Brooklyn Friends School Expands Horizons Program
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Horizons, a summer program that helps kids stay sharp and active during vacation, has become so successful that it will expand into the regular school year, as well. NY1’s Jeanine Ramirez filed the following report.At Horizons, a summer enrichment program at Brooklyn Friends School, kids are learning reading and math skills, but it isn’t required summer school.
"I describe this place as a school, only better than school," said Corinne McClary, a student in the program.
Horizons takes public school students from Downtown Brooklyn who are performing at or below grade level and provides them with a six-week academic-based curriculum.
"You get to have a lot of fun here,” said Corey Elikens, a student. “We get to go swimming, do math, learn a lot of new stuff."
One of the goals is to prevent a learning loss that many kids experience when they're not academically engaged over the summer.
"Every summer, students can lose two to three months of academic progress, and we work to not only combat and mitigate that, but also to build upon their academic base and send them back to school a few months ahead of where they left," said Joe Chan, chair of Horizons.
Chan helped start the Brooklyn chapter of the national organization four years ago. He himself went through the program as a kid in Connecticut.
In Brooklyn, Horizons serves 60 kids, from kindergarten graduates to those going into the fourth grade.
While the morning focus is on school studies, the afternoon is all about extracurricular activities, from swimming lessons at LIU's pool to cultural classes.
"Twice a week, the kids have dance with Mark Morris and West African drumming and visual art and chorus and all of our teachers are teaching artists," said Rachel Webber, Horizon’s co-executive director.
Families pay a one-time registration fee of $50 for the summer. The day lasts from 9:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. and includes lunch.
"We have two neighborhood chefs onboard cooking specifically for the Horizons kids, and one of our main focuses in that is to expand their awareness of healthy foods and what can be done with foods, get them used to new cultural tastes," said Taunya Black, co-executive director.
With the success of the summer program, Horizons will now expand to twice a week after school starting this fall.