Founded as Summerbridge Cincinnati in 1992 by retired educators Bill Hopple Jr. and Odessa Hooker, Breakthrough Cincinnati is based on the Breakthrough/ Summerbridge model that originated in 1978 in San Francisco.  Over the past 30 years, Breakthrough has grown to 35 sites in 28 cities, including Hong Kong.  As a collaborative, Breakthrough has seen nearly 90% of its graduates move on to strong academic high school programs and attend top colleges and universities across the country.  64% of the teaching staff has gone on to pursue careers in education.   and has enjoyed similar success.  

Initially situated at the Cincinnati Country Day School (CCDS) for 50 rising 6^th and 7^th graders, by 1996 Summerbridge Cincinnati had expanded to three campuses. Following a 2002 study of model national Summerbridge programs, BTC’s Board of Directors approved the consolidation of future Summer Sessions to the campus of the Cincinnati Country Day School for rising 6^th, 7^th and 8^th graders.  In 2006 a fourth year was added for rising 9^th graders increasing total enrollment to approximately 120 high potential low income middle school students and 32 high school and college age teachers.  Currently, our administrative offices and Summer Academic Session is housed at CCDS, while our school year program is located at Walnut Hills High School.