The four-week "Summer Adventures in Learning" program designed to provide extended learning opportunities to students in 18 Title I elementary schools will begin on Monday, July 7, 2003. This is the second summer of operation for the free program, which will serve more than 5,000 students who will be entering kindergarten through Grade 4 in August 2003.

This unique summer initiative provides students with a half-day instructional program in the morning that is designed as an academic bridge in reading, mathematics, and language in preparation for the new school year. An afternoon recreation program with a focus on the arts and humanities also is available at each site. Bus transportation, breakfast and lunch are provided for eligible students. The students participating in the program attend the county's federally funded Title I schools, which represent the highest level of poverty in Montgomery County.

Last summer, the program enrolled more than 4,000 students. More than 75 percent of the students participated in either FARMS (free and reduced-price meals) or ESOL programs for English language learners. An evaluation of last year’s program conducted by the Montgomery County Public Schools Office of Shared Accountability found that students who attended most or all of the four-week program achieved, on average, higher levels of skill development in reading and mathematics in the first months of Grades 1, 2, and 3 than their classmates who did not attend the program. The benefits were similar across all ethnic groups.

For more information, contact:

Diana Wollin, ELO program coordinator
Division of Academic Support, Federal and State Programs
Montgomery County Public Schools Tel.: 301-279-3374