National History Academy is a four-week residential summer program for rising high school 10th, 11th and 12th grade students, held in Middleburg, Virginia. Each July, students come together to explore American history through immersive, hands-on learning experiences that take them to key historical sites. With a unique blend of classroom discussions and travel-based education, the program offers students a deeper understanding of history and its relevance to the present and future.
The Academy offers a life-changing experience for high school students with an interest in the history, law and government of the United States of America
National History Academy offers an inspiring and engaging learning environment. Each week, you will spend three days visiting our country’s seminal historic sites and three days in the classroom delving deeply into major themes related to those site visits.
The Academy utilizes a hybrid of formal and informal learning methods through case discussion, debates, reading texts, watching films and documentaries, and lectures by noted scholars. You will further explore all of this through collaborative learning experiences during the immersive on-site visits.
Comprehensive Curriculum
Our curriculum is designed to challenge you to participate and interact with your fellow students and the historical sites we visit. The experiential curriculum is built around four components: (1) Case Method Institute history cases; (2) parliamentary debates; (3) a speaker series and (4) visits to the defining sites of American history.
Watch what our students have to say about this unique learning approach here.
The whole Academy experience is designed to produce three learning outcomes:
To understand the foundations of American democracy
To deepen the appreciation and understanding of the American experience
To encourage civic engagement and citizenry