Students Impacted By Remote Learning Will Have Summertime Help

Governor Charlie Baker on Friday announced a slew of expanded summer learning programs aimed at helping students who have been impacted by a year of remote and hybrid learning, as reported by WWLP/22 News Springfield.

Gov. Baker, along with Lt. Governor Karyn Polito, Secretary of Education James Peyser, and Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley, spoke Friday morning at a middle school in Canton.

Along with many other items on the agenda, Baker had this to say:

After a year of so much remote and hybrid learning, we think it's crucial to give people these learning opportunities and to give kids a chance to participate in them across Massachusetts. While we obviously can't make up for all of the days that have been lost to the classroom celebrations that have been missed, we can make up for some of the missed learning opportunities.

Gov. Baker also announced more than $70 million for summer learning programs. There will be a "full menu of options" for school districts to choose from to offer students at every grade level opportunities to take part in a mix of academic and recreational programs.

Keep in mind that these options are not only for schools, but also community colleges, after-school providers, and recreation sites.

The programs include Acceleration Academies, grants for small classes that work on one subject, Summer School Matching Grants, four to six-week-long programs with academic and recreational activities, and Summer Acceleration to College, which provides recent graduates with free credit-bearing math and English courses.

The Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) will also support school districts to offer Summer Step Up. Summer Step Up is a new program aimed at young children entering school in the fall.

The programs will be paid for through state and federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Response discretionary funding.

Please visit WWLP's website here for more on the story.