Newport‑Mesa reports expanded summer programs; students earned nearly 6,000 credits

Newport‑Mesa Unified School District officials on Wednesday reported results from the district's 2024 summer programs, saying a mix of preschool, elementary, secondary and special‑education offerings reached thousands of students and produced measurable academic and social gains.

Kathleen Leary described preschool summer programs at three sites and enrollment details; district staff later said the elementary Summer Scholars Academy served about 2,000 students across five host sites. Christy Flores told the board the district piloted a targeted reading intervention for incoming second graders using the district's adopted Heggerty/Bridge to Reading materials in daily 12–20 minute small groups over approximately 18 days.

"We were still pleased with the progress that we saw from our students," Flores said, describing gains in phonemic awareness, phonics and reading of connected text.

At the secondary level, staff said the district consolidated programs at Newport Harbor and Costa Mesa and served just over 1,400 students, emphasizing in‑person instruction for core courses rather than primarily online delivery. District presenters reported that students earned nearly 6,000 credits over the summer and that class sizes averaged about 14 with 62 teachers providing instruction.

Special education staff summarized Extended School Year (ESY) services for learners ages 3 to 22. "We had 346 students between ages 3 to 22 participate in our ESY program," a presenter said, noting increased staffing and added professional development to support the work.

The Summer Language Academy — held at Costa Mesa Middle School — served about 60 students in seven home languages, the presenters said. The district identified the languages as Arabic, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, Mandarin, Bulgarian and Ukrainian and said the program awarded elective credits to participating high school students.

Trustees asked detailed questions about the program data. Trustee Anderson pressed staff to explain differences between pre/post results at two elementary pilot sites; staff said attendance, student entry levels and the number of students with perfect attendance were important factors. Staff committed to provide the full parent and staff surveys and additional disaggregated attendance data.

Trustees praised the presentations and asked staff to continue refining attendance policies and outreach to maximize impact.

The board did not take a policy action on the presentation; staff will provide additional survey and attendance details on request.