Celebrating 50 Years of Curiosity

Yearbook snapshot

A blast from the past

We have partnered with Advantage Archives to digitize our yearbooks! Check out the online platform to search for your enrollment year. 

Please note: we are missing a few years. If you have a copy of your yearbook from a year that is not listed, please send us an email at summer@explo.org.

Yearbook Archive
Wellesley

Join the celebration

COMING SOON

Throughout the year, we will be hosting virtual events to encourage alumni to reconnect. From featured speakers and presenters to small group mixers, we would love to have you join us at an event! See old friends and meet new interesting, curious people from the EXPLO community.

The Next 50 Years

For nearly 50 years, EXPLO has been known as a summer program — a place where students discover what sparks their curiosity and, for a few weeks, get to try on who they might become. That work continues, and it remains at our core. But five decades of watching students take risks, engage directly with experience, and reflect on what they've discovered has shown us exactly what this kind of learning can do for a young person. Now, as we look to our next 50 years, we want to bring that same impact to a far wider group of students and educators.

We're beginning to extend our approach to learning beyond our summer campus, working directly with schools to bring innovative and experiential learning into everyday classrooms and into how schools develop the leaders who run them.

We have already started to scale our reach and impact into schools in the following ways:

At Applewild School in Massachusetts, we've trained a small group of teachers to deliver our courses directly, and this year we're expanding our reach by training all middle-grade teachers on EXPLO's Collaborative Discussion Model

We’re partnering with a regional association for independent schools to build leadership and capability development programs for cohorts of school leaders, grounded in the concepts of experiential learning

In Delaware, we're working with Odyssey Charter School to redesign their career pathways in digital media and computer science around hands-on, community-connected learning

In New Hampshire, Seabrook Middle School is piloting our Forensic Science and Entrepreneurship courses as new electives for its 8th graders

These are early steps, but they point to something bigger: a future where far more students and educators get to experience the kind of learning our alumni know so well — the kind that sparks something and stays with you.

1-Apr-07-2026-04-11-00-9463-PM
"Being from a small rural community, we are not often privileged to offerings like the Exploration Program. We were certain that our daughter had the self-confidence and academic knowledge to fit into the program but what surprised us the most is the overall general knowledge she gained from the international students – just being side by side with them."
EXPLO Parent
1-Apr-29-2026-05-44-03-0831-PM
"EXPLO is an ever-present example to our students that the whole world is not full of hatred and anger. This world that we've made here is built with love and joy. And we get to show that love and joy to our students every day."
EXPLO Staffer
5-Apr-29-2026-05-42-52-6900-PM
"The students who make the conscious decision to attend EXPLO are the type of people who will invent the next Facebook, put humans on Mars, or become the leader of their country. Not only are these people intellectually curious and motivated, they have the interpersonal skills to work with each other to accomplish most anything."
EXPLO Parent
7-Feb-27-2026-04-10-09-7676-PM
"If it hadn't been for EXPLO I might have lost my voice in the crowd... I'm happy that such a program existed for students who were like me. Thanks, EXPLO, for giving me my voice."
EXPLO Alum
1-Apr-29-2026-05-47-54-2048-PM
"First, let me express our gratitude for this life changing experience for Violet. We were not sure how she would react to living away from home and not having anyone familiar. Well, she seemed to do just fine! We sent off a little girl who was unsure of herself and she returned a total pre-teen gleaming with a higher self-esteem. Thank you to all who helped Violet grow, discover new interests and just having fun too. "
EXPLO Parent
2-Feb-19-2026-03-20-43-5666-PM
"EXPLO, what was EXPLO? EXPLO was a driving force for change; it took a hammer and smashed who I was on the outside. And then it let the inner beauty seep out, engulfing me in someone that tried to make the best of what he had. It made me into someone that could enjoy life, without sacrificing passion or academics. It made me stronger. It made me feel safe to be me."
EXPLO Alum
4-Nov-25-2025-07-20-44-0129-PM
"I think the most fun aspect of EXPLO is just being constantly inspired. Not only by my fellow staff but also by the kids. I feel like I'm being mentored, pushed, and pulled in so many different, fantastic ways by so many different people."
EXPLO Staffer
6
"EXPLO is a place where my son's uniqueness is celebrated; where he can explore his varied interests without interference from parents and discover what truly makes him tick; where his "best friends" are from all over the world instead of from right next door; and a place where he matures more in three weeks than he does in an entire school year at home."
EXPLO Parent

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