Teachers from Boulder’s Whittier elementary school visit neighborhoods weekly in the summer with bins of books, lending them to about 30 children.
The aim of the program is to make sure the children, many of whom come from lower-income families, have books to read and to keep them engaged in learning.
The teachers also offer snacks, encouragement and the opportunity to talk about what they’re reading.
“They know that someone cares about their learning and is excited to see them,” said Whittier principal Becky Escamilla. “The kids love it.”
Research that shows summer vacation leads to a major learning loss for low-income students is pushing local schools to do more in the summer — and work harder to connect with incoming students before they start school later this month.
“It’s just a huge missed opportunity for kids,” said Sarah Pitcock, senior director of program quality at the National Summer Learning Association. “Every child deserves a memorable summer. Middle- and higher-income kids are getting that. Lower-income kids aren’t.”
A study by Johns Hopkins University sociologist Karl Alexander found the academic skills of low-income students improve at close to the same rate of their more advantaged peers during the school year.
But in summer, middle- and high-income children continue to improve, while low-income children don’t.
The study found that the more advantaged students went to the library in the summer. They took trips to museums. They took swimming or gymnastics lessons. They went to camps and on trips.
Low-income students, in contrast, were less likely to have those experiences.
That “summer slide” in elementary school, researchers say, also contributes significantly to the achievement gap and can affect whether a child graduates from high school.
Escamilla said early readers — who read at least 30 books over the summer — don’t lose ground on their reading levels when tested in August.
Jaymee Repetto, whose 6-year-old son, Tristen, is a regular on Friday book days, said he has a lot of books at home but benefits from the extra variety.
Rewards for reading books give him extra motivation, and he has also had the chance to meet some of the teachers for the coming year.
“It makes him pretty excited for school,” Repetto said.
