Facts

Students will lose over two months of math computational skills over the summer.

We cannot afford to spend almost 10 months devoting time and resources to promote student learning and then abandon that investment every summer.

Parents and students in East Palo Alto and Menlo Park want to engage in summer learning programs but lack access to them. 

In summer months, low income students lose two months of reading skills while their high income peers- whose parents can send them to enriching camps or educational recreations- make small gains.
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About two thirds of the achievement gap can be explained by summer learning loss in elementary school.

More than half of the achievement gap between lower- and higher-income youth can be explained by unequal access to summer learning opportunities.

Impact

Students in the summer academies funded by REF receive academic instruction from certificated teachers in math, language arts, and science, and participate in electives, curriculum-aligned field trips, and group projects. Summer academies are especially important for the Ravenswood students who are English language learners.

​In 2016, 594 students participated in a 5 week summer program serving rising K-5 students. Data showed that more than half the students grew at least one reading level using Fountas and Pinnell Reading Assessment. In math, an average of 27% of students showed a 1 - 3 point improvement and an average of 58% of students showed a 3+ point improvement in the Marcy Cook Tiles assessment.