Though they may finish their classroom requirements early, seniors spend the month of May undertaking the culminating challenge of their PCD experience—the Senior Project. Each senior spends the month as an intern in a professional setting, and works a minimum of 25 hours per week. The program comes to a close when all seniors return to campus at the end of May and give oral presentations on their projects to Upper School students and faculty.

Ultimately the projects prove to be challenging, inspiring and rewarding for the students. Moreover, they are exciting experiences that are out of the ordinary for high school students. Seniors have worked with archaeologists and doctors, interior designers and police officers, lawyers and sports broadcasters. The opportunities are as broad as the students' interests.

Though Senior Projects officially take place at the end of the school year, preparation for them begins in the fall, when seniors work to identify projects that are aligned with specific interests and/or skills. Each student then works with a faculty advisor and drafts an essay outlining the scope of his/her project. Interviews with professional mentors are an important part of the research component. By the start of spring semester, seniors have secured project placements and professional mentors, and re-focus on completing their traditional academic programs.

The choice of Senior Project varies according to each student's interests. Some see the project as an opportunity to look deeper into an intended field of study, while others use the time to explore something completely new. Still others look to the program’s faculty advisor for direction, and are often pleasantly surprised when their projects spark new and unexpected results.

Past projects include a journey to former concentration camp sites in Poland, an internship with the Rhode Island Department of Emergency Management, an apprenticeship with a glass blower, research with Rhode Island Kids Count, shadowing a physician at Women and Infants Hospital, and television broadcasting with sports anchor Patrick Little '91 of WPRI.