SOME GOOD NEWS FOR A CHANGE
“Aaliyah is learning so much at her summer program. She has fun, she learns a lot and gets to do things like museums and field trips that I can’t do,” said Aaliyah’s grandmother, Michelle, who is raising the 10-year-old.
Aaliyah is one of hundreds of Philadelphia students that are benefiting from one of the 11 summer programs through the School District of Philadelphia and Mayor Cherelle Parker’s Extended Day, Extended Year (EDEY) initiative. Aaliyah attends Summer Achievers, a free full-day program for elementary and middle-school students that offers the fun of a traditional summer camp but with a focus on math and reading.
“Kids have a really good time while they’re learning things. The field trips, the programing, all are intertwined,” said Laura Johnson with Sunrise of Philadelphia, a program that runs several Summer Achievers camps. “At first, parents were resistant to send their children because they thought it was summer school. It’s not. We have teachers, sure, but we also have fun.”
Summer programs help to negate the effects of the summer learning loss where kids forget a lot of what they learned the year before. “The point of summer programs is not to lose ground. If you maintain learning during the summer, students can start the school year ready,” said Laura.
And added benefit is that while kids are learning and playing, exercising their bodies and minds, their parents can rest easy, knowing that their children are in safe and nurturing environments.
Parker’s EDEY program also offers free before- and after-school programs, and activities during winter and spring breaks at 40 Philadelphia public schools. This consistent, citywide approach is a huge benefit for students of all ages – and their parents.
The extended day programs prepare kids to be ready to learn. According to Sunrise of Philadelphia, extended day programs prepare students to be ready for school, improve attendance, and give students the confidence to ask questions and be engaged in their education.
Young Aaliyah also attends the extended day program at her school, which her grandmother credits with Aaliyah’s literacy and love of reading. “She just picks up books now and reads on her own. She writes stories and other stuff. Her reading teachers are amazing.”
This promising initiative is free for parents, but it does come with a price tag. Mayor Parker, a longtime advocate for lifelong learning, ensured that there was significant city funding, along with funding from the school district, to cover the $26.1 million cost.
It’s an investment in our children, said Mayor Parker, and “an effort to close the opportunity gap to support our families, no matter their socioeconomic status and or zip code…[giving] them a chance at academic achievement and enrichment and all of the programs.”
Against the backdrop of the obscenity of the $200 milliion White House ballroom, thankfully local officials like Mayor Parker are putting money where it matters. With that kind of money, every kid in Philadelphia could get these great EDEY programs.
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