Editor’s note: The following op-ed was written by Sonia Delgado, board chair of the Princeton Area Community Foundation (PACF), and Nelida Valentin, vice president of grants and programs for PACF. It originally appeared on the news website NJ Spotlight.
For the second year in a row, the Princeton Area Community Foundation plans to award Summer Initiative Grants to nonprofits serving vulnerable children.
There is a critical need for summer programming for families in our region. Studies show such programs can help stem summer learning loss for children living in poverty, and that can have a lasting, positive impact on their lives.
Our nonprofits recognize the need to engage students over the summer, and so do we. That’s why we support these programs. But the needs in the community continue to rise. A snapshot of just seven of the 26 programs we supported last year showed they reached 277 children, but with more funding, those seven organizations could have enrolled more than double that number.
Our nonprofit leaders tell us demand for their services has been steadily increasing since the pandemic and in many cases, their financial resources are stretched thin.
That’s why we’re calling on other funders, community leaders and policymakers to help make summer initiatives available to more young people.
Lagging test scores
About one-third of public school students in Mercer County are economically disadvantaged, according to the latest School Performance Reports, released in April by the state Department of Education.
Additionally, far too many of our students are not showing proficiency in essential subject areas, according to standardized tests results.
In Mercer County, proficiency rates for English language arts in K-12 districts range from a high of 78.3% to a low of 10.7%.
Less than half of our public K-12 school districts — four — have proficiency rates above 65% for students in grades 3 through 9, according to the state’s 2022-2023 Student Learning Assessment test results.
The numbers for third graders are even more alarming: Only four districts in Mercer County had proficiency rates above 50%, with the highest just under 67%.
That means in the majority of our communities, less than half of third graders in public schools were meeting expectations for English language arts. Those students were in kindergarten when the pandemic began and schools shut down.
The ability to read at grade level by the end of third grade is crucial. Through third grade, students are learning to read; after third grade, they begin reading to learn.
Third-grade reading levels are an early predictor of drop-out rates, and poverty compounds the problem.
“One in six children who are not reading proficiently in third grade do not graduate from high school on time, a rate four times greater than that for proficient readers,” according to a synopsis of studies on the Regional Educational Laboratory Program website. “For children who were poor for at least a year and were not reading proficiently in third grade, the proportion that don’t finish school rose to 26 percent.”
Uneven access
Summer programs can make a difference, but summer programs are out of reach for too many of our families. For some parents, the cost is too high. Transportation may also be a barrier. Other families may struggle to find programs for their teens and tweens.
“Summer enrichment programs play a key role in cognitive, academic, social, and physical development (but) … opportunities are not evenly or equitably distributed. Low-income children and children of color are much less likely to have access to summer enrichment because of cost and availability, depriving them of these critical learning opportunities,” according to a study, “The Evidence Base for Summer Enrichment and Comprehensive Afterschool Opportunities,” on the National Summer Learning Association website. “These conclusions were made before the COVID-19 crisis, but they are even more relevant in dealing with the recovery and needed acceleration.”
Summer learning loss can have lifelong consequences
“By the fifth grade, summer learning loss can leave low-income students 2 1/2 to 3 years behind their peers,” according to the National Summer Learning Association. “Students who fall behind over the summer are less likely to graduate from high school or go on to college.”
Students who don’t finish high school are more likely to earn lower wages and have more health problems in adulthood, studies show.
Looking for partners
The Community Foundation’s Summer Initiative Grants are awarded to nonprofits through our Community Impact Grants Fund. Last year, we awarded $250,000 in grants to 26 organizations, and in 2021, we used our COVID-19 Relief and Recovery Fund to award $199,000 in grants to 25 organizations that were providing summer enrichment programs for 2,900 students to offset learning loss as a result of the pandemic shutdown.
Our 2023 Summer Initiative Grants made a difference in the lives of many of our young people. Some nonprofits offered free programs, while others used their grants to provide scholarships for students whose families couldn’t afford the cost of attendance. Some organizations used funding to offer extended hours, allowing children to participate in more activities and giving parents the ability to work longer hours.
At some programs, students received meals and transportation for field trips. Students participated in a variety of activities, including academic programs, such as social-emotional learning, robotics, reading, math and financial literacy lessons. Nonprofits also offered an array of fun activities, including sports programs, swimming, arts and crafts and photography.
At one six-week program, students spent an average of 100 hours on academic learning, 45 hours in recreational activities and 48 hours on field trips. At another, students enjoyed their robotics lessons so much that they asked for the classes to be extended to the organization’s after-school program.
Nonprofit staff also noted that field trips helped students explore new environments and provided some relief from burnout that began during the pandemic and still lingers.
As we roll out our 2024 Summer Initiative Grants, we are asking other funders, community leaders and policymakers to join us in expanding these efforts. We want to ensure that all young people in our region have access to enriching summer opportunities. Together, we can make a lasting change for the children in our communities.
To learn more about our Community Impact Grants program or to make a gift to the Community Impact Grants Fund, visit the Community Foundation website at www.pacf.org.
For more from NJ Spotlight, visit www.njspotlightnews.org.
