Students in Pawtucket and Central Falls among those eligible for summer learning programs

By SANDY McGEE

WOONSOCKET — Youth in four urban communities, including Pawtucket and Central Falls, will have the chance to continue learning this summer even after the final school bell rings.

“Learning happens throughout the year, not just when school is in session,”  said Deborah Gist, the state’s new Education Commissioner.
Gist, along with Gov. Donald L. Carcieri and other officials, announced the kickoff on Tuesday of five new learning programs that will be held this summer in Providence, Woonsocket, Central Falls and Pawtucket. The announcement was made at a press conference held Tuesday at RiverzEdge, a youth arts program in downtown Woonsocket.
“Summer should be an important learning time and these programs will identify best practices around summer learning,” Gist said. “What we learn from these programs is invaluable as we move ahead to support and improve education in Rhode Island.”
Gist will begin serving as commissioner of elementary and secondary education today. The press conference on Tuesday was Gist’s first visit to the City of Woonsocket, she said.
According to the Nellie Mae Educational Foundation report, “The Learning Season,” students from low-income families lose about two months of grade level equivalency in math and reading over the summer. This learning loss leads to a growing acheivement gap between lower and higher income students.
The goal of these five summer projects is to mitigate summer learning loss through programs that connect in-school summer programs with community-based learning.
“Summer learning is a much more important part of education than most people think,” said Nellie Mae Education Foundation President and CEO Nicholas C. Donohue.
“The experiences our children and youth will have in this program will last a lifetime,” said Carcieri. “Not only will they be better prepared for the next school year, they will make memories of summer that every child and youth should have.”
Approximately 750 children in grades 4 to 8 will participate in the five programs. Each program was awarded a $60,000 grant by the  Nellie Mae Education Foundation.
The programs will be managed and provided with training and technical assistance by the Rhode Island Afterschool Plus Alliance (RIASPA).
They will be held in collaboration with the Providence After School Alliance; Connecting for Children and Families (CCF), which is headquartered in Woonsocket; SCOPE 21st Century Community Learning Center and the Central Falls School District; Pawtucket School Department Child Opportunity Zone; and the Boys and Girls Club of Pawtucket.
The programs will combine traditional educational subjects, such as math and science, with diverse activities, such as theater, karate and even “tchoukball,” a no-contact sport that originated in Switzerland.
“These programs are unique because they are purposely designed to increase partnerships between community-based organizations and schools,” said Sarah Cahill, executive director of RIASPA. “We know that students get more out of a program when the program curriculum is closely aligned with the school. These programs will identify best practices for increasing those partnerships.”
Speakers on Tuesday also included Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline; Thomas M. Brady, superintendent of Providence Public Schools; and Terese Curtin, executive director of CCF.
The summer learning programs will begin on various dates, starting on June 29, and will run for nearly five weeks in July and August.
For more information about the programs, visit the RIASPA Web site at www.afterschoolri.org.
The Rhode Island Afterschool Plus Alliance is a statewide advocacy organization whose mission is to influence public policy to expand and support high-quality expanded learning opportunities.
The Nellie Mae Education Foundation, a philanthropy that focuses exclusively on education, provides grants and other support to education programs and organizations. Since established in 1998, the foundation has distributed nearly $98 million in grants.