91制片

Three school districts model their use of a 鈥榝ourth quarter鈥� to ready students for the year ahead

Don鈥檛 say 鈥渟ummer school.鈥�

鈥淚f I just say the words 鈥榮ummer school,鈥� no kid wants to go. No staff wants to work at it,鈥� concedes Aaron Dworkin, CEO of the National Summer Learning Association. 鈥淲e had to rebrand.鈥�

Summer school operated by public school districts has evolved away from the basic, remedial, mind-numbing programs of yesterday to an instructional approach more focused on enrichment.

For many educators, the pandemic was the impetus to start the shift. 鈥淚 think COVID shone a light on a set of realities that have been true for a long time, that we haven鈥檛 been getting any big [return on investment] from remediation-focused models,鈥� says Nancy Gannon, project director of FHI 360鈥檚 District Summer Learning Network.

Now, a growing number of school districts across the nation offer summer learning programs with diverse activities beyond what kids might pass off as boring.

鈥淢any school districts refer to it as the fourth quarter of the school year,鈥� according to Bryan Joffe, director of the 91制片鈥檚 Center for Leadership and Learning. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really trying to have summer be a launchpad for the next year. It鈥檚 setting them up for success for the next year, particularly in those transition years.鈥�

Clarifying Goals

Summer learning programs don鈥檛 have to be as structured or prescribed as the rest of the school year, Joffe notes. But program leaders still must be intentional about planning their summer learning offerings. That includes hiring staff and developing instructional plans to address students鈥� specific needs, pique their interests and give access to students who might not be able to afford to participate in high-quality summer programs.

That wasn鈥檛 always the case. 鈥淭oo often, planning for summer learning is treated as an afterthought,鈥� wrote the authors of 鈥淗ow Districts Plan for Successful Summer Programs,鈥� a 2025 report from the Wallace Foundation.

According to a survey of school district leaders last year by the Gallup organization, 91 percent of superintendents now view summer programs as important to reaching their district goals, though many also lament their communities don鈥檛 have adequate summer learning opportunities for K鈥�12 students.

Gannon, with the project management firm FHI 360, says one of the best ways to measure a summer program鈥檚 success is to clarify goals before launching the program. A school district seeking to raise student literacy could compare end-of-year and beginning-of-year benchmarks of students who participated in summer camp with the scores of students who didn鈥檛.

School districts that champion the elements contained in Principle 4 of 91制片鈥檚 Public Education Promise (鈥淏uild highly engaged family, community and business partnerships鈥�) for their summer learning programs bring together families and outside organizations to promote student learning.

Partnerships also can help districts expand their offerings and the summer school day, making it easier for working parents to send their children, says Dworkin, of the summer learning association. 鈥淥ffering a half-day summer program is not good enough,鈥� he adds.

Three school districts identified by 91制片 as models are pursuing Principle 4 through their summer learning programs. Accounts of each follow.

Blount County, Alabama

When summer rolls around, about one-quarter of the 7,500 students enrolled in the Blount County School District keep coming back. In 2025, the district served nearly 1,900 children in various summer learning camps.

鈥淲e want any child who wants to come to something to be able to attend,鈥� explains Mitchie Neel, executive director of the Blount County Education Foundation, which partners with the board of education to oversee the summer learning program. 鈥淲e will find ways to add staff to make that growth happen.鈥�

But it鈥檚 not just students the district wants to attract. There鈥檚 an intentional effort to include families.

鈥淲e are very high on family engagement as a district, so it鈥檚 a natural outgrowth of who we are,鈥� Neel says.

The Blount County School District operates eight summer camps focused on boosting students鈥� literacy and numeracy with enrichment woven throughout. The district used Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds in the wake of the pandemic, so when those funds dried up, the district received support through the federal 21st Century Community Learning Centers initiative. This enabled expanded enrollment in summer camps, which include seven 15-day sessions and one 20-day session. About 1,000 participants were expected this summer.

The district also offers 46 shorter enrichment camps running up to five days each that include music, visual arts and theater, as well as a Junior Fire Academy Camp and two Chef鈥檚 Camps. 鈥淎ll have sessions woven throughout that involve parents,鈥� Neel says.

Summer Family Nights have included an art exhibition with activity stations where students and their parents could work on art projects together with teachers providing instruction. 鈥淵ou didn鈥檛 see anybody get out their phone the whole night and start scrolling. They were all engaged and immersed as a family,鈥� she states.

The district also offers camps for rising kindergartners and rising seniors. Translation services are always available for Spanish-speaking families.

The appeal to entire families has generated high attendance rates in the summer programs. One of the highest-poverty schools that hosted a summer learning program last year had an attendance rate of 93 percent.

