A collaboration between the Beaverton Education Foundation (BEF) and the Beaverton School District will provide 8 weeks of remote summer learning to over 600 students at 14 elementary schools, beginning June 29. Now in its eighth year, Camp Achieve aims to reduce summer learning loss by all participants, with a primary emphasis on low-income and academically at-risk students. Certified Beaverton teachers provide high quality supports in reading, writing, and math, along with weekly movement and social emotional learning activities. In addition, each participant will receive in the mail high-interest books at their independent reading level.
“Our goal for Camp Achieve is to challenge the traditional remedial model of summer school and embrace a collaboration of programs to keep kids actively engaged and preparing them to read, write, and think mathematically all summer long,” said Christy Batsell, Principal at Terra Linda Elementary.
A hybrid version of the program that incorporated remote learning was developed in 2019. Last summer a triad of schools piloted a curriculum that combined in-person activities with online learning days. Students had frequent contact with their teacher, who encouraged daily reading and writing, along with math practice on Dreambox, an online math program. Teachers worked closely with families to mentor and support parent engagement and personalize online learning. At summer’s end, students who attended the hybrid Camp Achieve maintained or improved their reading and math levels compared with their peers. The hybrid model results were so compelling that 5 additional schools applied in February to participate in Summer 2020. This year’s class includes over 600 incoming first- through fifth-graders from small, large, Title 1 and non-Title 1 schools across Beaverton. The District’s Multilingual Department provides language support for English Language Learners (ELL), migrant students, and families who speak languages other than English. BEF invested $90,000 in Camp Achieve, which is about about 90% of the program’s cost, and the remainder is covered by the Multilingual Department and a registration fee of $10 or less.