What's the "Summer Slide"? And how can you help?

NYC schools are officially out for summer! And SparkYouth wants to ensure every NYC kid gets the proven benefits of high-quality summer programming, including:

• Increased academic outcomes during the school year
• Reduced anxiety and depression
• Increased exploration, independence, teamwork, and problem-solving

Your support of SparkYouth reduces the “Summer Slide” - aka summer learning loss - for low-income students who are disproportionately impacted by the lack of affordable summer options. That “slide” leads to:

• A loss of up to two months of reading proficiency
• A cumulative effect of lagging behind peers by 2.5 to 3 years by the time students reach 5th grade

This summer, SparkYouth grantees are providing free or low-cost enrichment to thousands of NYC kids, closing the access gap and creating transformative summer experiences for young people.

Check out a few of our innovative programs below and help power year-round opportunity for NYC youth by becoming a Spark Igniter with a monthly gift of any size!