The first ever Rogers University at the elementary school in Marshalltown has been deemed an overwhelming success.
The summer learning program is designed to keep students from regressing in their learning when school is not in session, which is often the case in low income families.
The program was established with a state grant and instituted by Mid-Iowa Community Action in partnership with the school district. It was a six-week program that served 78 elementary students and 36 preschool and kindergarten students.
It is funded by a five-year $425,000 grant from the Iowa Department of Education.
The two main areas of focus were to improve reading and math skills for students.
"We saw some amazing growth based on those areas," said Rogers Principal Mick Jurgensen.
Arlene McAtee, executive director of MICA, said 85 percent of students at Rogers school are living in poverty.
"We decided to focus on the summer learning component that is obviously so crucial for lower income children," McAtee said.
Aside from reading and math, the program included 60 minutes of physical activity each day for the children.
The students also visited the library, the Marshalltown Family Aquatic Center and other places in the community during the program.
"It was just an amazing thing to see our community interacting with our kids," Jurgensen said.
Planning is underway for Rogers University 2012 and the leaders have thought to use this work as a framework to possibly expand summer learning to more schools in the district in the future.
