Richfield reports strong summer-program outcomes; 142 credits recovered and 943 students served

Richfield School Board members heard an overview of the district’s six summer programs on Aug. 18, 2025, including enrollment, attendance and academic‑growth measures. District director of extended learning Jonathan Hyer said the programs served 943 students this year and that summer credit recovery produced 142 recovered credits.

Hyer told the board the district expanded several programs by roughly a week, which staff said helped produce measurable gains. “Learning never stops,” Hyer said, describing the summer curriculum focus and the district’s aim to maintain momentum outside the regular school year.

Hyer gave the board a breakdown: the elementary summer program served just under 400 students with about 80% daily attendance; the district’s middle‑school program increased participation and was staffed almost entirely by middle‑school teachers; Richfield’s ESY (extended school year) special‑education programming served 129 students aged roughly 3 through 20; Spartan Camp, a program for incoming ninth‑graders, averaged about 39 regular attendees with nearly 80% attendance; and the Language Enrichment Academy served 81 students.

The presentation highlighted summer academics: most participating students showed growth in reading and math when comparing incoming and outgoing summer assessments. For math, Hyer said the program uses pretests and posttests tied to the summer curriculum. For reading, the district compared spring FastBridge assessment scores to summer outcomes and to targeted subskills (for example, letter sounds for rising first graders).

Credit recovery was a prominent data point. Hyer said district enrollment in credit recovery fell 6.5% but credits recovered increased 49.5%, yielding 142 credits earned during the extended summer period. He told the board the extra week for credit recovery—added after teachers requested additional time—contributed substantially to that result.

Hyer credited partners for enrichment and wraparound services: Dolores Works provided robotics, coding, soccer and other classes; the Beacons program offered full‑day activities embedded in both elementary and middle school sites; and Richfield Fund Club supplied paid childcare at certain sites.

Administrators told the board the future of some services depends on federal funding. The presentation noted that a six‑year 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant had expired and that the department does not expect new award notices soon given changes at the federal level. District staff said that without renewed 21st Century funds the district cannot guarantee free Beacons slots at all sites and is looking at paid options on a sliding scale.

As immediate next steps, administrators said they have posted a childcare supervisor position for Centennial, are surveying families through outreach staff to gauge interest in a paid program run by Community Education, and plan to expand targeted services at Centennial so families there have after‑school options.

Board members asked about assessment methods and graduation impact. Hyer explained the math pre/post approach and the use of FastBridge subtests for literacy. Regarding whether summer recovery returned seniors to on‑track status for graduation, Hyer said the program “does help with all of the graduation opportunities for seniors,” but he did not provide an exact count of individual seniors returned to on‑track status during the presentation.

District staff framed the summer report as part of an ongoing improvement cycle: refine curriculum, grow Spartan Camp enrollment, sustain partner relationships and continue data collection on attendance, growth and credits recovered.

Board chair Eric Carter thanked staff and the community partners and said the administration will continue monitoring enrollment and outcomes as the district plans for next summer.