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Edina Community Education reports large summer participation, expanded camps and volunteer engagement
Summary
Community education leaders reported increased summer participation across kids club, enrichment camps and targeted programs; administrators highlighted volunteer contribution hours, new partnerships and hiring of student staff.
Community education leaders told the Edina school board on Monday that summer 2025 programming expanded in scope and participation, serving thousands of hours of student engagement and increasing volunteer and youth-staffing opportunities.
Dr. Anne Marie Leland, director of community education and strategic partnerships, and Dr. Cheryl Gunness, community engagement and purpose learning supervisor, presented participation metrics and program highlights including Ready-Set-K (a partnership with Hopkins), a nine-week kids club, week-long enrichment camps, and a targeted services program that combines social-emotional instruction with academic supports.
Leland reported that kids club ran at three sites for nine weeks and served 1,078 students in grades K–6, producing “over 220,000 hours of engagement.” Later in the presentation staff totaled summer program engagement at about 349,000 hours and staff framed that figure as the equivalent of roughly 40 years of student experiences when measured by hours.
Gunness described popular enrichment offerings — visiting artists, furniture- and instrument-making in the community woodshop, and expanded middle-school volunteer opportunities — and said space limits constrain further growth despite demand. The program reported 142 high-school volunteers and nearly 7,000 volunteer hours; staff valued that contribution at roughly $241,000 using national volunteer-rate calculations. The district also hired 24 high-school students into summer roles.
Officials said targeted services added a week this year, increased attendance by about 26 percent, and reduced transportation burdens by offering an on-site mini kids club. Staff cited partners that supported programming including Give & Go and the South YMCA and mentioned a Department of Labor and Industry grant for career-exploration internships in IT and health care.
Board members praised the programming, asked about facilities constraints and noted the link between robust summer offerings and positive enrollment trends. Administrators said facilities and custodial teams handled a large number of facility-permit requests (1,162 facility permits approved this summer) and that limited building capacity remains the primary constraint on program expansion.
