Boston Public Schools partner with the Cape Verdean Association during the city's summer program for students. Photo: Jared Brosnan/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — While summer means time off from school for most students, it also means more learning opportunities for thousands of other Boston Public School students.
The city's 5th Quarter Summer Program is free and operates five days a week for five weeks over the summer.
It combines academics with hands-on activities like STEM, arts, and sports.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said the summer learning program is a critical component of a student's opportunity for educational growth. "We have to keep this progress going," she said. "We have 8,000 students who are in our 5th Quarter Learning Program where there is learning and enrichment. We have 5,600 students in our Summer Learning Academy. We have more than 10,000 students doing paid summer jobs."
At the Cape Verdean Association of Boston, which partners with BPS during the summer program, Viviana is teaching a College Readiness course. "We also want them to grow academically, also personally, and socially. So, there's a lot of group activity as well as individualism."
BPS Superintendent Mary Skipper said the summer learning program benefits students as they head into the fall. "They're going to go back stronger students," she said. "They're going to go back feeling connected, they will have practiced their own language, they will have practiced English, they will have learned new skills, they will have made new friends, and that's what this is about."
WBZ NewsRadio's Jared Brosnan (@JaredBrosnanWBZ) reports.