The key to a successful summer school program lies in creating a fun and engaging atmosphere
By Nazarul Islam | USA
Summer schools in the US have impacted both—academic progress and social-emotional development. While some (school) districts in the country offer summer programs for academic recovery, particularly after the last pandemic, research indicates that developing such programs may not always be effective in reversing learning loss.
The big question therefore arises: Is summer school effective? Yes or no? Summer school is often associated with bored students staring out the window, but it can also be a source of enrichment and beneficial experience. It can assist students compensate for learning losses during the year, improve their grades, take specialized classes, and prepare them for college. However, research shows that summer school is ineffective in achieving these goals.
What should be our Summer Strategies?
The key to a successful summer school program lies in creating a fun and engaging atmosphere, offering a variety of subjects and activities, focusing on building relationships with students, removing barriers for families, providing perks for teachers, considering in-person options, like ‘bridging the gap to the next school year’ and lastly ensuring that students are prepared for the curriculum and expectations of the next grade level-through realistic expectations.
Ultimately, summer school aims to be one of several strategies to help students catch up and keep them engaged.
Why attendance matters?
A lively and encouraging environment must be created to boost attendance at summer schools. Despite the threat of being held back, it can be challenging to entice students to consistently attend summer school. This is due to the sunny summer weather and the fact that other students are out having fun and not attending school.
Some Tips for Summer Schools:
To make summer schools more appealing, it is essential to provide incentives for attendance. Students who do not show up will certainly not benefit from the learning experience. There are two key aspects to consider and accomplish this. The primary incentive goes beyond traditional subjects like math and reading, and further, offers a variety of activities such as music, art, dance, and field trips to engage the students.
For instance, schools could also organize a painting session, a music performance, or a dance workshop. Secondly, learning institutions must focus on building positive relationships between students and teachers, as research has shown that attendance increases when students have a strong connection with their teachers. By implementing these strategies, summer school attendance can be improved.
What are the options available to Summer School?
We must face the truth. After the end of academic year, and early in June, teachers and students will likely experience a ‘burn-out.’ The idea of summer school doesn’t really appeal to anyone. Instead of traditional summer schools, schools could offer tutoring sessions focusing on specific subjects. Teachers and students only need to attend these sessions for an hour a couple days a week, relieving stress for participants on both sides.
Summer camps or parallel programs have offered academic skills, along with other outdoor activities. Students who qualify for extended school year services (ESY) may attend through June to receive additional help. Several online learning programs can also be utilized. In 2025, we do have options and alternatives to traditional summer school, and that is indeed a positive outcome.
What is the Reality?
It is important to maintain realistic expectations for summer school. Research indicates that it usually doesn’t yield significant learning improvements, which is acceptable if we align our expectations accordingly. Although it may be tempting to believe that summer school can address substantial learning gaps, it is more realistic to focus on preventing the summer slide and achieving modest progress in preparing students for the upcoming school year.
Today, Summer schools in the US are evolving to address the needs of students in various ways. While academic recovery remains a priority, schools are also recognizing the importance of social-emotional learning and enrichment activities. By providing high-quality summer learning experiences, schools can benefit students directly, to make the most of their summer break and prepare them for future success.
It is therefore imperative our Read School leaders should consider summer programs as one of many thought out strategies aimed to assist students in catching up, rather than relying solely on them. Additionally, we teachers need to remember that besides academic progress, summer school aims to focus on, and offer ‘intangible benefits’-such as improved social skills, increased self-confidence, and enhanced teacher and peer relationships-which can positively impact the next academic year
A need to design programs responsive to the family needs
Sunny Larson, the K-12 program director for Bloomberg Philanthropies had recently mentioned that school leaders should take parental needs—including transportation, timing, and meals—into account when designing and implementing summer programs. For example, many schools have offered both half- and full-day summer schedules.
All of us with children share the feeling that having a child go to the participating summer schools for four hours is just like—well, does it matter? For obvious reasons, it doesn’t help us in life, be it for child care or for planning.
An example was created to facilitate programs further, through some New York City programs which have stepped forth to provide subway travel vouchers, both for the student and an adult, to ensure that’s families could encourage younger students in attending the program safely. Most have provided meals or snacks, using either program funds or federal summer meal support for students who qualified.
Far too often parents have not considered [summer school] or failed to conduct it in a comprehensive way. Summer school has also been thought of as a punitive thing, and all about remediation.
As American families struggle to get their children into the classroom, the trend further identifies itself as their collective desire to have access to strong academics. However, as teachers we do need to focus on things that aim to make learning exciting and fun, in a bid to get kids to attend on a regular basis, and furthermore, get the schools to be motivated into participation, in order to sort of have an ethos of summer learning that would lead to a great experience for all of us who are concerned.
As an elementary school teacher I believe that ensuring continuity from the school year to the summer program remains critical to summer engagement. Perhaps one can visualize an incredible benefit from children attending schools in the country, and further maintaining consistent relationships in the summer with teaches who taught them during the school year.
In many ways, I believe attendance is connected to showing up for the people that you know and love within and outside of our classrooms.
Read: A fly in my soup…
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The Bengal-born writer Nazarul Islam is a senior educationist based in USA. He writes for Sindh Courier and the newspapers of Bangladesh, India and America. He is author of a recently published book ‘Chasing Hope’ – a compilation of his articles.
