Hooray for summer school!

Here's a quick shout out to MVSD teachers Kristy Caesar and Barbara Wells, as well as para-educator Tammy Hill and students Jennie Stahl (LBHS 09) and Karlee Heitman (LBHS 10) for their great work during July in our summer school program.

This was a grant-funded program that supported 21 elementary students in reading and math. The program offered 16 days of instruction, with a final day of horseback riding, singing and sandwich eating at Moccasin Lake Ranch.

Jeff Monahan added greatly to this year's program by working with kids on basic gymnastics skills. Math, reading and gymnastics -- a pretty good combination. I wonder if the kids learned how to read while doing a cartwheel. Or maybe they mastered a back flip while reciting multiplication tables. Now that would make a good YouTube video!

Seriously, though, students exiting the program showed better reading fluency and improved basic math skills. We're confident it will give them a leg up when they return to school on Sept. 2.

This program was funded by a generous private grant. We're so appreciative of private citizens and organizations that support student learning here in the valley. What a great gift -- to help a child learn.

Time Magazine published a recent piece on summer learning and how more time for kids in school is a priority for the Obama administration. Not sure what this means for the future, but it's definitely worth a conversation -- especially when you consider that Japanese and Korean students attend schools about 225 days a year, compared to 180 for the U.S.

The Time story is here: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1910973,00.html

If you live in the valley, summer school should be featured in this week's MV News. We hope to make this an annual program.