Irene King Kids Get a Jumpstart on the School Year

Editor's note: The following is a press release from Valley View School District.

With ’s Jumpstart Summer Program wrapping up this week, school officials can’t wait to measure the progress of the 60 or so first through fifth graders who participated.

“We’re finding that when kids come back to school after being off for almost three months during the summer, they slide back a little bit,” said Principal April Vacik. “At the end of the last school year we selected kids who we thought might use a little extra help preparing for the new school year.”

Starting the first week in August, 10 teachers spent two hours a day, two days a week for three weeks working on reading and math skills. At the end of each week, students took home “something simple” to work on for the next week.

Vacik says the program was “mostly skills based ... what do you need to know to be successful to enter whatever grade you’re going into,” adding the youngsters did receive some homework each week. "Something simple to hold them accountable," she said.

Initial parent reaction to the program has been positive, with several parents commenting they noticed their children using some of the strategies they learned.

“We aren’t sure what the results will be this first time around,” Vacik said. “But when we test them in September, we’ll see if it helped the kids who went.”

Teachers volunteered a portion of their time for the program. The remaining funding was covered through a Title I grant.