COVINGTON, KY – The City of Covington Board of Commissioners has approved financial support to help Covington school system children.
On Tuesday evening, the Commission authorized a memorandum of agreement between the Covington Independent Public Schools (CIPS) District and the City of Covington for the coordination of the 2017 Summer Youth Program, led by Covington Partners Summer Learning Collaborative.
For the eighth year in a row, the City and CIPS District are working together to provide safe and enriching summer programming activities for Covington youth, ranging from kindergarten to eighth grade. The program will take place from June 19 through July 21, 2017.
The City will contribute $35,000 from its annual Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and $34,000 from its Recreation budget, for a total investment of $69,000 to the program.
Covington Independent Public Schools’ Director of Community & Family Engagement Stacie Strotman stated, “The partnership with the City of Covington and Covington Independent Public Schools provides our youth with the best possible summer program year after year. The Covington Summer Youth Program continues to be a model for the region, commonwealth and country.
“Students are experiencing summer gains in reading and math while enjoying project-based learning and fun fieldtrips. It is exactly what our youth need to help them continue to be successful in school and in life.”
The program was created in efforts to negate the negative effects of the “summer slide.” The term “summer slide” references the tendency for students to lose achievement gains they made during the previous school year.
Mayor Joseph U. Meyer stated, “The City recognizes the quality of education provided to our residents through the Summer Youth Program and extends its support to the school district.
“In helping to address ‘summer slide’ issues, the program provides summer time education opportunities to our children and is extremely important to the overall welfare of the City.”
The Summer Youth Program models its program around three central goals in efforts to decrease the negative effects of the “summer slide,” all the while encouraging personal and educational growth.
The three goals include the mission to provide rigorous academic support opportunities connected to the school day and to move scholars toward proficiency and college and career readiness; to create intentional opportunities for individual support and positive interactions among adults and youth to promote non-cognitive improvement of scholars; and to form and sustain partnerships that ensure strong family and community engagement.
Thanks to the Summer Youth Program, CIPS District has seen positive growth in its students’ math and reading Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) scores since 2012.
The Covington Partners Summer Learning Collaborative includes support from The Greater Cincinnati Foundation, The Center for Great Neighborhoods, Kenton County Public Library, United Way, Behringer-Crawford Museum, The Carol Ann & Ralph V. Haile, Jr. US Bank Foundation, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Cincinnati, The Carnegie, Kentucky 21st Century Community Learning Centers, Greater Cincinnati Stem Collaborative, Skool Aid, Covington Partners, Covington Independent Public Schools and the City of Covington.