Girls come from around the country and the world to experience an all-girls’ learning environment and to try out boarding school life. Participants can build a one-, two-, or three-week summer program for themselves around their interests and schedules. They can learn and practice leadership techniques and skills , investigate a mock murder with scientific tools,immerse themselves in the Chinese language, or build their athletic skills as they choose three sports among basketball, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, squash and volleyball, or choose to run cross country.

Sarah Porter founded Miss Porter's School in 1843 in Farmington, Conn. The school, which had 25 students by 1847, grew with the encouragement of a group of Farmington fathers, who wanted the best educations for their daughters. Steadily increasing in national reputation and size, Porter's graduated 62 girls in 1886, many from the Midwest and mid-Atlantic states.

At her school, Sarah Porter emphasized the traditional values she was raised with and the importance of women receiving educations equal to those available to men. As a traditionalist she believed that the school atmosphere should resemble that of a home, and that her pupils should be prepared to head their own households and pass along to their families the values she held so dear, including the importance of service to others.