Weekly Media Roundup: July 22, 2020

ACPS’s Summer Learning Classes Aid Coronavirus Learning Slump, Local DVM (Virginia)

This summer, Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) in Virginia are offering free virtual summer learning classes to all students to keep them engaged, academically enriched, and connected to one another. Students are participating in project-based learning using materials included in instructional kits from the school. “It is a partnership now. The coronavirus has given us an opportunity to really build a community around the families and the children and the resources that we are providing,” ACPS Summer Learning Coordinator Dr. Alicia Kingcade told Local DVM.

Virtual Programs in Flint Help Fight Summer Learning Loss, Flint Side (Michigan)

Students in Flint, Michigan, are engaging in a wide variety of virtual learning opportunities this summer. For example, the Flint Repertory Theatre is helping students in middle and high school develop their voices through online theater classes. The Flint and Genesee Literacy Network is also hosting online activities including journaling, virtual story time with local authors, digital literacy activities and more. “Schools can’t do it alone,” author Danielle Green told Flint Side. “The Literacy Network’s programs aren’t just about math, science, and English. They add a component of fun.”

The Club of Dayton Looks Toward the Next School Year, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin (Washington)

The Club of Dayton in Walla Walla, Washington, hosts a robust, daily afterschool program focused on social and emotional learning for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The program is currently closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, but program staff are planning to open in the fall with extensive cautionary measures including masks and social distancing. The Club hopes the program will be a place of respite and enrichment for children after a turbulent spring and summer. “Many of the kids here have experienced a lot of trauma, so their version of normal is very different. To accommodate that, flexibility is key. We treat them as individuals, we mentor them and offer them a positive experience with an adult,” Director of Program Operations Jim Pearson told the Walla Walla Union Bulletin.

Missoula YMCA Offers Summer Camp to Help Prevent Summer Learning Loss, NBC Montana (Montana)

Students in first through fifth grades in Missoula, Montana, are spending the summer journaling, working on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) projects, reading literature, making crafts and more at the Missoula YMCA’s Camp Imagination. The summer learning program is operating with limited capacity, extra sanitation, masks and more during the pandemic.  “We're focusing on reducing that summer learning loss,” Associate Director of School Age Programs Tyler Taylor told NBC Montana, as well as exposing students “to new things and ideas that they necessarily wouldn’t be able to have a chance to do in other camps.”