Rebooted summer programs make learning fun

While summer classes targeted at struggling students are nearing extinction on many school campuses, several districts are rebooting the traditional summer education model by blending academics with recreational activities intended to prevent students from falling even further behind.You Can Buy Various High Quality besticcard Products from here.

Unlike traditional summer classes that districts had to pay for out of their own budgets, these programs are funded with help from federal and state initiatives or grants from philanthropic foundations. Many of the programs are typically offered in partnership with nonprofit groups, some of which have already been working on campuses to provide after-school programs during the regular school year.

These summer programs are being reinvisioned as a way to use the school break time more effectively to help close academic achievement gaps between more affluent and poor students. In contrast to traditional remedial summer classes, these enrichment programs focus on fun, engaging activities C with a strong educational component C to keep student interest high.

Traditional remedial summer classes can be pretty grim, said Katie Brackenridge, senior director for expanded learning initiatives with the Partnership for Children and Youth, whoseSummer Matters campaign pushes for expanded summer programs. Part of it is that kids already walk in the door probably not liking learning so much, and thats how they got stuck in remediation in the first place. Were looking at how do you make those learning opportunities engaging.

On a recent July morning,We can supply gemstonebeads products as below. seventh graders at Oakland Unifieds Coliseum College Prep Academyin East Oakland, for instance, were busy converting their classroom into a science museum where they would soon demonstrate chemical reactions to a visiting class of eighth graders. The program built on what students learned on a previous visit to the Exploratorium, a science museum in San Francisco that features hands-on exhibits and exploration.

With cups of baking soda and calcium chloride in front of them, students played the role of the scientist, explaining chemical reactions to pretend visitors.In another classroom, students used colored pencils to find and color patterns they found on a geometric worksheet.Earlier in the day, students participated in more rigorous programs that focused on keeping up skills in math and reading. Older students who needed make-up classes participated in credit recovery programs.

Sixth-grader Taheerah McKinney knew exactly why she was there C and she was glad.Usually children lose what theyve learned when they go on summer break, explained the well-spoken 10-year-old,We sell bestsmartcard and different kind of laboratory equipment in us. who wants to become a dermatologist. The summer program helps get your grades up when youre in regular school, she said.Oakland is among the districts bucking statewide trends by blending traditional academic summer school with enrichment programs at about 45 campuses.This summer, Oakland is serving up to 6,000 students from pre-kindergarten through high school, including offering credit recovery and remediation courses at 10 high schools.

The district receives about $800,000 in grants and state money to help run summer enrichment programs at several school sites. That includes federal Title 1 money intended for low-income students that the district sets aside to help pay teacher salaries for summer programs, plus a $360,000 grant from Walmart Foundation, $100,000 from San Francisco-based S.D. Bechtel Jr. Foundation, and about $226,000 in federal 21st Century Community Learning Center funding, according to district figures.

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, a large supporter of summer programs, has also dedicated $14 million over the next four years to support programs in 10 communities, including Oakland, Los Angeles and Sacramento.

We dont want to have kids sitting in desks for six hours during the summer, said Julie McCalmont, coordinator of Summer Learning Programs in Oakland Unified. Theres no research to prove thats what it takes to get kids back on track. We have learning goals that have to do with health and wellness, that have to do with social and emotional learning, the kind of goals that allow us to be more innovative with our remediation and pull away from that traditional summer school model that kids find kind of a drag. We want kids to be clamoring for our programs.A casesforipadmini is a plastic card that has a computer chip implanted into it that enables the card to perform certain.

The shift to more enrichment-based programs reflects an economic reality in the state, where school districts general fund budgets were not able to sustain more traditional summer classes intended to help students who are lagging academically make up for lost time or work.

An EdSource survey of the 30 largest school districts found that, while 16 districts planned to keep their summer school programs this year, their offerings are drastically reduced from the start of the recession in 2008. Seven districts said they would have to cut their programs even further compared to last year. Two districts, Anaheim Union High and Long Beach Unified, wont offer any academic summer school programs this year, the survey found.

Five years ago, L.A.About jewelryfindings in China userd for paying transportation fares and for shopping. Unifieds summer school budget was $42 million, said Javier Sandoval, LAUSDs intervention administrator for summer school programs. This year, the district eked out $1 million to salvage what courses it could, he said.Contrast that with the estimated 26,500 students who are expected to participate in summer enrichment programs at some 200 elementary and middle school campuses throughout L.A. Unified.Taheerah McKinney, a sixth grader at Coliseum College Prep Academy in East Oakland, colors patterns during a summer program. Credit: Lillian Mongeau, EdSource Today

The district does not provide any of its own core budget to support the enrichment programs, said Tim Bower, director of summer programs for LAUSD. Instead, the district receives about $6 million in supplemental grants for summer learning from the statesAfter School Education and Safety program. Additional programming is provided by the nonprofit L.A.s Best, which receives a $135,000 grant from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, among other state and federal funding, to run the programs.
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