Alabama-based nonprofit Summer Adventures in Learning, SAIL, recently announced that it will be partnering with 54 summer learning programs operating at 84 sites across 31 counties in the state this year. This expansion — funded by nearly $1 million in grants from SAIL’s 15 philanthropic partners — marks a 42 percent increase in program offerings from last year, according to the organization.
The expansion of SAIL’s summer learning programs also comes as a result of the organization’s new statewide partnership with the Alabama Alliance of Boys and Girls Clubs. All 13 Boys and Girls Clubs in Alabama are now members of the SAIL network, allowing the organization to offer its programming at 23 sites across the state.
“This has been a year of unprecedented growth for SAIL, as more communities recognize the value of our whole-child, community-based approach to summer learning,” said Jim Wooten, president of SAIL’s board of directors, in an official press release. “One-third of the programs in our network this summer have joined in the past two years. We’re especially excited about our new partnership with the Alabama Alliance of Boys and Girls Clubs, which helps extend SAIL’s reach into more rural and underserved parts of the state at a time when many schools are facing reduced resources for summer learning.”
As a part of its expanded programming, SAIL also launched SAIL Reads this year, a literacy program launched in partnership with the Montgomery Education Foundation, which provides underserved students and families with “culturally relevant books and literacy support materials.” Additionally, the organization has collaborated with the Alabama State Department of Education and the Neuhaus Education Center to offer a comprehensive science of reading literacy instruction program provided to over 70 SAIL program leaders.
“With SAIL Reads, Neuhaus, and other new resources, we are expanding the tools available to site leaders while still honoring what makes each program unique,” said Suzy Harris, SAIL’s program director. “These additions help programs build on their strengths and better support student learning this summer.”
SAIL was founded in 2012 to combat summer learning loss in Alabama and to help children from low-income families overcome the academic achievement gap. SAIL claims that students who attend its programs gain an average of 1.7 months of reading skills and 2.6 months of math skills, keeping them engaged in learning over the summer instead of falling behind.
The organization has invested over $10 million into summer learning across Alabama since its founding and claims to have helped over 21,700 students “turn summer learning losses into gains.”
