Hopkins Public Schools previews summer programs: Freedom School expands, Camp Royal and Kids & Company scale up

Hopkins Public Schools staff detailed the district’s summer education and enrichment plans at the school board’s April 22 workshop, saying programs for children from birth through high school — plus adult enrichment offerings — are expanding and registration and contract deadlines are approaching.

The update included enrollment figures, staff plans and dates for multiple programs, and highlighted the district’s continued partnership with AmeriCorps and community organizations to deliver literacy, enrichment and childcare this summer.

Why it matters: The district’s summer programs provide academic reinforcement, credit-recovery opportunities and childcare that many families rely on. With growing enrollment in some programs and limited staffing and space, district leaders urged parents to meet registration and contract-request deadlines to secure slots and priority placement.

Mary Pirie Reid, Hopkins Public Schools superintendent, opened the presentation at the April 22 workshop and framed the work as forward-looking: “it is always exciting to look ahead at all of the summer opportunities that we make available to our students.” District staff then gave program-by-program details for families and board members.

Key program details

Royal Learning Academy (elementary focus) - Serving scholars who have just completed kindergarten through fourth grade. The presenters reported 374 enrollments, staffed by 19 teachers, two paraprofessionals and 10 AmeriCorps tutors supporting a daily literacy tutoring program. - Dates: June 16–July 25 (six weeks). The academy will offer hands-on, project-based learning and will include weekly off-campus enrichment trips. - The presenter said the AmeriCorps tutoring produced pre/post reading gains last summer in letter-sound knowledge and oral reading fluency.

High school credit recovery - Scheduled at West Middle School this summer; the district said it expects to serve about 400 scholars in an 18-day program where students can earn up to four credits. - District impact reporting cited the 2024 credit-recovery cohort: the presenters reported 593 scholars enrolled in 2024 and that, of attempted credits, 626 were earned out of 988 attempted (figures provided from the district’s impact summary).

Children’s Defense Fund Freedom School (expanded) - The Freedom School program will expand to serve scholars who have completed kindergarten through eighth grade and will be hosted at North Middle School. The presenters reported 225 scholars currently enrolled for the summer program. - The curriculum combines an integrated reading curriculum with enrichment partners, including Junior Achievement (financial literacy), the Sani Foundation, and SRF Consulting (civil-engineering activities). The program will again include junior servant-leader interns drawn from past Freedom School participants. - Program outcomes cited for 2024: the district reported that among 170 scholars (grades 3–8) who took the national assessment, 85% “either maintained or improved their instructional reading levels” and did not experience summer learning loss. The district said scholars read an average of 12.1 books during the six-week program and reported high family satisfaction on surveys.

Community Education offerings (birth to adult) - Early childhood: ECFE (parents/caregivers) classes will serve about 64 families; summer preschool sites include Harley, Alice Smith, Gatewood and Meadowbrook (Meadowbrook added a second summer class because of demand). Schedules range from four to nine weeks to meet family needs. - Camp Royal and secondary enrichment: The department will offer 287 camps total, including an expanded slate of 52 camps targeted at secondary students. The presenters reported roughly 1,938 youth enrollments in programs that run Monday–Thursday from June 10 through Aug. 14, with in-house staff training on June 9. - Kids & Company (before/after childcare) and Blink: The district said it is “slated to serve just under 690 youth across the district” for full-day care (7 a.m.–6 p.m.), June 16–Aug. 15, with weekly field trips and a relaunch of a handmade market whose proceeds will support a youth enrichment scholarship fund. - New and returning items: swim lessons and open swim, “Emergency Room 101” hands-on anatomy/science for elementary students, and a field-trip week Aug. 18–20 to fill a gap between staff training and summer offerings.

Adult enrichment and other items - Adult classes and trips include day trips (Saint Croix River cruise, Split Rock Lighthouse, Medicine Lake), a behind-the-scenes Twins stadium tour and a new adult “horse camp.” The district will also run summer GED and ESL offerings online (June 9–July 3) and a GED graduation ceremony June 20 at 7 p.m., sponsored by the Minnetonka Rotary Foundation. - The Hopkins Education Foundation (HEF) continues to fund classroom “spark grants”; presenters said HEF recently awarded six spring grants totaling more than $20,000 to support ACT prep, 3-D recycling projects, culinary supplies, orchestral programming, adaptive recreation equipment, and translated materials for school sites.

Registration, priority placement, and deadlines - Community education staff stressed the importance of the contract-request window for Kids & Company and other priority placement processes. Presenters said a priority contract-request window was open and will close at 11:59 p.m. on the announced Friday; families who miss the window may still request placement but will be added to waitlists and placed on a first-come, first-served basis. - School-year registration for 2024–25 was noted to open July 14. The district also announced a free family preview event, Royal Family Fund Day, on May 18 at North Middle School.

Program evaluation and crossover with schools - Speakers described Freedom School as using an “Afrocentric” integrated reading model and community-driven enrichment that the presenters said reduces or prevents summer learning loss; the program includes intensive training for leaders and invites community read-aloud volunteers. - Presenters said some student leaders who started in Freedom School have progressed through teacher-preparation programs and will return with teaching licenses, strengthening the pipeline between summer programs and school-year instruction.

What the board directed or noted - No board votes were taken on programming at the April 22 workshop. Presenters were asked to provide comparative summer-learning-loss statistics on request; staff said they would follow up with those figures.

Practical takeaways for families - Note program dates (example: Royal Learning Academy, June 16–July 25; Kids & Company, June 16–Aug. 15; Camp Royal, June 10–Aug. 14). - Watch the district website for registration opening dates (school-year registration: July 14) and contract-request deadlines (Kids & Company priority window ending the specified Friday at 11:59 p.m.).

The board meeting packet and slides listed site-specific schedules, enrollment counts and program contacts. Staff said they will circulate links for volunteer opportunities (for example, read-aloud guests for Freedom School) and provide follow-up statistics and outreach to families who asked for additional outcome measures.

Ending note: The district framed the summer offerings as an instructional extension and community support system aimed at preventing summer learning loss, providing childcare and enrichment, and expanding adult and family learning opportunities. The board and staff invited families to May and June preview events and encouraged early contract requests and registration to secure spaces.