shows that at least a third of participants struggled to feel optimistic, assert themselves or take an interest in learning — nearly twice the number from 2019.
While she acknowledged those harms will take years to correct, Skipper said that makes successful summer learning — that is fun but challenging, communal and constructive, and well-attended — all the more important. The city’s “5th Quarter” programming is run by a network of community groups, city services and nonprofits, and includes enrichment experiences and pre-kindergarten programs along with the “credit recovery” of traditional summer school.
“The challenge is great,” Peyser said. “We can’t make up for lost instructional time all at once. The only way we’ll get there is to expand the time they have to learn during the year — the whole year.”