Charlotte’s roster of Freedom Schools is booming

The stream of public-school students getting off the bus at the private Providence Day School last week illustrates a summer trend: Freedom Schools are popping up across Charlotte.

The schools, created by the national Childrens Defense Fund in 1992, are six-week summer programs designed to boost reading skills and self-confidence among disadvantaged children in elementary and middle school.

Staff, parents and students at Providence Day this summer joined the growing number of churches, universities and other groups hosting the schools. With 25 sites up from 15 last summer Charlottes program is the biggest in the country.

Energized by the surge of interest, Freedom School Partners aims to boost enrollment from 1,600 kids this year to 5,000 in 2016.

If we can solve summer learning loss and get kids excited about reading, we can change the world, says Executive Director Mary Nell McPherson.

With the economy still rocky, why are people stepping up to a challenge that requires an investment $60,000 for a 50-student site? The cost is $200 a week per child; families pay only a one-time signup fee of $35.

McPherson likes to talk about magic. Theres the buoyant energy of the morning Harambee ceremony, where college students lead younger children in songs and chants to psych themselves up. Theres the joy of adult volunteers reading to crowds of rapt children, who go home with arms full of books.

For the more practical-minded, theres a measurable chance to help struggling schools and students. Teachers spend nine months working to get kids up to grade level, only to watch gains slip away when summers are spent in front of TVs or video games. National research indicates that summer slippage is one of the biggest contributors to the gap in academic performance between children of poverty and their classmates from middle- and upper-income families.

Schools help Freedom Schools identify children who need some academic help and arent likely to get good summer enrichment activities otherwise. The scholars, as participants are called, spend their mornings reading, in groups and on their own, with lots of access to stories about people who have achieved success despite obstacles. Afternoons are for summer fun and educational field trips, much like other camps.

UNC Charlotte researchers have tested Charlottes Freedom School students on reading skills for the last three summers, and found that at least 90 percent held steady or saw gains.

Read the original:
Charlotte’s roster of Freedom Schools is booming