was the Chairman of the Board. And that's it! PCC was up and running, just buying school supplies, nothing more. The Advanced Studies Program was not even thought of for the first year, 1967. Until John McGovern was made aware of Title III of Federal Public Law 89-10 which made grant money available for supplementary education and socialization of gifted youth. This is something John McGovern always wanted to do. John McGovern knew if he applied for a portion of the grant as the Superintendent of Abington Schools, he'd most likely get nothing. However, if he applied as the Chairman of the Board of Project Contemporary Competitiveness with a total student population of 33,000 then he'd have a much better shot. He felt it was very serendipitous that Mr. Nelson's boast of the price of pencils had put Mr. McGovern in a position to get this grant. Mr. McGovern wrote the application for the grant, got it, The Advanced Studies Program commenced in the summer of 1968 and the rest, as they say, is history!"
At this time PCC is following the guidelines of the Massachusetts Department of Education. Vaccines are encouraged but not mandatory. Our policy will be something we go over at the orientation closer towards the summer program!
Message, call, email us! If there is an opening available you can sign up no problem! To be safe, please sign up as early as you can BUT if we can fit another student into our amazing program, we don't want them to miss out! Let us know ASAP!
At PCC we want all students to be satisfied with their class choices. We do have a small window of time at the beginning of the program where it is similar to a college Add/Drop period. They can see the lead teacher Mr. Tressel or one of the RA’s or even their proctor to change the class. They will have to give a reason. We want to keep the changes to a minimum but if students are unhappy we will work it out!
You can call the front office of their dorm where we have a phone message board and they can call you back. If it is an emergency, you would call the male or female RA of the building and we can relay the message in a more timely manner. We also have phones at both front desks, they are able to use them if they want to contact you when they are in the building.
In district means that the school system in which your student attends is a paying member of our program. They subsidizes a portion of the summer rate and help make decisions on behalf of the program. Out of district just means that your school does not pay into the program. Both in district and out of district students are welcomed to apply! We accept anyone who wants to commit to our program. The fee if you are out of district is $600.
TOWNS IN DISTRICT INCLUDE:
Abington, Acushnet, Avon, Berkley, Bridgewater-Raynham Regional District,
Bristol-Plymouth Voc. Tech., Dighton-Rehoboth Regional School District, Easton, East Bridgewater, Freetown-Lakeville Regional School District, Middleboro, Norton, Old Rochester Regional School District, Rockland, South Shore Voc. Tech. & West Bridgewater
Check it out on this part of our website: https://pccasp.org/make-a-payment
We do not take ANY roommate requests. There are a few reasons for this, in all our years we have found that the “honeymoon” phase of living together usually lasts the entirety of the program. If that is not the case, our proctor staff are highly trained to make any situation work! You only spend a little time in your room, mostly just to sleep. Fortunately, in many cases, roommates become friends for a lifetime!
We do not take any requests for air conditioners in rooms. We find that if students bring a box fan and their roommate(s) have one, the room is pretty cool! If there is a necessity for one due to a medical need, please contact us using the messaging tool. There are very few exceptions we make to this rule.
We encourage parents to drop off mail and care packages to their students instead of dropping by to visit. If you feel like you need time together, we always recommend you dismiss them for an hour or two, go to ice cream or lunch and come back!
On our website, /pccasp.org/daily-schedule!
Yes, students should bring about $10 each week. Most weeks, students have hall parties that cost about 5 dollars each. Also, the buildings have vending machines if they want to check them out! Sometimes, our rec events are a walk to Starbucks, it is not mandatory to go but it is fun and good exercise! If you have any financial concerns about hall parties, please contact your building RA or the program director!
If you would like to dismiss your student, you can write a note at the beginning of the week and drop it off at the front desk. If you want to pick them up out of the blue, we ask you to try to pick them up during these times, although you as the parent can pick them up whenever, it is just easier for our staff! 8AM-2PM. The other times are more challenging due to rec and the whole program at night time activities. If you dismiss your student please bring them back during anytime 8AM-5PM, after that you will need to contact the building RA. We allow most exceptions to these times as long as we know!
We want your child to be at PCC but we completely understand they have other commitments! Just follow our above dismissal policies and times! And GO TEAM!
This can happen especially if this is the first time away from home. First and foremost, PLEASE contact your building’s RA if your child is homesick, do not work in isolation. A lot of students feel some sort of homesickness and it is completely normal. We have so many ways of helping your student acclimate to the program successfully if we work as a team! We want to make sure students feel comfortable and we will do whatever we can to make a plan that is right for the entire family! We help so many students with this hurdle, once the program clicks with them they have a great time and can sometimes even help students in future years! Here is a great link that is helpful, it is for summer camps and it is transferable advice: www.acacamps.org/press-room/how-to-choose-camp/homesickness
We have a very well trained and dedicated staff to help with whatever the conflict is, contact your building RA and we can work as a team to resolve it! We want all our students to be happy and healthy at the program and we can be pretty great problem solvers at PCC! We love helping our students!
We have a 24 hour nurse that they can access at all times. The nurse will call home if they are concerned and sometimes they will need to be dismissed to recover at home or to see a doctor. It happens, we will treat each student like our own and make sure they are ok!
If it is a toothbrush or something small, let our RAs’ know and we can probably help! If it is anything else, feel free to drop it off as a package at the front desk of their building, our desk is operated from 7AM-9PM!
NO! There is no homework for PCC Classes! We want students to be able to enjoy their time outside of class having fun with friends!
Yes! We may have to adjust the school records form to fit your needs but all students no matter their academic background is eligible for a Summer of A LIFETIME! Contact us so we can make you accommodations that will work!
At PCC, we accept all students no matter how they identify! If you would like to reach out to our administration by email to set up a call we would be happy to hear from you so as to best understand your student and make them as comfortable as we can for the summer!
These days COVID is common, we will be updating our COVID guidelines closer to the summer when we know about the transmission rate in the state and guidelines from the department of education in Massachusetts. Please contact us if you would like to hear what we did last summer. We are unsure if that is what we will do next summer but it allowed for limited transmission and for students to take part in as much of PCC as possible during the 4 weeks!
Have a question we didn’t answer here? Ask below! We want to be as transparent and open as possible as we know you are sending your children to attend our amazing program. We want each and every student treated with dignity, respect and care!