[ESP Announcements] Register for Spark 2026 at MIT!

[Marvin Mao]

TL;DR: Registration is open for Spark 2026, happening in-personon MIT campus on the weekend of March 14–15! Submit your class preferences <https://esp.mit.edu/learn26>by Sunday, March 1.


Hi ESP students and parents! We’re excited to announce that registration is now open for Spark 2026!


Spark is a two-day learning extravaganza, open to students in grades 7 through 10. Taught by MIT students and community members, Spark this year features nearly 100 classes including:


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    CoCo: Build Multiplayer Scratch Games, Collaborative Stories, Animations

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    Suturing Like a Surgeon

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    Glow Lab: The Science of Bioluminescence

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    History of Animation in Film! :)

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    Berry Scientific: DNA Extraction Lab

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    Predictably Irrational: A Crash Course in Human Weirdness

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    Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream!

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    Mathematical Matchmaking


and many, many more <https://esp.mit.edu/spark2026catalog>! Join us to learn just about anything for the weekend at MIT!


Registration

The deadline to register is 11:59PM EST on Sunday, March 1. Register now on our website <https://esp.mit.edu/learn26>!


If you want a full schedule (maximum learning!), we recommend ranking at least 2 classesand starring at least 5 classes per time block. Star the classes you’re interested in, and rank the classes you’d really like to be in.All rankings and stars will be entered into the lottery. The lottery is notfirst-come first-serve; all students who register before the deadline will be considered equally. After you get your initial schedule (a few days after March 1), you will be able to modify it during a first-come first-serve registration phase.


Cost and Waivers

Payment for Spark will open after lottery results are released; you will have from March 4th to 10th to pay via credit card online (and you can pay or request financial aid in person afterwards). Attending Spark costs $70, but we offer generous financial aidand we strongly encourage anyone who needs it to request aid. Cost should NOT prevent you from coming to our programs. If you think you or your parents would have trouble paying to attend, please fill out the financial aid application when you sign up for a program.


In order to attend Spark, both students and their parents must fill out a two-part waiver. The form is available at https://esp.mit.edu/sparksw <https://esp.mit.edu/sparksw>. After the parent signs the waiver, the student will be emailed a link to sign their part as well, which MUST be completed.


Hotels

We have arranged a discounted hotel rate at Le Meridien Cambridge (a 10-minute walk from campus) for Spark 2026. The booking deadline for the discounted rate of $179/night is Fri 2/20; book usingthis link <https://www.marriott.com/event-reservations/reservation-link.mi?id=1770747184879&key=GRP&app=resvlink>. We are also in talks with other hotels; visit our website <https://esp.mit.edu/learn/Spark/hotels.html>for the latest info.

Other Logistics

We will send emails to Spark students in the weeks leading up to Spark, so make sure you regularly check the email addressthat you registered with and make sure our emails do not go to spam.


If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to email spark at mit.edu <mailto:spark at mit.edu>. Keep up withall things ESP by following our Instagram account at @mit_esp. Happy registering, and we hope to see you at Spark 2026!


Best,

Marvin and Justin

Spark 2026 Directors

MIT Educational Studies Program


P.S. If you’re interested in a multi-weekend program instead, registration for HSSP <https://esp.mit.edu/learn/HSSP/index.html?src=hssp-spk-ann>closes tonight!


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