{"id":26615,"date":"2024-07-17T00:15:52","date_gmt":"2024-07-17T06:15:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/the-dog-days-of-summer-drag-summer-learning-programs-can-help\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T23:42:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T05:42:59","slug":"the-dog-days-of-summer-drag-summer-learning-programs-can-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/the-dog-days-of-summer-drag-summer-learning-programs-can-help\/","title":{"rendered":"The dog days of summer drag. Summer learning programs can help"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"One
One of the many postcards sent to Sen. Cleave Simpson, Rep. Matthew Martinez, Rep. Barbara McLachlan, Sen. Dominick Moreno and Rep.Rod Bockefeld (Courtesy of Colorado Afterschool Partnership)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

In the absence of school and sustained structure during summer vacation, students\u2019 education, at best, plateaus. At worst, it declines.<\/p>\n

Students, on average, return to class in the fall with roughly two-thirds of their previous gains in reading, and no more than half of such gains in math, as estimated by the Colorado Department of Education.<\/p>\n

Kids from affluent households can spend their vacation honing skills, whereas disadvantaged children start to fall behind.<\/p>\n

The National Summer Learning Association calls this the achievement gap, and the pandemic made the problem more pronounced.<\/p>\n

Summer programs can bridge this gap.<\/p>\n

And on July 15, Gov. Jared Polis signed a state proclamation to officially acknowledge and kick off National Learning Week, which started on Monday and ends Friday, July 19.<\/p>\n

The proclamation recognizes how \u201csummer learning programs \u2026 maintain and advance students\u2019 academic and social\/emotional growth \u2026 and send young people back to school ready to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n

To celebrate, students across the state sent postcards to their local legislators to express why they love their summer programs, Taylor Gordon, the communications and events manager at Colorado Afterschool Partnership, said in an email.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The postcard campaign started last year with two participating schools. This year, 360 students across nine Colorado counties participated.<\/p>\n

Students at the Mancos Summer Hub were some of them.<\/p>\n

The summer program in Mancos started last year, welcoming students from Pre-K to eighth grade.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe principal of our elementary school did an analysis and found that the kids who attended (the Hub) most days in the summer showed academic improvements beyond their peers in the fall,\u201d said Katie McClure, the executive director of Mancos United.<\/p>\n

\"Katie
Katie McClure<\/span>Courtesy photo<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

It\u2019s because kids in summer programs are more regulated, so they\u2019re ready to learn when it\u2019s time to go back to school, said Kim Russell, a first-grade teacher at the school.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey get used to some routine,\u201d said Russell. \u201cAn adult needs routine \u2013 everyone needs at least some degree of routine; otherwise we become disoriented in our day to day lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such programs also provide a safe, supportive place where students can be physically and mentally active and challenged.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt helps lessen the summer gap we all talk about as teachers,\u201d Russell said.<\/p>\n

The community co-created the program, alongside Mancos United, to offer an all-summer solution to students being out of school while parents are working.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had parents who were quitting their jobs or finding new careers where they didn\u2019t have to work in the summer,\u201d said McClure. \u201cThere\u2019s even stories of parents leaving kids home alone, with young kids taking care of younger kids because they had to go to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thus, kids aren\u2019t the only ones benefiting from these programs: Parents do, too.<\/p>\n

Last summer, the Summer Hub surveyed parents on stress levels for before and after it existed, McClure said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did it on a scale of zero to 10. It went from all eight, nines, and 10s without Summer Hub, to all zero, ones, and twos with it,\u201d said McClure. \u201cIt blew my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

The program is funded by a grant through the Colorado Department of Education. It\u2019s allowed 50 to 60 kids to attend the six-week Summer Hub program for free, from Monday to Thursday, for two years now.<\/p>\n

But the grant money ran out, McClure said.<\/p>\n

A different grant plus local donations will keep the Hub going next summer. After, it\u2019ll cost money to attend on a sliding scale basis. That way, families who can afford to pay the whole amount, will, and those who can\u2019t, will receive a full or partial scholarship.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will do everything in my professional power to keep this thing going,\u201d McClure said.<\/p>\n

This year, registration filled up in 64 minutes, even after adding 10 more spots. Seventeen families remain on a wait list to get in, McClure said.<\/p>\n

The need for summer programs is clear.<\/p>\n

Ninety percent of parents in Colorado favor public funding for summer learning opportunities, according to the Colorado Afterschool Partnership.<\/p>\n

McClure said she\u2019d love to help surrounding areas create similar programs by sharing their stories and data with legislators.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very intentionally designed, you know? We look at all the evidence for improved academics, for improved attendance, for decreased anxiety,\u201d said McClure. \u201cAll of that evidence is \u2026 summarized by belonging, connection, and fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, helping students at a young age will \u201cresult in better graduation rates and better employment \u2026 and they\u2019ll have better health outcomes, the evidence says,\u201d McClure said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re such a tiny area, and we don\u2019t have the resources that a bigger area does, you know, like YMCA\u2019s or camps,\u201d said Russell. \u201cAnd to be able to offer this to our kids, is just really beneficial to everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Programs that keep students in routine during summer vacation can minimize knowledge lost and propel them into a successful school year <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26616,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,83,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-26615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-mancos","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26615"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26615\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79412,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26615\/revisions\/79412"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26615"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=26615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}