June 17 – Each day at Reiche Elementary School, the summer program begins with a community meeting. Students, teachers and administrators sing a song together or dance together. The class size of the summer program is small and the school days are shortened. Teachers have less on their plates.
“One thing we’ve really worked on is creating a kind of joyful, camp-like feeling, even though the focus is academic,” said Lori Bobinsky, associate professor and administrator at Reiche.
Bobinsky said she always tells teachers who are considering working during the summer that they will be surprised to see how happy the children are.
“There’s a real sense of joy around learning, and I like to see that,” she said.
During the school year, most children in the United States follow roughly the same schedule: they go to class, learn roughly the same material, have recess, have lunch with their peers, take tests, work on projects, and do homework.
But that changes during the summer. Children’s experiences and opportunities vary depending on the economic status of their families, where they go to school, and what summer opportunities their school districts and communities offer. Children from wealthier families often have access to summer opportunities that help them grow academically, socially and emotionally, while children from economically disadvantaged families are more likely to go without enrichment programs, causing them to fall behind their more advantaged peers.
That’s where school districts step in.
Many districts in Maine and across the country offer summer programs to keep children engaged in learning, help them catch up during the school year, build connections in the community and prepare for the upcoming school year.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 78% of U.S. public schools offered academically focused summer programs to about 15% of U.S. students last summer.
The Portland Public School District, the state’s largest, hopes to serve 1,150 of its 6,500 students in its largely academically focused summer programs this summer, according to Deputy Superintendent Aaron Townsend.
The district offers special summer education, middle school credit recovery programs, tutoring, middle to high school transition support, and programs for students new to the area to teach them how to take the bus and get around the city and their schools navigate.
Other school districts in the area offer students similar opportunities.
The Bonny Eagle School District plans to offer summer school to about 100 students attending kindergarten, first and second grades who it believes could use additional support, said Superintendent Clay Gleason.
The South Portland School District plans to offer programs for elementary and middle school students who are at risk of falling behind or are already falling behind, such as multilingual students in sixth through twelfth grades who have had limited exposure to formal education or otherwise could benefit from additional education. and more summer camp programs, including opportunities for outdoor adventure, hiking and storytelling.
“Educators do try to make it feel special and different,” said Assistant Superintendent Johanna Prince. “It has a different flavor than school year education.”
Prince said she realizes that summer is a time to recharge for many students. But it can also be a time for children to continue learning, and that continued learning can help prepare children to continue their education and enter the job market.
She believes this is most important for disadvantaged students, students who are disengaged or who often miss school.
“The more we can create a positive experience for children and families, the better,” Prince said. “Children are capable when they feel connected and ready to learn.”
Education researcher Catherine Augustine, who recently completed a nine-year study of summer learning programs across the country, said it is clear that summer programs benefit students in the short and long term.
At least in the short term, students who participate in summer school gain social-emotional learning skills, Augustine said. In the short and long term, they become stronger in math and English.
Because of the more intimate environment of summer school, students also tend to build stronger bonds with teachers and their peers, she said. And students who participate in summer programming for several summers in a row tend to reap more positive rewards than those who participate for just one summer, Augustine said.
School leaders say summer school, with its smaller class sizes and emphasis on providing students with targeted and additional support, can also benefit students who need to build confidence and skills.
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