By Brian LeTendre, Senior Director of Content Strategy & Development
As we approach the home stretch of any school year, conversations about the dreaded “summer slide” become more and more frequent. It’s often a deficit-based discussion, positioning summer programs as a way to stem the tide of summer learning declines, or catch up on unfinished learning. We know summer programs can play an important role in student success. Out-of-school time programs (both after-school and summer) have been shown to improve academic outcomes, reduce chronic absenteeism, and support student well-being.
So, instead of viewing summer programs as a band-aid, let’s focus more on how they can be the catalyst for a successful upcoming school year. Summer programs can offer students fun activities and rich learning experiences, while also helping them build skills and positive relationships they can carry into the new school year.
Summer Is a Time for Fun With Friends
Ask any student what they are most excited about for summer, and these will likely be the top two answers:
- “Not having school!”
- “More time with friends!”
So, how can we create summer programs that kids want to attend? By not making them feel like school and focusing on having fun with friends. This doesn’t mean we aren’t providing learning activities and opportunities–it means we are building every moment around fun with friends. That is the barometer.
Some students may have friends who are participating in the summer program with them, so we can make sure they are having fun together every day. There are also plenty of students who come to summer programs without a familiar friend, so our goal is to help them develop those relationships in an environment where they feel safe, supported, and included.
Creating Environments and Activities for Relationship-Building
Creating a safe and supportive environment for all students is foundational for successful programs. At Elevo, we have 5 Core Practices, which are infused into all of our programs and activities to create community through safe and trusting relationships.
- Warm Welcomes – We start each session with a warm welcome. This evidence-based practice supports co-regulation, helps create connection and ensure safety, and provides the foundation for a positive climate.
- Community Circles – This restorative practice creates opportunity for all students to share their voice and creates expectations for communication with a healthy and safe community. These foundational relationship skills generate a sense of safety and predictability while fostering a positive climate.
- Team Agreements – This two-step process begins with sharing norms and expectations for safety and belonging. The second step includes a collaborative discussion about how group members want to feel and what actions they will commit to taking to show they are trusted members of the group.
- Supported Transitions – This is the process of creating routines during times of unpredictability. While transitioning between activities may seem like a simple thing to do, for many children, these are the most difficult times of their day!
- Optimistic Closures – This practice intentionally highlights the individual and shared experience at the end of an experience or activity.
Whether students already know each other, or they are meeting for the first time in a program, the practices outlined above create an environment of sharing, collaboration, and safety.
We can further the relationship building in the daily activities and learning experiences we create by ensuring they are relationally-based–experiences that promote teamwork, collaborative problem solving, empathy and shared understanding.
But what does this look like? One example from our 2024 summer program featured a week themed around the Olympics. The first lesson of the week involved the students creating their own Team Agreement for the summer program as if they were an Olympic team getting ready for opening ceremonies. Students watched Olympic opening ceremonies for inspiration. They talked about the kind of experience they wanted to have with the program and one another, and what expectations they wanted everyone to follow in order to create that positive experience. Once they had created the expectations for their team, the group worked together to design a flag that would represent their group, just as flags represent countries at the Olympics.
School Is More Fun With Friends, Too
As we build summer programs for our students, we have the opportunity to create experiences that will have them looking forward to the start of school. A summer program that helps students develop positive relationships, build their own skills and confidence, and have fun while learning generates momentum for a successful year.
How Elevo Can Help
For districts still in the planning stages, our blog on summer planning is filled with tips and resources to help you create a blueprint for a successful summer program.
If your district is looking for a summer program provider, our full-service summer program brings fun, friends, and learning together all summer long. Each day features educational enrichment, sports, games and more. Each week is centered around a theme, with games, activities, and skill-building opportunities tied to that theme. This year’s weekly themes include:
- Game Maker
- Outdoor Explorers
- Color Explosion
- Comic Convention
- Gadget Lab
- Elevo’s Got Talent
- Space
From explorations of nature and outer space, to designing gadgets and showcasing their superpowers, every summer day spent with Elevo will be one to remember.
We offer full-day and half-day programs, and if your district has existing summer programs that need support, Elevo can help there as well. We have the capacity to recruit, hire, and train the staff you need. We can also provide themed enrichment activities, rotational sports programs, and more.
Learn more about Elevo’s Summer Program here: https://go.elevolearning.com/summer-program-2025
