The School-Year Mentorship Program: one real project, built over six months.
Your child picks one project they care about and builds it into a real company, with a mentor checking in every week.
Six months, October to March · weekly hybrid check-ins
One project, explored deeply, instead of ten activities.
A real product, live
Built by your child with AI tools: the design, the user interviews, the pricing. One link shows it to anyone.
A standout college application
Six months of real users, real numbers and real decisions: the material essays and interviews are made of.
Real competitions
As the project climbs the ladder, we aim it at competitions worth winning.
Your child does the work. A mentor checks in every week.
Teams of one to four, or solo. Each team gets a 25-minute check-in every week, in person or online.
25 min per team
set the next goal
Your child works directly with Phillip and with guest mentors from Harvard, MIT, McKinsey and other leading institutions. Families see the work at the end of each term.
Five milestones, from launch to champion.
Every company climbs at its own speed. The ladder is the same for everyone.
A real product, live at a URL.
100 real users. Strangers, not friends.
Real money, for real work.
1,000 users, press, or a competition final.
Win a national competition, or run a real registered company.
Every company starts with something already built.
Already an Arena alum? Join directly. Your mentors pick up where your intensive left off.
New to Arena? Start with a starter intensive over the November long weekend, then step straight into the weekly check-ins.
The program grew out of Arena's student cohorts, whose alumni asked to keep going. See the results →
Logistics and questions.
My child has a busy schedule already. Does this fit?
The weekly check-in is 25 minutes, and the written updates take a few minutes. It's built to sit alongside exams, sports and everything else.
Does my child need a team, or can they go solo?
Either works. Teams of up to four are encouraged, and a solo founder runs a real company too. Students can regroup at the end of a term.
What if we miss a session or two?
Milestones are judged by proof, not attendance. A missed week doesn't reset the ladder; the next check-in just covers more.
Does this count for IB CAS hours?
A service-oriented project can qualify. Talk to your IB coordinator, and we're glad to help document the work.