Jenny Peek
As the school year draws to an end, Madison students look forward to summer vacation, with its swimming pools and ice cream trucks. Yet for parents, summer vacation can be a headache.
With kids out of the classroom, parents are left to find activities to fill their children’s schedules, often during work hours. They may find themselves having to drive out of their way to drop their kids off at summer camps and programs.
The Madison-area Out-of-School Initiative (MOST), a partnership between the Madison school district, Dane County, Madison and over 45 community organizations, hopes to change that.
At a Monday morning press conference at the Goodman Community Center, the partnership launched the MOST Program finder, a new online tool to help families connect to summer learning and programming opportunities for their kids.
“The summer is an opportunity for learning,” Mayor Paul Soglin said at the press conference. “Not formal education, but personal growth. We know that if kids are involved in organized, active play and scientific exploration, they will do better in all aspects of their life.”
The program finder — available in both English and Spanish — allows users to sort summer programs by grade level, location, time of day, program availability, price, access to transportation, and type of activity.
According to schools Superintendent Jennifer Cheatham, “The program finder’s extensive database includes everything from the arts and academic support to college exploration, competitive sports, adventure and recreation, service learning, internships and more.”
The city’s Education Committee has been looking creating a summer initiative since 2012. Its vision is to connect Madison students to programs within walking distance of high-quality summer programming.
The MOST initiative plans to concentrate its efforts on youth who are traditionally marginalized based on racial and ethnic identities, income and immigration status.
“The achievement gap is hard to tackle because the kids with the most advantages continue to get more and more opportunities when it comes to what happens not only within the school but outside of school, making it even more difficult for less advantaged students,” Cheatham said during the press conference. “That’s why we’re thrilled to be working...to help ensure that all families in Madison can easily access the information they need to access out-of-school opportunities.”
