Rock Hill Schools reports summer programs; reading camp promoted 25 of 32 retention cases

Rock Hill Schools officials reported to the board on Aug. 26 that multiple 2025 summer programs served hundreds of students and produced measurable gains for several targeted cohorts.

Alicia Johnson, executive director of secondary education, said summer school at Northwestern hosted 187 middle school students who together completed 242 middle-school course enrollments and 161 high school students who completed 220 high-school course enrollments. "Students paid $75 for the first course and $40 for a second course, if needed," Johnson said.

Katie Barber, executive director of elementary education, described the district’s summer reading camp required under South Carolina’s Act 114. "The purpose of summer reading camp under Act 114 is to support and improve literacy outcomes for our third grade students that are not reading proficiently," Barber said. She said the program used Reading Accelerator (EPS Learning), required 96 instructional hours (16 days), and provided transportation and meals at no cost to families.

Barber told the board 94 students participated in the summer reading camp; 32 of those were mandatory-retention cases and 25 of the 32 were promoted after the program. "Of the 32 mandatory retention students, 25 of those students were promoted at the end of summer reading camp," Barber said. The district used NWEA MAP to measure progress and reported average gains of about eight points for the mandatory-retention cohort.

Board members asked for more detail about participation. Officials said 175 students were invited to the reading camp and 94 attended; district staff said families sometimes declined and the district is following up with students who did not participate. "We invited 175 students to participate with us," Barber said. "We had 94 students that participated, but 32 of those were mandatory retention students. Of those 32, 25 were promoted."

Tanya Belton, director of federal programs for Rock Hill Schools, described multilingual newcomer camps that served 60 elementary and 20 middle school students. She said three languages were represented, with Spanish the most commonly spoken and Pashto and Vietnamese also present.

Belton also summarized a Title IV-funded summer enrichment program (Student Support and Academic Enrichment grant) at Northwestern for rising sixth through ninth graders. She said 108 distinct students took part while the program filled 200 slot-weeks over three weeks. When asked about overall capacity, Belton said Northwestern had 270 slots available but funding limited programming to part-day sessions, which reduced accessibility for families needing full-day care. "We had 270 slots available and we had 200 slots filled over those three weeks," Belton said.

Board members asked the administration to revisit accessibility and outreach for spring planning so more families can take advantage of the programs. The superintendent and staff also noted community partnerships and local business support that helped underwrite camps and services.

The board received the report and did not take further formal action on the programs at the Aug. 26 meeting. The next board meeting is scheduled for Sept. 9 at 6 p.m., with the superintendent hosting roundtables for parents and staff in the interim.