The William Penn Foundation has announced grants totaling more than $4.6 million to 22 organizations in Philadelphia to help them implement free summer programming that builds academic and social-emotional skills for more than 29,000 children in 2022 and 2023. 

The funding is an extension of the support the foundation awarded in support of in-person and/or hybrid summer programs during the height of the COVID pandemic, when most Philadelphia students did not attend school in-person for an entire year. Recipients include the Barnes Foundation, the Center for Black Educator Development, Children’s Mission, Community Partnership School, and Congreso de Latinos Unidos.

According to the foundation, most early elementary school students in Philadelphia lose considerable ground in their academic performance during the summer break. Research conducted prior to the pandemic by the School District of Philadelphia found that 61 percent of K-2 students are either at a lower or similar reading level in November than they were when they left school the previous June, despite two months of instruction since the start of the new school year. 

“Summer is an important time for exploration and skill-building, and these organizations demonstrated their ability to work successfully with children and families under the most uncertain and challenging conditions last summer,” said Elliot Weinbaum, director of the Great Learning program at the William Penn Foundation. “Research shows us that one of the reasons for the gap in attainment between children from lower and higher income families is that higher income families can spend money on enriching summer programs. These grants seek to help close that gap by making enriching and engaging summer learning experiences available to all.”

For a complete list of grantees, see the William Penn Foundation website.

(Photo Credit: Getty Images/Ridofranz)