summerLEAP

St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Rochester has partnered with the West Irondequoit School District and the Greater Rochester Summer Learning Association (GRSLA), also known as summerLEAP.   SummerLEAP is a tuition-free summer learning and enrichment program for low-income students, serving students from PreK -8thgrade at host institutions, including the Harley School, Allendale Columbia, University of Rochester, Monroe Community College, SUNY Brockport, SUNY Geneseo, Nazareth College, and the YMCA. 

The summerLEAP at West Irondequoit program is the first summerLEAP program to take place on the grounds of a suburban public school district. St. Thomas parishioners Lois Geiss and Susan Pickhardt were instrumental to get this unique partnership off the ground.  

This summer, 30 rising-first grade students from the City of Rochester attended the six-week summerLEAP program, held on the campus of West Irondequoit’s Listwood Elementary School.  An average day included reading, math, character education, swim instruction, art, music, and dance. 

GRSLA is jointly committed to the following major objectives:

To increase the number of low-income students participating in high-quality summer learning programs, summer after summer
To reduce summer learning loss
To improve students’ reading and math scores
To improve high school and higher education graduation rates in Rochester
To build a nationally recognized public–private summer learning partnership that can be employed in other cities across the nation

Students worked throughout the summer to prepare a musical and performance for their parents, families, and friends.  Enjoy the photos HERE!