Summer Learning

With thousands of North Carolinians taking part in various summer learning opportunities, Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Catherine Truitt, members of the DPI team and regional staff traveled to Moore and Carteret counties as districts transitioned from the 2020-21 school year to the 2021 school extension program.

In the Sandhills, strong principal leadership in summer learning initiatives was apparent all throughout Moore county. Both principals and teachers engaged students with a variety of instruction while embedding Science of Reading practices into daily activities. To thank the hardworking educators involved in the summer learning program, principal Molly Capps of McDeed Elementary School went out of her way to celebrate and show appreciation for their work with handwritten notes upon each classroom stop.

Additionally, principal Dante Poole of Aberdeen Elementary School fostered personal connections with students to keep them engaged throughout the day. The DPI staff continued their day at Southern Middle School where inspired staff and teachers catered to the unique needs to middle school students. Cross-curricular activities created highly engaging opportunities to find purpose for each element of the class. Lastly, the day wrapped up at the Academy of Moore County where the vision of board members met the needs of all students from curriculum design to property expansion.

The DPI team continued its summer visits to Carteret County in early July. Truitt and her team visited Newport Elementary School, Newport Middle School and Broad Creek Middle School to learn about Carteret’s Camp SHINE where the importance of phonics in literacy was stressed in elementary school while incorporating math in daily middle school activities. Teachers were tremendously engaged in every classroom resulting in highly engaged and excited students.

“What stood out to me the most was the efforts the district went to, to reach out to all of the families of kids who could really benefit from a summer learning extension program,” Truitt said. “How hard the schools worked to do that outreach and the response we’ve seen clearly today from the number of kids who accepted that invitation and have continued to come to summer school every day is such a great testament to the quality of teaching that’s going on here. I particularly want to thank teachers who are so exhausted and worn out after this past year. I want to thank them for agreeing to teach summer school and to stick with their kids for a few more weeks so they can have this extended learning opportunity. It is admirable and we’re so thankful that you decided to take on this challenge for the summer.”

Now what? The atmosphere of summer learning has afforded students, teachers and administrators to see possibilities for engaging in both deeply purposeful and creative activities and lessons to entice students to continue pursuing their best path forward. The innovative activities and lessons spark continued creativity in the classroom through the 2021-22 school year to continue to reengage students with in-person learning. Further, understanding how districts are approaching summer learning and the initiatives related to learning recovery and acceleration provide a framework for improvement next summer. This fall, the Office of Learning Recovery and Acceleration will evaluate this summer’s work with the intention of scaling them to identify promising practices throughout North Carolina.

This blog is related to:

https://www.dpi.nc.gov/blog/2021/07/21/summer-learning