If you have a nearby college or university you may want to check their summer and/or online programs. My institution just started an online program for high school students who meet certain academic criteria (GPA, ACT score, etc.). Eligible high school students are allowed to take up to two introductory college-level courses per semester (and earn credit transferable to most accredited colleges), so DD is planning to do that over the summer, in between pooping scooping and sport camps. I’m thrilled because fac brats get a special eye-popping deal of $250 per 3-credit course! :D/
@GoatMama , DS is 15. I checked with the shelters but he can only volunteer there with a parent at this age. It seems like at 16, there will be a lot more opportunities. The local summer academic programs we have found which interest DS all overlap the tail end of the 4 weeks at sleep away camp. 
CHICKENS!
@AppleNotFar, I am not familiar with the National Flight Academy summer program, but kids swear by space camp at this NASA center: http://www.spacecamp.com/space/advancedacademy Ages 15-18, $1,099 per week. It may be out of your way though. I’m sure Kennedy Space Center in Florida or the Houston facility have similar offerings.
We are in the same situation here - trying to figure out what to do with a 15yo for the summer.
Another POV: Why not just let your kiddo decide what s/he does or doesn’t want to do over the summer? We never gave a thought to summer vacations as we assumed they were supposed to be “vacations.” Whatever ChoatieKid did or didn’t want to do was fine by us. He informed us just prior to the end of freshman year that he had lined up a film internship (via internships.com) for that summer but, for the rest, he just participated in Scout activities and vegged out. I’ve never understood the need to keep kids busy during downtime. I believe downtime and lots of it is valuable in itself especially for overworked BS kids.
YMMV of course.
(I DO wish he would have taken the summer reading assignment seriously.)
@ChoatieMom DS becomes very nudgy when he has too much veg time. He ends up as a lump playing XBox or on his phone for hours and actually gets less exercise/reading/socializing done then when he is busy. When he is “plugged in” he is less likely to volunteer to help around the house or initiate finding things for himself to do. He becomes miserable and argumentative. Pretty picture, huh?
Edited to add that he is hardly ever like this because we have noticed it and work to prevent it. DS is even aware of it. Also, ds is one of those kids who needs a good hour of exercise (formal or play) a day - makes a world of difference!
Now we have a xbox for the first time, and dd is allowed unlimited playtime with three titles: Just Dance, Kinect Sports Rivals, and Kinect Fitness. This way xbox wouldn’t cause getting less exercise. Now, if I can do something about her phone and Netflix.
You’ve described ChoatieKid to a “T!” I just loved having that “lump” on my couch. 
Umm… Because she claims to “Umm… I have plans on sleeping and catching up on Netflix” and nothing else.
That would be fine with me, @SculptorDad.
@ChoatieMom LOL!
YMMV indeed!
@SculptorDad I hear ya!
Hahaha
Since DH and I both work outside the home we need to plan things ahead of time (DS can’t drive). 12-13 weeks of sitting around is too much. I don’t mind some real down time but not all summer.
Well DC is now signed up for drivers ed. If all goes as planned the kid will be driving and gainfully employed next summer! Just need to make it through this one coming up.
On a different topic, how important are 9th grade grades relative to 10-12 for college admissions?
@AppleNotFar in our experience GPA was viewed as a whole. 9th grade is equal to all others from college admissions point of view & merit scholarships. If growth is shown over their time in BS it can make for a great essay. 12th grade spring term are less important as they are already admitted. Although admission offers can be revoked if things go off the rails.
thanks @vegas1 While grades so far aren’t bad, we had kind of hoped for a little better. We knew what DC had signed up for with this BS adventure but we’re kind of missing the higher grades from middle school.
All kids will be missing the higher grades from MS. Most BS’s do not have the rampant grade inflation that exists at the LPS (as seen on the college chance threads for anyone brave enough to go there), and colleges know that.
Summer:
DC #1-- Did not take Chem this year. Taking this Summer. Six weeks, 5 hours a day. DC’s choice!!! Then, driving hours and getting license. Also suggested to create a robotics camp with equally super-nerd friend for neighborhood grunions in August. We’ll see how that goes 
Needs a job*
DC #2-- Camp counselor for three local day camps across three weeks. One biomedical camp at local university, and four-day rowing camp. The latter ate up our entire budget: $1100 for four PRECIOUS days on the murky and cool bay. YIKES.
*If anyone has any other suggestions on entrepreneurial, short-term gigs for pocket change, please post them!
For new parents: It may not happen freshman year. ChoatieKid sailed through third form, no change in grade excellence. He hit a wall at the beginning of sophomore year when the bar was much higher and he thought he could continue to sail. Rude awakening. Adjustments were made. He recovered.
Accept that there will be no grade inflation at BS, no do-overs, no extra credit, no test corrections, none of the things that your student may have relied on in the past to finesse grades. BS is a straight-scale, “you get what you get and you don’t make a fit” paradigm. Now, before ten CC regulars jump on me and say that “at their school” kids do get extra credit, grade curves etc., let me say that some of these things do occur some of the time and under some circumstances but, in the main, they are not part of the normal BS rubric. Not everyone gets a prize. The way a student makes up for an underwhelming grade is on the next try, not remediating the previous one. The schools are trying to instill grit and resilience by implementing honest measurements, kind of like in real life. 
THIS is what causes a lot of the initial shock. That, and a kid finding himself in a fairly homogenous ability pool. If most kids entered the school as all-A students, that becomes the norm, not the exception, and BS WILL normalize that: 50% of those excelling students will be at the bottom of the class, right?
So, it’s good to adjust your expectations before that first grade report. I will come back after first semester 2017 to reassure those of you who are lamenting grades that all is not lost. Your student will hit his/her stride sooner or later, and the matriculation list at your school is there to assure you that your student, even the bottom 50%, will go on to a fine college and become a productive member of society. Not to worry.
“All kids will be missing the higher grades from MS”
I would say this is true for day school students and (high schieving?) public school students too! There is just a big adjustment between MS expectations and HS expectations!