鈥淲e鈥檙e always looking for new ways and better ways to involve our families because we know that鈥檚 so critical to the success of our summer learning,鈥� Neel says.

Newark Public Schools, New Jersey

For years, Newark Public Schools offered a robust after-school program but only a bare-bones summer program that mostly consisted of a credit recovery program for high school students.

More recently, district leaders aligned the summer program with the district鈥檚 larger mission by offering more acceleration and rigor.

鈥淚n a way, we were not taking into consideration what we knew about students 10 months of the year and applying it to the summer months,鈥� says Julianne Bello, Newark Board of Education director. 鈥淪o we began with a mindset shift.鈥�

As the pandemic waned, Newark began working with the District Summer Learning Network through the Wallace Foundation to reimagine its summer learning. Rather than focus on remediation, the district wanted to focus on acceleration. That required the district to adopt a policy that incorporates immediate interventions for struggling students during the school year, rather than delaying until summer. The district also wanted to offer students accelerated coursework in topics ranging from financial literacy to cyber security during the summer break.

Today, the district offers opportunities for students in 15 elementary schools, nine high schools and two specialized high schools. More than 10,000 children and teens participate in one way or another, according to Bello, and they don鈥檛 have to attend a district school to participate.

High schoolers now use the summer to explore their career interests and learn how to apply their skills to support their community.

鈥淲e are really expanding the use of summer as a professional development stage,鈥� Bello says.

Through a work-based learning initiative called the Future Business Leaders Program, some students land summer jobs at the school district and get an up-close look at how to run a school district. Other students learn about sneaker design, thanks to a partnership with Riz Inc Custom Kickz. Others participate in a summer program for future teachers, and some students learn about stock trading.

But it鈥檚 not just the high school students who get exposure to career opportunities.

Although the district runs an academic program called Summer Achieve and an enrichment program called Summer Quest for elementary students, the district is rolling out an exploratory career and technical education summer program for these younger students.

鈥淲e have all these great opportunities in the city,鈥� Bello says. 鈥淲e have to make sure that students are aware of them and that students tap into their interests and talents.鈥�

For career development purposes, the district hires its own vice principals to serve as summer principals to gain valuable administrative experience.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 also how we keep a bench of talented administrators who are ready to become principals,鈥� Bello says.

Seattle Public Schools, Washington

COVID marked a shift for Seattle Public Schools, the largest school system in Washington state, when it came to summer school.

鈥淲e鈥檝e shifted the whole program to be more enrichment-based,鈥� says Sara Mirabueno, director of continuous improvement for Seattle Public Schools. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 even call it summer school. We call it summer quarter, as in it鈥檚 another quarter of our school year.鈥�

The district continues to embrace English language and math instruction in the summer for elementary students who need that coursework. They attend a four-week all-day program run at five locations in different areas of the city.

While the students focus on academics in the morning, the afternoons are filled with enrichment activities made possible by partnerships with community-based organizations like School Connection WA, SPIN Enrich and Mathnasium. The enrichment, which ranges from coding and robotics to dance, is hands-on learning.

鈥淲hat we鈥檝e noticed with our project-based learning is that students have the freedom to make a lot of mistakes and explore and try again and get involved with these hands-on experiences,鈥� Mirabueno says. 鈥淭hey can have a lot of intergroup discussion.鈥�

Participation in this summer program is by invitation only. The district uses assessment data to identify students who could most benefit from added support in literacy and math.

Students are not required to attend, but the program tends to fill up. In 2025, it accommodated approximately 1,500 students, including about 400 high school students. The summer program expected to serve closer to 1,900 this year.

鈥淣ow the word is out on the street, and we have a wait list,鈥� Mirabueno says.

The opportunities for middle and high school students rely on partnerships with community-based organizations. The Good Foot Arts Collective partners with the district to offer a summer program called Power UP! at two high schools. Students preparing to enter high school can participate in arts activities, team-building exercises and field trips and earn community service hours.

Through the district鈥檚 CTE summer program, high schoolers explore technology careers in the two-week summer Tech Quest at Amazon or land paid internships with other community partners.

Through its membership in the District Summer Learning Network, Seattle has partnered with other school districts in New Jersey, Oregon and California to glean more information for better supporting their students with summer learning. All of this effort underscores the district鈥檚 commitment to advancing equity and expanding access to high-quality learning opportunities.

鈥淣ot only do we want to avoid the summer slide, we want to see kids coming back in the fall with even higher academic achievements and growth,鈥� Mirabueno says. 

Jennifer Larson is a freelance writer in Nashville, Tenn.