Dear Summer Learning Community,

We hope your summer is off to a great start. Please join us in celebrating and highlighting your important work by taking part in our National Summer Learning Week, July 6-10. See more info and media toolkit below. It’s a great chance to invite funders, policymakers and media to come see your program and kids in action. 

Once again, NSLA staff will be hitting the road across the US to learn from and spotlight some of the most innovative and impactful summer programs with our “50 Programs in 50 Days” Summer Tour scheduled for June 1-August 15. If you’d like to be involved and highlight creativity, dedication, and impact happening in summer programs everywhere, please email Leslie Gabay-Swanston for more information. Scroll for more valuable info below.

Summer Still Counts! Our chance to change and improve millions of kids lives through summer programs is happening right now. Let us know how NSLA can be supportive to you and your team.

Summer for All,

The NSLA Team

Register for our upcoming webinar session: Grant Reporting & Impact Metrics Live Discussion on June 10!

On Friday, the House marked up and passed out of committee its FY27 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS-Ed) bill. The bill proposes $70.7 billion for the Department of Education (ED), which is 10% below the FY26 level. If passed, the bill would cut about $8.1 billion from education programs, including almost $2 billion to the Title I program. Unfortunately, the program eliminates the $2 billion effective educator programs, promise neighborhoods, full service community schools, and statewide family engagement centers. Democrats expressed deep opposition to these cuts during the markup. Read the full update.

NSLA's Vice President of Programs, Brodrick Clarke, will be traveling across the country all summer long, training program leaders and staff to create engaging, high-quality summer learning experiences for young people.

NSLA's customized Training Packages equip leaders and frontline staff with practical tools, proven strategies, and actionable insights to design and deliver programs that keep kids engaged, learning, and thriving all summer long.

And while he's on the road supporting summer programs, be sure to check out Brodrick's new summer anthem, Summer Still Counts, an original song celebrating the power of summer learning and reminding us that growth, discovery, and learning can happen everywhere.



Millions of families are looking for summer opportunities right now. Ensure your organization is part of the conversation by listing your programs on the newly enhanced DiscoverSummer.org a national searchable database for families to find quality summer programs and resources in their communities.

This summer, NSLA is hitting the road for our annual 50 Programs in 50 Days Tour, shining a spotlight on outstanding summer learning programs making a difference in communities across the country. From coast to coast, we'll be visiting innovative programs that are helping young people learn, grow, explore new interests, and build brighter futures. Along the way, we'll share inspiring stories, best practices, and the incredible impact summer learning has on children, families, and communities. Know a program we should visit? We'd love to hear from you! E-mail Leslie Gabay-Swanston for more information.

• The Wallace Foundation: The Summer Struggle for Everyday Families The Afterschool Alliance's 5th edition of America After 3PM, conducted with Edge Research, provides insight into the existing barriers preventing many families, particularly those earning low to middle incomes, from participating in summer learning opportunities.

• Students face ‘summer slide’ as school lets out: Brodrick Clarke, NSLA's Vice President of Programs, was recently featured discussing the importance of preventing the "summer slide" learning loss that can occur when students disengage from educational activities during the summer months.

• Broadway Education Alliance: Launches “The Camp Broadway Collection” Authorized editions of five beloved musicals designed for camp The all-new, customizable experiential learning program teaches the fundamentals of musical theater, character development, and the essential life skills needed to deliver a great performance on and off the stage.



• AI For Nonprofits Sprint: AI Training for Your Whole College Access Team AI for Nonprofits Sprint are launching a College Access Cohort - a program that provides benchmarking, training, and a peer learning community, built specifically for organizations like yours. It's already trained over 40,000 nonprofit staff at more than 400 nonprofits across the country. Applications are due July 10. Start with an info session on June 24 or July 9, or apply now.



• The American Enterprise Institute: Summer Is Still Where Children Are Formed Districts across the country have pulled smartphones out of students’ hands during the school day, and the early results are encouraging—calmer rooms, steadier attention, and more conversation.  The classroom was the easy part. Summer break is the real test.  



• District Summer Learning Network: The DSLN communications tool can help you plan your summer program, increase participation, build excitement, and strengthen communities with planning templates, sample messages and visuals, and communications checklists.



• The YMCA: Why ‘Wild Summer’ Doesn’t Work for Every Family You’ve probably seen the buzzwords floating around lately: “Wild Summer,” “Kid Rotting,” or the idea that children should spend their summer completely unstructured; roaming free, unplugged, and discovering the world on their own.But the truth is, that picture-perfect “wild summer” simply isn’t realistic (or accessible) for many families. 



Summer is one of the busiest times of the year for the NSLA team! We enjoyed our time at the Project Play Summit in Boston, The American Camp Association Hill Briefing, The America's Promise CEO Leadership Retreat, NSLA's Destination Summer Learning Training at the Farash Foundation & United Way Rochester, NY, the Fight for Children Youth Sports Summit Town Hall in Washington, DC, and our NSLA Summer Kickoff BBQ in NYC!