Super, Walsh laud BPS’ ‘5th Quarter’
Leaders voice confidence in kids’ summer program
Incoming Boston Public Schools Superintendent Brenda Cassellius says the city’s commitment to summer programs fits her vision for the city and Mayor Martin Walsh says it will be pivotal to her goals of closing the achievement gaps that remain among students.
“It just matches the allhands-on-deck approach that I’ve been talking about in terms of my entry plan,” Cassellius said Monday at an event with Walsh at the Franklin Park Zoo. Boston Public Schools announced 14,000 kids are slated to participate in “5th Quarter of Learning” program this summer, its highest participation ever.
“There are things in the schools that we can work on, but there are so many ways that we can partner with the community to really wrap around children in systems of families and communities and this is just such a great opportunity to demonstrate already the things that are working within Boston,” Cassellius said
The “5th Quarter” program, which began in 2009, has secured more than $20 million in public and private investments that have been used to engage over 47,000 Boston students in further learning through the summer. School officials joined students from Chittick and Harvard-Kent elementary schools at Franklin Park Zoo to launch this year’s initiative, which will feature over 160 programs.
“The biggest goal is that young people don’t lose their knowledge they gain from the school year,” Walsh told the Herald. “When they did it in 2015 our goal was 10,000 kids, we’re up to 14,000 kids and we’re trying to expand every year.”
“It’s really about closing achievement gaps,” he continued. “So when you make gains and then potentially lose ground in the summertime, that hurts the young person’s education. So, we’re trying to do more of this plus our summer job program. We have a lot of activity out there for our kids this summer.”
As the Herald reported earlier this month, school officials are grappling with how to close achievement gaps that show wide disparities among minority students. In Boston, only 24% of black and 26% of Hispanic students in grades 3 through 8 scored above grade-level proficiency in MCAS reading last year, compared to 63% of white and 62% of Asian students.
Cassellius applauded the program for spreading into “every neighborhood,” describing how similar programs impacted her education.
“I personally grew up poor and had summer opportunities myself,” she said. “I went to a summer camp and I really credit that summer camp for making a difference in my life and teaching me kind of those social emotional skills and perseverance and the mindset. It’s so wonderful to have these opportunities for children.”
Cassellius also said the fact that the “5th Quarter” program is already up and running will make it possible for her to expand it and other learning initiatives.
“It’s not something I have to create,” she said, “So, I can focus on other things and help scale and sustain this program while we create the other programs within the schools and also throughout the community that will improve student learning.”