Decatur School District Superintendent Larry Ben saw an opportunity to keep children learning through the summer.
“In Decatur one of the first things I’ve noticed is when the gym is open, the kids just show up,” Ben said. “We have a pool downtown. Other than that, there’s not a whole lot going on for kids to do.”
Beginning June 10, the school district will begin a summer school program for the first time in at least three years for about 90 students in the Benton County district of 530 pupils. The district will offer a summer school in two three-week sessions.
“We didn’t want this to be the traditional ‘You have to go to summer school because you’re behind or because you’re failing,’” Ben said. “It is to be creative and enriching. It’s for kids to come and do activities they find interesting and have fun.”
Students in the elementary program will work on projects that relate to a field trip scheduled for the end of the week, including trips to the Tulsa Zoo, the Oklahoma Aquarium in Jenks, Okla., and War Eagle Cavern in Rogers, Ben said. Online courses offered during the summer will allow high school students to retake courses they failed or to take courses that didn’t fit in their schedules.
A national organization estimated that 17 percent of children in Arkansas participate in summer learning programs in a May 2010 summer school report. The organization, the Afterschool Alliance, is a nonprofit that promotes access to quality after-school and summer programs.
The alliance defines a summer learning program as safe, structured classes with activities that promote learning during the long break from school. The study on summer school came from data collected by RTi, a market research firm, between March 2009 and May 2009. The firm surveyed 29,754 parents and guardians across the country.
The Arkansas Department of Education does not track participation in summer programs offered by school districts because they are not required by the state, said Laura Bednar, the department’s assistant commissioner for learning services.
State education officials recommend districts consider offering summer school programs because they have a positive impact on the development of reading skills in young children, Bednar said.
Districts use different sources of funding for summer programs, including money from their operating budgets and from state and federal funds to assist children from low-income families, officials said.
Participation in summer school statewide is limited because of the lack of programs offered, the cost of fees charged to enroll or a lack of transportation, said Laveta Wills-Hale, director of the Arkansas Out of School Network. The network is a project of the Arkansas State University Childhood Services and receives funding from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, based in Flint, Mich., and the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation.
The Arkansas Out of School Network has worked since 2005 to build support for more comprehensive summer learning programs that would increase participation in academics during the long break from school, Wills-Hale said. Ideally, children would spend six hours a day for five to six weeks involved in activities and projects to strengthen academic and social skills, Wills-Hale said.
The organization supported passage of legislation in 2011 that created a Positive Youth Development Grant Program, but lawmakers have not yet appropriated money to fund the grant program, Wills-Hale said.
Comprehensive programs would stop the learning loss that occurs over the summer, especially for low-income children who may not have the opportunity to learn from activities, such as visiting libraries, museums and experiencing the arts, Wills-Hale said. The network encourages schools to partner with community organizations to meet the need, she said.
“Kids are engaged, having fun and they are learning at the same time,” she said. “Particularly for lower income families who don’t have those opportunities … everything they learned during the school year, it’s lost. It is not retained unless those concepts are reinforced.”
Some districts offer a limited number of summer programs.
Cedarville School District’s summer programs are limited to a kindergarten academy in the first week of June, a summer feeding program and a driver’s education course, Superintendent Dan Foreman said.
Bentonville School District quit offering elementary summer school because of a decline in state and federal funding, district spokeswoman Mary Ley said. The district will provide 30 classes for high school students needing to make up classes to graduate on time, as well as an ACT test preparation course and driver’s education.
Harrison School District had little money for a traditional summer school, Superintendent Melinda Moss said. With a grant from a federal program for homeless children, the district created an electronic reading lab for children involved in the annual summer feeding program, which provides any child under 18 with free breakfast and lunch. The “Lunch and Learn” program also allows high school students to retake courses online that they failed during the school year.
“We know that students need good positive things to do during their summer days,” Moss said. “Why not take advantage of having those students on site and help promote literacy? Every summer kids will regress a little bit. This is to try to keep their skills up.”
The first week of the district’s annual summer feeding program, which provides free breakfasts and lunches, drew 150 children. The new Lunch and Learn program, which is expected to cost $32,500, begins June 10.
“Costs are rising,” Moss said. “When expenses go up, sometimes revenue lags behind. It’s just getting harder and harder to offer extra support programs that are not required by standards. We had to get creative.”
Ben said he hopes the Decatur program will prevent children from forgetting what they learned during the school year, he said. The district combined money from its operating budget with state and federal money it receives for assisting low-income children to cover the estimated cost of $42,500.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 06/03/2013