Intro to TAG

In 1985, Lucia Mayerson–David founded the Talented and Gifted (TAG) Latino Program, a youth program at UMass Boston that serves students from grade 7 to 12. Prior to her death in 2011, Mayerson-David had a goal of increasing retention and graduation rates of Latino students in exam schools. When first initiated, TAG was a small summer program that consisted of only 60 students that met over the course of 3 weeks. Since then, the program has expanded its services, and now works as a year-round program serving more than 300 students. The summer portion of the program has been nationally recognized as a “Best Practice Model” for English Language Learners (ELL), the program’s primary target.

TAG has strong partnerships with Boston International High School, Boston Latin Academy, Boston Latin School, Brighton High School, Burke High School, English High School, and the John D. O’Bryant School of Math and Science. After students complete the program they are guaranteed admission to UMass Boston, which gives them the opportunity for post-secondary education.

This summer marks the 28th year of service to education for TAG. For five weeks, from July 2nd to August 2nd, 300 students will gather at UMass Boston to prepare for the following school year. The classes are taught by highly trained and diverse teachers, who are supported by teaching assistants, most of whom are TAG alumni. The extensive summer program is targeted at ELL students, to help them learn English, mitigate summer learning loss, and better compete against privileged students. Also, students can also receive summer school credit in math and English.