National Summer Learning Day
July 10, 2018 – The Rochester City School District is celebrating National Summer Learning Day on July 12, 2018. This is a national advocacy day aimed at elevating the importance of keeping kids learning, safe, and healthy every summer, ensuring they return to school in the fall ready to learn and succeed during the year.
Every summer, low-income youth lose two to three months in reading while their higher-income peers make slight gains. Most youth lose about two months of math skills in the summer. By fifth grade, summer learning loss can leave students 2 ½ to 3 years behind their peers. Research shows that while gaps in student achievement remain relatively constant during the school year, the gaps widen significantly during the summer.
In order to help reduce this loss, the Rochester City School District in collaboration with the Center for Youth Services is again employing its Innovation Station, an RV Learning Lab. This program is an essential academic component that will help children succeed and help to close the achievement gap between low-and middle-income children. The RV will visit five summer learning locations – Schools 5, 45, Wilson Foundation, 19, and 28 – that focus on students in kindergarten through second grade. The Innovation Station will also be reaching students through “pop up” events at City Recreation centers and libraries. Each week will follow a specific theme that relates to the selected stories and activities.
Readers will participate in story time and then read alone or with a partner, followed by an enjoyable STEM-related activity. In addition to literacy-themed weeks about fire flies, camping, and the Caribbean, there will be a week focused on learning math through kinesthetic movement and another dedicated to mindfulness and Yoga. The program’s goals are to:
- Support positive summer reading behaviors
- Increase motivation and engagement in summer reading
- Introduce the arts and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) as integral to the literacy component
- Help students maintain reading levels during the summer months
- Involve parents in their children’s learning
- Promote the benefits of reading to families
Superintendent Barbara Deane-Williams said, “The District thanks Dr. Elaine Spaull, The Center for Youth, and all of our summer learning partners who have been actively helping the Rochester community to recognize and celebrate the power of reading and the concept of using the community as a classroom.”