PARIS — SAD 17 directors were told Monday night that a three-year pilot summer program increased student academic achievement, but it will take more money to continue or expand it this summer.

“If I were in Falmouth (school district) I would run this program in a heartbeat at every level,” Pat Carson, director of Applied Learning, said. He gave directors a three-year summary of successful outcomes in the program that was financed through a grant.

The district has offered two summer learning programs – one at the Paris Elementary School and one at the Oxford Middle School that incorporated the Roberts Farm —  to counteract student learning data that indicated students have a learning loss in the summer months.

Carson said the program indicated students showed increased academic performance over the three years. For example, 81 percent of the students in the Paris Elementary School maintained their reading level over the summer, compared to 36 percent at the Rowe Elementary School who were not involved in the program.

Fifty-five students were selected for the elementary school summer program based on their academic risk factor. Their scores were compared to 55 similar students at the Rowe school using test scores at the end of one school year and the beginning of the next.

Carson said the summer programs also allowed daily interaction between parents and teachers, another plus.

But to continue the program, for example, at four elementary schools for 120 identified students, would cost about $100,000. Additionally, it is unlikely that it could be “ramped” up quick enough, even if the money were there.

The program was administered at nine other schools districts and was part of an overall study by the Muskie Institute and national research that attempted to evaluate the effectiveness of such programs and the cost structure involved.

In other news, Curriculum Coordinator Heather Manchester and Community Concepts Intervention and Education Program Manger Kimberly Bessette updated the board on the district’s pre-kindergarten program.

Last year, the district received a $1.2 million grant to expand the program from two or three days a week to five days.

At the time, SAD 17 served 140 students who attend preschool two or three days per week in four classes in Norway, Hebron, Waterford and West Paris. Five other classes — one in Norway, two in Paris and two in Oxford — are run by Community Concepts, which follows the Head Start model.

While the SAD 17 program was school-based and did not provide social service or home visits, the Head Start model included home visits, access to social services and program-specific expectations. The Head Start model targeted at-risk children based on income, while the SAD 17 program has no income restrictions.

The $1.26 million grant allowed the same number of high-risk students — 120 — to access preschool programs five days a week in an attempt to meet a long-term goal of providing full-time preschool programming in the district.

Manchester told the directors that the school and Community Concepts have acted as partners in the successful venture and the goal has been to “uplift kids who struggle the most.”

Because the two have partnered, all the children in the preschool program now have the advantage of comprehensive services involving the entire family as well as the individual children. 

Director Jared Cash asked about providing preschool to all children in the district.

That would necessitate 18 or 19 new classrooms, Superintendent Rick Colpitts said.

In other action, the board approved a day trip for Agnes Gray School third- and fourth-graders to the Museum of Science in Boston on April 14.

The board also approved an overnight trip for the the Oxford Hills Middle School robotics students to go to Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., April 1. Eight students in the Quest program have been invited to participate in an international robots competition.

Grade 4 students at the Agnes Gray School also received the go-ahead for a one-night trip to the 4-H camp at Bryant Pond on April 25. They will participate in team-building activities and storytelling through journaling.

ldixon@sunmediagroup.net