The sounds of Spanglish float down the hallway from Vanesa Torres Gutierrez’s summer kindergarten classroom at Lincoln Elementary School in Corvallis.
“Manos on your cabezas!” Gutierrez says.
Reading aloud Mo Willems’ classic “Should I Share My Ice Cream?”, Torres Gutierrez sprinkles in words like helado and elephante. She’s preparing her students, most of whom don’t speak Spanish at home, for the immersion program they’ll start this fall.
Her students are getting a running start. Not all Oregon kindergartners-to-be are so fortunate.
State funding earmarked for summer school programming in Oregon was just $30 million this year. All 197 school districts applied for a share of that money. But only 22%, all high-poverty districts, got the grants.
Corvallis wasn’t among them.
Districts that still wanted to offer summer programming had to get creative. In Corvallis, the district foundation — which raises money from donors to support students and teachers — stepped in with $165,000.
The foundation’s executive director, Angela Hibbard, says that investment is a no-brainer.
“We’ve seen our graduation rates climb dramatically in our district,” said Hibbard. “Certainly providing support to students in the summer is one significant thing that’s been driving that needle.”
But not all districts have access to the same resources. Foundation funding requires consistent commitments and some deep-pocketed donors.
Meanwhile, over the past few years, state funding for summer programs has been inconsistent.
After the pandemic closed down school buildings, taking a toll on academics and student mental health, state lawmakers poured almost $200 million into summer school in 2021, and another $150 million a year later.
In 2023, funding cratered.
State lawmakers said they weren’t seeing enough results from their big investment. Summer school supporters argued they weren’t given enough time to develop their summer programming and that some of its benefits — like social and emotional growth — are hard to quantify.
About 110 students are attending Corvallis High School this summer, where they get free breakfast, lunch and snacks. They’re spending the summer making up credits they didn’t finish during the school year, keeping them on track to graduate.
“Every kid here has a pretty crazy story, like homelessness, disability or mental health,” said Matt McDonough, who works as a school counselor at Corvallis High and is the lead of the summer program. “The fact that they can catch up and graduate on time … I don’t think there is a better return for your dollar.”
Inside teacher RJ Roach’s summer classroom — a science room during the school year — students with laptops open and earbuds in were seated at lab tables, working on self-driven social studies lessons.
Camryn Randolph, 17, is in his third year of summer school after falling behind during the pandemic.
“I had to catch up somehow,” said Camryn. “I thought this would be a good opportunity to get some credits back.”
Senior Isabella Watson said she struggled in U.S. History her sophomore year after getting sick. She’s spending her summer trying to complete the credit while balancing her college applications and cross country practice.
Isabella says that summer school is “nice because it’s a mix of interactive and independent study.”
Two classmates, Miles Cenovio, 17, and Kira Lopez, 16, fled Roach’s slightly stuffy classroom to sit on the cool tile floor in the hallway.
Both said they’d struggled and got behind in their courses before transferring to College Hill, the Corvallis district’s alternative high school.
Kira says that at Corvallis High School, “there’s not a lot of one-on-one time. There, I’m overcrowded with assignments. And that’s why I ended up failing.”
She says her fellow summer school students “want to do good. And they actually want to get their diplomas; they want to go to college.”
Some people dismiss summer school students as “bad kids” — slackers who do drugs, Kira said. But Miles said students just need teachers who believe in them, like those at the summer school program.
“They care about you a lot and they want to be your friend. So they make it enjoyable to come back to school,” Miles says.
Gov. Tina Kotek and lawmakers say they want a more equitable solution for summer school. An Oregon Department of Education workgroup is considering how to fund well-designed summer programming for all school districts.
They’ll submit their recommendations to the state legislature by Sept. 15.
Hibbard, the Corvallis Public Schools Foundation director, says change is needed. Students from wealthier families may get privately funded opportunities for summer enrichment, while other students fall behind, she said.
“It’s those students who didn’t have those enriching opportunities over the summer that are in a disadvantaged position when they come back in the fall,” said Hibbard.
Back in the kindergarten classroom, the results are already telling. Day by day, kids are getting more prepared for a full day of kindergarten.
Teacher Torres Gutierrez says summer programs give kindergarteners “a sense of ‘I know what to do already’ … You can tell that when they come back, they know what to expect.”
–Isaac Dennett, Fort Vancouver High School
–Juwon Kim, Lakeridge High School