6 Questions to Consider When Planning for Learning in Summer School and Beyond

I was working with educators on their summer school plans recently. We were discussing what students needed first and how to meet them where they were. Without the constraints of “school” their creativity flourished: camp style, intramurals, individualized education plans, outdoor spaces, mentoring, community planning, building things, and all with a focus on building relationships, connection, and flexibility.

This conversation was inspiring because as many prepare for summer school I hear the pervasive narrative of learning loss and how we have to catch kids. Instead, these educators were so in tune with their students and teachers and knew that this was an opportunity to design for learning not out of fear. How we frame things matters and will impact our students and communities. Addressing “Learning Loss” I understand that there will be gaps in content knowledge, skills that have been out of practice (including social skills), trauma that will impact student (and adult) wellbeing and more. We are collectively exhausted from a year that took continual navigation, major pivots, and lots of loss- not just of learning — but of life, community, and a world that for better or worse we had known.