Entrepreneurship Program & Lab

Upper School Program Structure

Level 1: Foundations of Entrepreneurship

Level 1 is designed to immerse students in the core concepts and skills of entrepreneurship while cultivating the habits of mind that set innovators apart. Students begin by learning how entrepreneurs see the world: spotting opportunities, assessing risks, and turning abstract ideas into actionable plans. Along the way, they learn that a business is not just a clever idea or a logo—customers are essential, as is a solid model and a clear way to create value.

The most powerful moments come when students move from talking to making. During the final sprint, they turn an idea into something testable, and the question shifts from whether they believe in the idea to whether anyone else can see what they see. As one student reflected, "I think it helped me realize how real the possibilities of this course are, and how if we really put our minds to it, we can achieve creating a real business."

The curriculum is organized into eight major units:

• Entrepreneurship & Business Foundations: Understanding the entrepreneurial mindset, business models, and roles within an organization.
• Building a Personal Brand: Developing a unique identity, leveraging strengths, and communicating value.
• Creative Problem Solving: Generating and refining ideas using structured frameworks.
• Customer-Centric Design Thinking—creating solutions grounded in empathy and real customer needs.
• Financial Management: Mastering the basics of budgeting, pricing, and revenue models.
• Leadership & Durable Skills: Learning teamwork, adaptability, and conflict resolution.
• Marketing & Sales: Understanding markets, crafting messages, and persuading audiences.
• Project Management: Setting goals, managing time, and delivering results.

Through simulations, case studies, and small-scale projects, students begin building a toolkit they'll use throughout the program. By year's end, each student has developed a small business concept and tested it with a target audience

Levels 2 and 3: The Incubator

In Levels 2 and 3, the work grows more rigorous as abstract ideas transition into reality. Students design MVPs, test their assumptions with real users, and present their projects to mentors who offer candid critiques rather than polite nods. Both levels share many of the same experiences, but they represent different stages in the same journey.

For Level 2 students, the year marks the transition from learning the language of entrepreneurship to practicing the discipline of it. They take an idea and make it concrete enough to test—and learn that people don't always respond the way you hope. A product that makes sense in your head may confuse a customer. A pitch that sounds strong in rehearsal may fall flat in front of an investor. That friction is where the learning happens. As one student put it, "Making an MVP and getting feedback was probably the most valuable because it made everything feel real and showed me how business actually works." It's the shift from school exercise to applied learning—students actively learning how to respond when the answer changes.

For Level 3 students, the structure is familiar, but the expectations are higher. They take more ownership of their projects and become more thoughtful about how they position their ideas. As one student noted, "working with mentors gave us real and unfiltered feedback that helped us directly." Another described the course as "hard work with a great reward" and a way to learn "real-world economics and business."

The distinction between Levels 2 and 3 will continue to sharpen as the program grows. This year, students already understood that the sequence was building toward something larger. As one put it, "It is a class where you learn entrepreneurial fundamentals: how to talk to people, how to problem solve, how to put yourself out there, and so much more."

Level 4: The Accelerator

The Level 4 Accelerator is the capstone of BWL’s entrepreneurship sequence, a yearlong, immersive experience in which students transform their ventures from promising prototypes into fully operational businesses.

Each student or team enters with a validated concept and a plan for growth. They work closely with mentors, industry advisors, and faculty coaches to refine business models, explore funding options, and expand their customer base. They set quarterly goals, track progress, and present regular updates to an advisory board.

The Accelerator blends classroom learning with independent execution. Students might spend one week negotiating supplier contracts, the next running digital ad campaigns, and the next pitching for seed funding. The program concludes with a Demo Day, where ventures are showcased to a public audience of investors, alumni, and community members.

Graduates of the Accelerator leave BWL not only with a high school diploma but also with a functioning business, a professional network, and a practical skill set that can be applied to any future path.
 

Gallery Tour

Phase I: Idea Lab and Feedback Fair

The Entrepreneurship Gallery Tour is a science-fair-style experience where Level 2 and Level 3 students present their ventures in progress. They share;

• The problems they are trying to solve
• Who their target users are
• What they’ve built so far, including Minimum Viable Products (MVPs)
• What they’ve learned from testing

Our entrepreneurs also receive and incorporate feedback in real time. This phase is about pressure-testing ideas. Middle School and Level 1 students also take part in the event as evaluators, giving feedback and helping assess the projects.

Only about half of the teams that present at the Gallery Walk-Through advance to the Future Founders' Lab, giving students a real sense that their preparation matters.
 

Final Competition: Future Founders Lab

Phase II: Investment Pitch Day

The Future Founders Lab is the capstone presentation of the year for Level 2 and Level 3 students. Students formally present their ventures to Wilbury Ventures and invited business leaders, to compete for a $10,000 pool of funding awards based on sustained research, testing, and iteration over the course of the school year.

At this stage, the focus is on:

• Depth of research and customer discovery
• Quality of testing and iteration
• Clarity of thinking and execution
• Evidence that the idea could work in the real world

Students are evaluated on the body of work they’ve built over time, not just how well they present on one night. A prize will also be awarded for the best pitch.