BACKGROUND: The US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) summer meal programs are designed to provide meals at no cost while school is out of session. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, several regulatory waivers were enacted to facilitate meal distribution. The aim of this study was to assess the rates of meal distribution before and after these…

Clinical immersion programs provide opportunities for biomedical engineering (BME) students to observe the clinical environment and medical devices in use, often leading to the identification of unmet clinical needs. Due to hospital restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person clinical immersion programs were generally not possible in…

The purpose of this case-study investigated the role of the Pre-Freshman Summer Experience Program used for an Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) located at State University (SU) Upstate. More specifically, this study explored how students fared during the completion of the pre-freshman summer experience program throughout the ongoing COVID-19…

By age 18, students have spent on average 85 percent of their waking hours outside of school. Their use of that time--constructive or not--helps direct their futures. In afterschool and summer programs, young people explore new interests, develop new skill sets, and create lasting relationships with peers and caring adults that shape who they are,…

Millions of youth in North America attend summer camps each year. Researchers have documented the potential positive developmental outcomes associated with camp (Flynn et al., 2019; Gagnon et al., 2021; Gillard & Watts, 2013; Warner et al., 2021); however, some youth are required to depart from camp before the end of their session for…

This study examined the impact of a virtual parenting intervention designed to support parents of incoming kindergartners (N = 45) by bolstering their parental self-efficacy during the summer of 2020, immediately following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, this group-based intervention provided parents with weekly psychoeducation…

This report summarizes findings from the School Meals Operations Study (SMO), part of an ongoing series to assess school meal operations on a school year (SY) basis. This volume of the study covers July 2021 through the end of September 2022 and includes SY 2021-2022. When the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020, the Families First Coronavirus…

This communication highlights guiding considerations and allowable practical strategies for 2020 Summer Learning Programs offered by Vermont supervisory unions/districts (SUs/SDs) as they engage in planning efforts to support Continuity of Learning and a strong healthy start to the 2020-2021 school year. Supervisory Unions/Districts (SUs/SDs) that…

Background: The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) provides free and nutritious meals to children under age 18 during out-of-school times. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Maryland sponsors served over 9.5 million meals to children through an expanded version of the SFSP. This study aimed to explore and compare the factors that enabled 2 SFSP…

For the last 28 years, one of the leading international science education organisations has regularly provided a week-long summer school experience for doctoral students. In summer 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic prevented international travel and close-contact interactions between scholars. This required the transformation and relocation of learning…

The Mississippi IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (Grant P20GM103476) launched the new Mississippi INBRE Outreach Scholars (MIOS) summer research program in 2019. The program was designed to offer students community outreach and research experiences related to…

This article provides an example of how a television station and a teacher education program located at the University of Central Missouri partnered to provide on-air lessons for kindergarten through fifth grade lessons to respond to the academic need due to the school shutdowns in spring 2020 because of COVID-19. The article highlights how three…

As the end of the school year approaches and families face another pandemic summer, a new survey of afterschool and summer programs brings some encouraging news: Providers are more likely to be open and operating in person this summer and are more optimistic about a return to normal than in previous surveys. However, providers also anticipate…

To make up for pandemic-related learning losses, many U.S. public school districts have increased enrollment in their summer school programs. We assess summer school as a strategy for COVID-19 learning recovery by tracking the academic progress of students who attended summer school in 2022 across eight districts serving 400,000 students. Based on…

More than two years into the pandemic, individuals and institutions alike have faced significant hardships caused by COVID-19, which has had a serious impact on the health, economic stability, and overall well-being of the country. For the afterschool field, the pandemic has caused disruption to services, increased operational costs, and put…