The CDSBEO has had the opportunity to offer the Summer Learning Program across the Board for the past twelve years. This program, funded by the Council of Ontario Directors of Education (CODE), has been an integral part of building literacy and numeracy skills, as well as developing students’ STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) and coding experience. This year’s Summer Learning Program was offered in-person for all students from Kindergarten through grade 6, running from July 4 to 22. The program focused on gap closing in numeracy and literacy, with daily programming that included physical activity, art, field trips, Indigenous perspectives, and many other rich learning opportunities for students.
Superintendent of School Effectiveness, Tracy O’Brien, along with Principal of Curriculum Brenda Reil, shared highlights of the CDSBEO Summer Learning Program. The program was staffed with exceptional educators who worked continuously and creatively to ensure that students felt connected, cared for, and engaged through the summer learning experience.
“We had a wonderful group of educators that continued to collaborate and share best practices each day,” noted Superintendent O’Brien. “We were excited to be able to extend our Summer Learning Program to 21 sites across the CDSBEO. Some of our schools were not able to host programs due to summer construction projects but students from these schools were offered the chance to attend at other nearby locations.”
This year, the program had 376 students registered, and was offered to students from Kindergarten to grade 6. Each classroom was staffed with one teacher and one full-time tutor, and additional support was also provided at the board level by Special Education, Religion and Family Life, Curriculum, Indigenous Education, as well as Mental Health Professionals and Speech Language Pathologists.
To provide a baseline standard to measure individual learner needs and growth in Numeracy and Literacy, each student completed a pre-diagnostic assessment in week one and a post-diagnostic assessment in week three. A significant increase in student learning was observed in both literacy and numeracy through these assessments.
“All parents and guardians received a progress report of the areas of growth and areas for improvement for their child,” noted Principal Reil. “This report is also shared with the child’s home school teacher to support the transition back to school.”
Other facets of summer learning opportunities within the board included the parent Lunch and Learn Sessions which focused on parent strategies to facilitate student well-being. Over 300 parents registered for these sessions, which provided support on anxiety, self-regulation, and transitioning back to school.
Other opportunities included an OYAP Summer Camp for intermediate students, online summer eLearning courses for secondary students (with over 900 students enrolled), and a summer transition program to help support learners with special education needs in their transition back to school.
“It looks like this year’s Summer Learning Program offered some very exciting learning opportunities for our students,” concluded Chair Lalonde. “We appreciate all of the creativity and innovation that went into offering this program to our students.”
