Summer STARS
Summer STARS
Helping kids reach new heights
Summer STARS ensures that every child in the Sacramento region at risk of falling behind in school stays on track for the next school year and has access to healthy meals and fun learning opportunities throughout the summer months.
The Results Are In: United Way’s Summer Stars Program Reduced Summer Learning Loss
Grade-level literacy is a predictor of future success in school. By fourth grade, children should be reading to learn. However, far too many students in our region are struggling to meet that milestone.
United Way launches Summer STARS program
Summer STARS to provide summer learning and meal opportunities across region
Summer can bring food instability and learning loss
for low-income students. This summer, United Way California
Capital Region will help local kids fuel their summers with free
healthy meals and fun educational activities to prevent the
learning achievement gap known as “summer slide.”
Summer STARS
Summer STARS helps combat the summer slide by offering free educational enrichment programming at 20 convenient neighborhood locations throughout the Sacramento region starting in June through August.
- Creates a fun and safe summer spot for kids and families in their neighborhood
- Provides kids with free healthy meal throughout the summer
- Offers early literacy curriculum and fitness activities designed for Kindergarten through 6th Graders
- Encourages kids’ participation and attendance with the opportunity to earn weekly STARS badges and Summers STARS backpack at the end of the summer
- Tracks program impacts with reading assessments at the start and end of the summer
United Way Summer STARS fact sheet
Help us keep kids on track for the next school year and ready to achieve with a gift to support United Way’s Summer STARS.
Closing the Achievement Gap
Summer creates heightened stress and uncertainty for many families. Without the resources and stability the school year provides, many are faced with food instability compounded by a lack of affordable activities for kids, and potential learning loss over the summer.
Research shows that students lose ground academically when they are out of school during the summer — a phenomenon known as ”the summer slide.”
The effects of summer learning loss are cumulative. Low-income students can fall behind their peers up to 2.5 to 3 years by fifth grade. Thus, widening the achievement gap and increasing the likelihood that these children will drop out of high school.