This "summer slide" is a major contributor to the achievement gap, which grows in this country from six months in kindergarten to almost three years by fifth grade, and continues to grow each year.

IMPACT

Summer learning loss is a primary cause of the persistent academic achievement gap.

For three months, low-income children are not taking vacations, enjoying time at camps, or learning new skills. As a result, each and every summer low-income students fall further behind in reading and math skills while their more economically advantaged peers keep pace or jump ahead. Without programs like Horizons, low-income students experience a substantial and cumulative erosion of reading and math skills that can ultimately leave them years behind their peers.

Our goal is to address the achievement gap and prevent summer slide by helping students stay at their grade levels rather than lose academic skills over the summer. Horizons students spend six weeks each summer on our campus engaged in a program that blends high-quality academics with cultural enrichment and confidence-building activities. Students are given an opportunity to attend for eight consecutive summers.