Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Summer Programs topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
District 300 presents summer programs report: ESY gains, internships and thousands of participants
Summary
District 300 staff summarized the 2025 summer programs across special education ESY, middle- and high-school credit recovery and enrichment, CTE camps, internships, athletics and arts; presenters provided participation counts, outcome stats and next steps for remaining summer activities.
District 300 staff delivered a broad summary of the district’s 2025 summer programs during the July 22 Community Unit School District 300 Board of Education meeting, highlighting special education Extended School Year (ESY) services, academic recovery and enrichment, career technical education (CTE) camps, internships, athletics and arts programming.
Presenters Nikki Woodbury and Shelley Natt said the 2025 summer offerings served students from early childhood through high school and up to age 22 for students receiving special education services. The ESY program, which provides continued services for students with IEPs, integrated academic instruction in reading and math with life-skills and community-based learning; presenters reported that 91 percent of ESY participants demonstrated measurable growth toward their IEP goals. The presenters said 513 eligible students took part in summer school across five sites and that staff support included "2,214 professionals" and eight high school interns.
Middle- and high-school summer programs operated from Dundee-Crown High School and were described as offering flexible pathways for credit recovery, acceleration and enrichment. Presenters reported enrollment figures that were read in the meeting as "12 19" students who collectively completed "19 71" course sections; the presenters also listed course-delivery breakdowns described in the transcript and said 11 students earned high school diplomas through summer instruction and 11 eighth-grade students completed required coursework for promotion.
The Summer Scholars program focused on math standards for students entering grades 1–8 and combined instruction with hands-on STEM through a partnership with Scitech; the presenters said just over 700 students participated across eight sites. Career and technical education (CTE) weeklong camps at each high school drew 340 registrations and 210 attendees, demonstrating interest in pathways such as welding, automotive technology, robotics, woodworking, engineering, coding and digital media.
The district reported 63 student internships organized with Northern Kane County Education for Employment and the Alignment Collaborative; each student who completed 60 internship hours received a $900 stipend, the presenters said. As of July 1, more than 1,500 students were registered for summer athletic camps hosted across the three high schools’ feeder patterns. Summer fine-arts programming included two sessions serving 131 students, and the district awarded five scholarships for access. Read 300, the district’s summer reading initiative in partnership with eight public libraries and the District 300 Foundation, had 955 registered participants across all 27 schools and will continue through Aug. 25, with final participation numbers to be reported then.
Presenters described the summer portfolio as intended to close academic gaps, support career-readiness and provide enrichment and community partnerships. Board members asked routine operational questions during the meeting; presenters closed by inviting questions and feedback and by thanking staff, partners and families for supporting the programs.
