Summer Learning is a Cornerstone of Student Success

When the final bell rings at the end of the year, many think of it as a pause on learning until the fall. But at the Madison Metropolitan School District, we’re ready to welcome back many of our students and staff for the summer.

We know how critical summer learning is to not only academic growth but also as a way to ensure all of our students can remain on track for graduation. Research by the Wallace Foundation backs this up. They found that summer learning is critical to student success not only to keep students involved in learning, but can also help close the learning gap, particularly for those most likely to experience that gap. However, we know that research only matters when it’s put into practice.

Celebrating Successes

The success of all our students is something we take seriously, and summer learning is another way we can help them achieve their goals. Last summer, we served approximately 4,500 scholars across 15 of our sites. If you look at the demographics of who walked through our doors, you’ll see the intentional focus we take to provide all of our students opportunities. In fact, our English language learners, students receiving special education services, and our Black, African American, Hispanic, and Latinx scholars were highly represented.

These participation numbers are impressive, but we saw much success in other areas:

• Increased Attendance: Targeted outreach drove 4K-8th grade attendance up to an impressive 87%, with three elementary sites meeting or completely exceeding 90%.
  
• Growth in Literacy and Math: Elementary educators tracked student progression in foundational reading between the start and end of summer. In math, every single elementary grade level saw a measurable surge in the number of students moving out of "emerging" tiers and directly into meeting grade-level expectations.
  
• Achieving Middle School Milestones: Our 5th through 8th-grade scholars achieved a 95% successful completion rate in math and literacy — the highest rate of middle school summer completion our district has seen in three years.
  
• High School Credit Recovery: High school students achieved a 90% success rate in attempted credit recovery. This work returned 540 credits to our scholars and kept them on the path to high school graduation.

Achieving these results requires strong collaboration between families and staff. This is when we see real results, and ultimately, our students benefit. This is why MMSD’s summer semester programming is a critical piece of our year-long academic strategy.

Achieving these results requires strong collaboration between families and staff. This is when we see real results, and ultimately, our students benefit.

Fostering Creativity

While academics are a critical focus, we also know how important it is to provide a well-rounded education. MMSD offered Arts Explore, made possible with more than 30 local community artists, to approximately 1,700 students.

Additionally, more than 300 students participated across 23 tracks in our Career and Technical Education Middle School Discovery Camps. Here they learned about coding, robotics, the culinary arts, flight and drone technology, construction, automotive, and so much more. These camps are examples of partnerships at their best because they were supported by local partners who helped provide their expertise.

What’s Next

As we launched into our 2026 programming, we are being even more strategic in this work and have made adjustments for this year.

• Investments in Educators: We have intentionally invested in educators. We know they make a difference in our classrooms, and we need quality instructors to lead our summer sites.
  
• Breaking Barriers: We’ve been more deliberate in meeting families where they are to help break down barriers, such as transportation. This year we have placed summer classrooms directly into neighborhood hubs, including the East Madison Community Center, BayView, Theresa Terrace, and the Northport/Packers Centers.
• Diversifying Course Offerings: Finally, we have diversified our high school course offerings for first-time credit and offered courses like AI Unlocked, Sustainable Ecology, Exploring Madison (a Spanish DLI), and ACT Prep.
  

Moving Forward Together

I often think of public education as a team sport. Our ultimate play is to take children with divergent interests from uncommon backgrounds and find a pathway for each of them to thrive. That is a playbook we cannot run alone. It requires all of us—district leadership, school-based staff, educators, families, and community partners—moving in unison to give students exactly what they need to succeed.

Moving Forward Together.