Frequently asked questions

Our national Summer Search website is a great place to learn more about all the elements of our organization and how we're supporting your child. Go to www.summersearch.org (http://www.summersearch.org)to learn more! You can also check out our new Bay Area High School Program website (https://baoperations.wixsite.com/high-school-program)where you can learn info that's specific to our Bay Area students. For even more info, you can watch this brief video and hear directly from Summer Searchers about their experience with us! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-SG_Xy1nsI

The scholarship covers the Summer Experience tuition, travel to/from the summer experience, and most equipment. Every student receives a list of what to bring on their trip and there will be some smaller items for them to purchase, most of which are things they likely have at home. All of the mentoring, college and post-secondary advising, and ongoing support is part of their participation in the program and does not cost anything. We also ask families to provide spending money for their child's summer experience – this is usually around $20-$50 for their first summer and $150-$300 for their second summer (mainly for ID, passport or baggage fees if flying).

Each summer, your child fills out a survey telling us their preferences and program choices for this summer. Using that information, we’ll match them with the best fit program and send them all the information about it. We ask students and families to review the summer program information, make sure the dates work for your summer schedule, and share any questions with your child's mentor.

Summer Search does not operate the summer experiences directly. Instead, we partner closely with the best professionals in the field who are specifically trained to lead summer programs for youth. We will give you and your child information about the program they will attend and be available to answer all your questions about it.

Yes! One of our program partners, Adventure Risk Challenge (ARC), had the opportunity to chat with family members to learn about how they felt about their child participating in their program. You can watch the video below to hear from family members! This is a great example of one of our program partners and how thoughtful and thorough we are in selecting our partners. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_QxZHi7pN0

Many of our sophomore summer programs are in California, but a couple are in Colorado or New Mexico. Junior summer programs can be domestic or international, depending on the experience your child participates in. Domestic summer programs take place in California and in the East Coast. International programs take place in Ecuador, Dominican Republic or Costa Rica. Most of our programs are 2-3 weeks long, but can be shorter or longer. All of the specifics will be sent to your child after they have enrolled in the program and been placed into a summer experience.

As much as we would love to, your child’s mentor won’t be traveling with them on their summer experience. Their trip may include other Summer Searchers from the Bay Area or our other sites, and/or youth from across the country. There will also be trained staff available for each program. For outdoor trips, there will be at least two trip leaders who are trained in outdoor safety and wilderness survival. Many groups start as strangers and end feeling like a family, staying connected months or even years later.

For their sophomore trip: You will be able to talk to your child while they are on route to their program and when their program is finished, but not during the trip. There are a couple of reasons for this: 1) programs believe that this enables them to build stronger connections on their trip, and 2) most of our trips will be out of cell phone service, but instructors have satellite phones in case of emergency. You will be able to contact Summer Search 24 hours a day, seven days a week during the summer months, or contact your child’s mentor during office hours if you have questions or concerns. On their junior trip: Contact with your child will depend on whether they are participating in a program that is domestic or international. • If your child is staying within the United States, they will have access to their phones and be able to stay connected to you throughout the entire program. • If your child is traveling internationally, they will be able to contact you while they're traveling to and from their destination. Contact will be a little limited during their program; however, they will have access to internet cafes where they can call or send emails. Participants will also be writing a daily blog so you can read about what they're doing!

We want you to feel supported while your child is on their summer experience. We make this possible in two ways: 1) Summer Search has a 24-hour hotline during the summer that your family can use to call us to get information about you and how you are doing, if needed. We can then reach out to the program partner for any updates. We assume that “no news is good news” so if the program doesn’t contact us, that means everything is going according to plan. 2) In the unusual event that contact is needed, every program partner will always have a satellite phone or cell phones that can be used if there is an emergency. So, if there is an emergency on the trip or in your family, we can work with the program and your family to make sure a connection can happen and take the needed steps.