Summer programs extend school year

SVVSD

Project Launch helps kids build skills and develop good habits

Future first grader Luna Macias, right, works on i-Ready reading assignments during St. Vrain Valley School District’s Project Launch program Wednesday at Eagle Crest Elementary School in Longmont. PHOTOS BY MATTHEW JONAS — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

FIRST GRAD TEACHER LEXI REDMOND WORKS WITH A GROUP ON READING SKILLS DURING THE ST. VRAIN VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT PROJECT LAUNCH PROGRAM WEDNESDAY AT EAGLE CREST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN LONGMONT.

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By Amy Bounds

abounds@prairiemountainmedia.com

Summer school students at Longmont’s Eagle Crest Elementary are taking part in an all-school read-aloud of a story about a snake who rescues other animals, learning about space through a visit from Fiske’s traveling, inflatable planetarium, and competing in STEM building challenges.

Along with the fun activities, they’re working with teachers in small groups to learn the math and literacy skills they struggled with last school year, giving them extra time to get ready to move to the next grade.

“We have kids who come back year after year,” Eagle Crest Principal Amanda Holden said. “When kids want to be here, it’s the best thing. They can continue to develop school habits and a stronger connection to school.”

St. Vrain Valley piloted Project Launch in 2019, then skipped a year in 2020 because of the pandemic. Students are attending a full day of school, four days a week, in June for a total of 16 days. There’s no cost to families, and breakfast, lunch and transportation are provided.

“It’s an extension of the school year for kids who need to build on those math and literacy skills or need a little bump of confidence,” said Project Launch Elementary Director Cathy O’Donnell.

Project Launch’s $3.5 million cost is funded through a mix of school district general funds, Colorado READ act funds, federal special education funds and a Colorado Academic Accelerator Grant. Classes are taught by about 350 teachers, who are helped by para-educators and high school and college students in the district’s P-TEACH teacher preparation program. Class sizes are small, generally around 15 students.

The elementary program enrolls about 2,350 elementary students at 14 school sites. Another 70 students in special education attend a summer Extended School Year program and are integrated into some Project Launch classes. There’s also a modified version of the summer program for students displaying dyslexic characteristics.

For middle school, about 580 rising middle school students are attending summer classes at eight school sites, allowing them to get extra support before entering the next grade. The middle school program also includes an accelerated math option for incoming sixth graders. And, at four middle schools, about 260 students are attending a similar June program called STEM Accelerator Project Launch.

The STEM version is paid for through the Colorado Academic Accelerator Grant, which covers afterschool and summer learning programs at those four schools through June 2027. The summer program focuses on teaching students key grade level math concepts and skills, as well as providing project-based learning experiences.

This summer’s students are working on a project that combines math and pickleball by designing and building a mini pickleball court at their schools, then using the court to play the game. Smaller projects have included VEX robot challenges, egg drops and a musical instrument building challenge. St. Vrain’s Cyber Explorer also visited each site.

The regular Project Launch curriculum focuses on math and literacy, with teachers incorporating science and social studies concepts that students will learn in the fall into their lessons.

At Eagle Crest, Ellen Pickels is in her second year teaching in Project Launch. She was a para-educator at Eagle Crest who is finishing her master’s degree in education and will teach at Erie’s Highlands Elementary in the fall.

“Project Launch is a great way to get more teaching experience in a fun atmosphere,” she said. “I want to give the students more background knowledge so when they start the next grade, they can engage more. I’m definitely seeing growth.”

At Soaring Heights PK-8 in Erie, the 60 Project Launch middle school students go through 90 minute blocks of math, language arts and electives. Some of the eighth graders also are helping out with the elementary students as an elective.

On a recent day, teacher Erin Barela started her rising sixth grade language arts class with a grammar warm up, then read a chapter of “Wonder” out loud while her students followed along with a digital copy on their iPads. At the end, students could work on space research projects.

She picked “Wonder,” she said, because it offers an opportunity to talk about friendship, kindness and the importance of being yourself. After reading about how the main character was hurt by students saying mean things when they didn’t know he could overhear, she told her students that “if you are ever saying something mean spirited about someone else, remember words hurt. We need to be kind.”

With rising sixth graders, she said, she also realized she needed to add basic middle school skills to her summer lessons, such as how to send an email to a teacher. During the school year, she teaches eighth grade language arts.

“Middle school is a big change,” she said. “My hope is they feel more confident.”