CASTOR GARDENS (KYW Newsradio) — Tuesday was the first day of summer school for around 23,000 children in the Philadelphia School District. At Solis-Cohen Elementary in Castor Gardens, students met their teachers on the first of six weeks of summer programming at Philly schools.
For Envy Foster, it’s a head start for when she starts sixth grade in the fall.
“I just get to learn new things,” she said.
Students learn math and English in the mornings, and have city-sponsored fun like bowling and field trips in the afternoons, said Jessica Shapiro with the city’s Office of Children and Families.
“They’re going to be doing all sorts of fun camp activities, field trips, playing games, sports outside,” she said.
The district’s Deputy Superintendent Jermaine Dawson said the academic programs help students to retain what they’ve learned during the school year.
“This gives us an opportunity to continue to keep that on the forefront of our students’ minds so that they can walk in on day one of the next grade level ready to take on the standards and the learning for that particular grade level,” he said.
Nathaniel Lee-foon will also be a sixth grader, and knows it’s important to keep learning.
“I could forget something, and I could use it for sixth grade,” he said. “And if I forget it I can’t use it for sixth grade and I could fail.”
Teacher Martina Mapp said preventing summer learning loss is critical for students for whom English isn’t their first language.
“Especially for our English language learners, they have more English when they come into the building in September,” she said
The city and school district plan to pilot an extended-day program at 20 schools next year, with offerings similar to these summer classes. Assistant superintendent Randi Klein-Davila said it’s something that parents have wanted.
“I’m a parent. I know I would feel much better knowing that my child was in a building with friends, having fun,” he said.