Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Summer Programs topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Thompson School District outlines expanded Summer Scholars program, targets early grades
Summary
District staff described an expanded Summer Scholars program focused on K–3 reading interventions, enrichment tied to career pathways for older grades, targeted outreach and registration steps, and tracking reforms to measure outcomes.
Thompson School District R-2J on Jan. 22 presented plans for its 2025 Summer Scholars program, emphasizing reading interventions for early grades, enrichment connected to district career pathways for older students, and new registration and tracking steps to increase impact.
Director of curriculum Tiffany Jones and Assistant Superintendent Melissa Schneider explained the district will prioritize kindergarten through third-grade students who have reading plans or received spring-bridge letters, and will target those families with direct outreach beginning Feb. 1. Elementary Summer Scholars will run June 9–27, 8 a.m.–noon, with breakfast and lunch provided; the district will limit class sizes (20 students per class, two classrooms per grade) and will open remaining seats to all district families on March 17.
Secondary and middle-school programming will operate at a consolidated site (Tentatively Thompson Career Center), with staggered hours (8:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.) and hands-on, career-connected strands. Fourth and fifth graders will have multiple pathway-themed options (for example, culinary, coding/robotics, music exposure tied to pathways) and middle-school courses (grades 6–8) will go deeper into career or technical topics and include literacy and math components.
The district reported it tracked last year’s Summer Scholars participants in EduClimber and Infinite Campus and surveyed teachers; staff said teachers reported better student preparation and academic vocabulary among attendees. Staff added a Summer Scholars curriculum writer position to ensure consistent daily lesson plans and a floating counselor role to provide behavioral supports. The district plans to hire site leaders and teachers in February and to monitor outcomes using EduClimber and Infinite Campus.
Board members praised the changes and recommended continuing emphasis on targeted recruitment of students identified as needing remediation. The superintendent and staff committed to reporting outcomes and to monitoring registration and program capacity.
Ending: Staff will proceed with outreach and hiring and return to the board with summer program enrollment figures and outcome data after the program concludes.
