What is Brockport Summer Learning?
Brockport Summer Learning is a five-week summer program that focuses on providing high quality summer enrichment to students from the Rochester City School District to provide more equitable educational experiences for all children. Brockport Summer Learning is currently located at the First Unitarian Church of Rochester. Brockport Summer Learning is committed to the development of the whole child through focused Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), Project-Based Learning (PBL), Culturally Responsive-Sustaining (CR-S) education, literacy development, and mathematics instruction.
Brockport Summer Learning ensures a low student-to-teacher ratio along with community-based excursions that expands children’s knowledge, experiences, and confidence in a fun and educational setting. As the program continues to grow each year by a cohort of 15 children, we seek the support of area funders to continue expanding our program capacity through researched-based programs, enrichment, and qualified staff in the different areas of expertise. Brockport Summer Learning at SUNY Brockport is formerly known as Brockport Summer LEAP.
Mission Statement
Brockport Summer Learning’s mission is to provide a safe and nurturing environment for youth from the Rochester City School District to engage in high-quality summer learning experiences that promote academic, social, emotional, creative, physical, and inter- and intrapersonal development.
Goals of Brockport Summer Learning
The goals of our five-week summer enrichment program are:
- To create safe spaces for enhanced learning
-
To offer opportunities for participation in enrichment programming such as: Community-based excursions, program-wide Community Gatherings, and volunteer-led activities. It is through this range of experiences that academic concepts are introduced, practiced with authentic purposes, and applied for real world experiences. Enrichment programming is often correlated with improving school-year attendance due to:
- Improving children’s social and interpersonal skills
- Experiencing a safe summer experience
- Building self-esteem, resourcefulness, self-advocacy, and resiliency
- Supporting academic growth and retention.
We accomplish our goals through the following:
- Pre-program staff professional development
- One certified teacher and a teaching assistant for every 10 students
- Systemic implementation of best practices from CR-S education, SEL using CASEL’s 5 competencies, literacy-skill development, and Restorative Practices
- Peer-collaboration and team-oriented learning activities
- Incorporating volunteer participation to further diversify the learning experiences and interaction with the local community
- Individualized instruction informed by data
- Inquiry-based explorations integrating a range of content-area skills
- Multi-age learning groups
- Educational community-based excursions
- Daily nutritious meals and snacks
- Health and Wellness learning and activities
- Student choice time in interest areas
- Arts Integration
- Program-wide Community Gatherings
- Alignment with the Rochester Model for the 7 Guiding Principles for High-Quality Summer Learning