The city's summer school program is undergoing a dramatic change, as Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday a new city-wide program to offer schooling and social support this summer to help K-12 kids with academic skills and enrichment while providing families with childcare.
Called "Summer Rising," the $120 million program will offer different schedules based on grade level, with the youngest students receiving the most amount of time in the program: five days a week for seven weeks. Students with specialized learning plans that include year-round schooling can participate for six weeks, five days a week. Middle schoolers get a four-day program for six weeks. High schoolers can sign up for a five-week program with flexible schedules, and can also participate in the city’s paid Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) and the Public Schools Athletic League.
The program will be the template for all future summer programming, de Blasio said at his press briefing Tuesday: "So this ends summer school as we knew it," he announced.
The free program will be run by the Department of Education in partnership with Department of Youth & Community Development and community partners, and is open to any child in grades K-12 in the city, including students who attend charter and private schools. There will also be a remote learning component available if students are mandated for summer learning or are enrolled in a year-round specialized learning program, and high schoolers may have a hybrid of in-person and remote options.
The city expects about 200,000 students will sign up for the summer program, though they say they can accommodate more. The program will be funded by a recent boost in education aid from the state.
"We're thinking bigger and bolder this summer: more school buildings open, more enrichment and more outdoor fun, expanding upon some of programming that we've offered in the past, and for the first time ever, we'll be serving students from kindergarten to 12th grade. With Summer Rising we'll be able to provide students across the city with a holistic summer experience," said Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter at the press briefing.
The program will seek to address some of the academic and emotional toll from more than a year of pandemic-wrought school upheaval, city officials said, with “tailored support for those who need academic support and students with disabilities. These programs will provide a bridge to next school year and allow students to re-connect with one another and with their schools, to ensure continued learning, and provide avenues for recreation, exploration, and fun. High school students will have access to academic and social emotional supports designed locally to meet the unique needs of older students.” There will be outdoor time daily and field trips.
While staffing issues have dogged the city's hybrid learning program, de Blasio said the summer program will cast a wide net for staffers: "We obviously have thought very carefully about the talent that we'll need both from the community-based organizations and educators to make this work, and we feel very confident that there's plenty of talented folks who want to be a part of this," he said.
Councilman Mark Treyger, the city council's education chair, said the Summer Rising program is committed to helping all kids. "If you're a child with an IEP, there's a program for you this summer. If you're a multilingual learner there's a program for you this summer. If you're a child needing to reconnect with your peers and your classmates, there's a program for you this summer," Treyger said at the press briefing, and added, "So I think that we're hitting on all cylinders to best meet the needs of our kids at this very trying time and to create a bridge connection for deeper connections in the fall."
The summer program starts July 2nd and runs through August 13th for students with 12-month Individualized Education Program (IEP) services. Students in K-5 will start their programs July 6th and run through August 20th. Middle schoolers will start July 6th and run through August 12th. High schoolers who have a Course in Progress, or who need to retake a course, will start their programs July 6th and run through August 13th. (Schools will notify students by June if they’ll need to retake classes.)
Last summer, the city successfully ran the Regional Enrichment Center programs to provide immediate emergency childcare and supervision for the families of emergency workers. This new program will run in nearly half of all DOE school buildings and in all five boroughs, the city officials said.
Applications open April 26th on the city’s discover DYCD website for the K-8 grades, with high school students to apply at a later date.
