About the Program

In January, 2021, while the world was in the midst of a global pandemic, Dr. Hagerman, our Superintendent of Scarsdale Public Schools and Co-Director of the Center for Innovation, proposed a summer enrichment program for elementary students to the Scarsdale community as a way to provide additional learning opportunities in anticipation of transitioning back to full-time learning for the Fall. Surveys of interest were conducted to both elementary families and teachers and the response was significantly positive for creating this program for the summer.

During the months of February through March of 2021, Dr. McIntosh, our assistant superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction and Co-Director of the Center for Innovation, collected feedback from various groups which included elementary administrators, parents in the community, elementary teachers, as well as our CFI Ambassadors. The feedback helped identify goals of the program and the kinds of experiences that will enrich students given the past year of remote and hybrid learning during the Pandemic.

Some of the feedback for the program included:

• Advancing more project opportunities to apply skills and strategies learned during the year

• Nurturing social and emotional connections with peers and adults beyond the home

• Providing more experiences that allow for more “hands-on” activities for students

• Providing opportunities for problem solving and critical and creative thinking.

• Sustaining collaborative experiences and connecting to a learning community

• Instilling a sense of balance between offline and online work

• Facilitating more opportunities for students to engage with authentic projects

• Amplifying student thinking and their voice for an authentic audience and in multiple modalities

The SPARK program was not about how much content / knowledge was gained or lost during the school year but more about engaging students with learning in unique and challenging ways. The SPARK program focused on applying students' academic learning to authentic project experiences, while connecting socially to both adults and peers outside of their home. This program invited students to be a part of an academic community that further engages their passion for learning and to also apply that learning to action.

The SPARK program was an enrichment opportunity for students and based around an extended, authentic project intended for an authentic audience (ex. community, parents, etc). In the process of learning about and developing their projects, our faculty integrated literacy, math, science, and specialty areas within the project. While essential content was covered by elementary classroom teachers during the school year, these new project units of study were presented to help students apply, reinforce, or enhance the skills learned during the year. Learn more about the project-based learning approach and sample projects from other schools here.

Scheduled time was allotted for peers and adults to connect with one another to ensure that dispositions such as collaborative, social-emotional dialogue, and teaming were explored. Based on enrollment, students will be placed in developmental groups (ex. Grade level bands) of about 15-18 students which was facilitated by one of our teachers and teacher aides on the elementary Scarsdale faculty.

Safety Protocols

We continued to follow the CDC and New York State Health Department guidelines for safely working in schools. We also followed the same district protocols for contact tracing and informing families when we receive confirmation of a positive case in our program. Students were expected to attend the program with masks on until the guidance changed midway through the program. Routines for hand washing and access to wipes/hand sanitizers were in place throughout the time when they are in the program.

Transportation

Transportation for students to and from the program were not provided. Families needed to make arrangements for drop off and pickup of students. The only exception were for those families who have enrolled in the Scarsdale Recreation Camp. Transportation was provided to their REC camp location at 11:00 AM. Camp students needed to be picked up at their camp location at their regularly scheduled camp pick up time.