Vol. 1 no. 3 August 2005

Sustaining the Summer High

Stephen M. Pratt, President

Dear Friends:

As summer begins to wane and Back-to-School circulars flood our mailboxes, we turn our attention to a critical but often overlooked element of the Out-of-School Time world: summer programming. Whether children sit by a campfire roasting s’mores, in a museum with time to explore, or in a classroom learning to multiply fours, summer offers a unique opportunity to carry progress forward and to offer struggling students a fresh approach.

And the stakes are high. According to the Center for Summer Learning:

All young people experience learning losses when they do not engage in educational activities during the summer.

On average, students lose approximately 2.6 months of grade level equivalency in mathematical computation skills over the summer months.

Low-income children and youth experience greater summer learning losses than their higher income peers.

Summer learning loss contributes to the achievement gap in reading performance between lower and higher income children and youth.

Broadly, we support and nurture the development of models that align the distinct milieus of in-school and out-of-school into a coordinated strategy for youth development. Summer programs in particular reveal how compelling and how challenging this vision is.

How often have we heard stories of young people who have turned a corner because of a powerful summer experience? And yet, it is incredibly rare to see an explicit and intentional connection between those summer breakthroughs and the school year.

In this issue, we offer a collection of research, resources, and reviews of the summer experience. We’re particularly pleased to share our first guest column, from our friends at United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Mass Mentoring Partnership. We invite you to join in the dialogue and share your own reflections on the world of after school and beyond.

Thanks for reading,