Providence Summerbridge, founded in 1992 by Jennifer David and Michael Goldstein, is a two part reinforcing educational program for Providence Public Middle School students that helps to "bridge" the gap between middle school and high school. The program is now led by two administrators, Esan Looper and Cathy Sanford.
The students who enter the program are hoping to achieve higher education, specifically by going to college. Summerbridge is a focused educational program helping to eliminate some of the problems of the city that are caused by metropolitan fragmentation, both on a large scale by providing resources and on a smaller scale by helping the individuals self esteem. The program has goals of providing opportunities for the students by building self esteem, academic study skills, and preparation for high school work. The program has a goal for the students it also has a goal for its teachers, to help them understand the importance of teaching and education.
Providence Summerbridge is a rigorous learning experience for Providence's inner city youth. To be accepted into the program, students do not necessarily have to have a stellar Grade Point Average, much more important is the desire of each applicant to learn and advance to higher education. The program is broken down into two parts: a six week summer program and a year round tutoring program. The students are committed to participate in the program for two full years.
In other words, once accepted to the program, the students have committed themselves to a lot of hard and rewarding work, as well as dedication to achieving their goal of attending college.
The six week summer program is structured so that the students have three hours of morning classes that cover academics' specifically reading, writing and math. In the afternoon, the students attend two elective classes, known as Minis and Micros. These classes cover the subjects of Journalism, Debate, Current Events, Environmental Science and Applied Physics.
The work does not just stop after they leave for the day. The students take home two hours of homework a night to enforce the skills that they have just learned. In the summer program the students are not just learning preparation skills for high school and college, they are also learning how to apply them to other areas of every day life and specialty jobs.
There are various events that are planned for the students to learn about things in the community and the work force. The two events are Lend-A-Hand day and Career Day. These programs send the children into the community to learn about interests that might not normally be taught in a school setting, thereby allowing them a deeper look into where their hard work can take them.
The second part is known as the year round program. This part of the program allows every student to participate in a high school preparation program. The students attended after school tutoring sessions twice a week during the school year; however, the year round program also serves several other purposes. It acts as a counseling and information session for the students and their families, informing them about high school and the preparations that are necessary. It also helps the students develop leadership skills and act as role models for the other students, through various extra curricular activities.
The instruction provided by the Summerbridge Program is carried out by trained volunteers. One quarter of the volunteers come from the AmeriCorps program. The teachers come from Providence's high schools, as well as colleges nationwide. Their responsibilities include designing a curriculum, teaching and advising the students, attending parent conferences, and working with the administration. The teacher to student ratio is a mere 1 to 4. This is an extremely low ratio, allowing the teachers to personally know their students well. The teacher's relationships with students is also fostered by the team teaching style that Summerbridge utilizes.
The staff is also very diverse. The ethnic breakdown of teachers in 1997 is as follows:
| Caucasian | 28% |
| Latino | 21% |
| Asian | 21% |
| African- American | 18% |
| Multiracial | 8% |
| Other | 4% |
These teachers mirror the ethnic diversity found in the students of the program. This enables them to identify with the students on a higher level. These teachers continuously receive training from three professional teachers, who train teachers for this sort of program. The staff has made themselves available during their free time to help the students with everyday problems. They also allow the students to call them at home with questions about their assignments. As you can imagine these teachers have devoted much of their lives to helping unfortunate children excel in the inner city. The teachers feel that their experiences with Summerbridge have had some small or large impact on their lives. To see more about what the teachers think, click here.
The students are the core of the Summerbridge program. This year the program introduces fifty-six rising seventh graders and forty-five returning eighth graders. All students, upon acceptance, must commit to attending two years of summer sessions as well as year-round tutoring for two academic years. This helps the students learn responsibility and to realize that this is a long term commitment, not just for the students, but for the teachers and administration as well. These students are remarkably diverse. The ethnic breakdown of current students is:
| African- American | 30% |
| Latino | 28% |
| Asian | 24% |
| Multiracial | 10% |
| Caucasian | 8% |
These students cover all racial classifications. During the summer, students attended two 90 minute classes, an academic elective, and classes in art, music, and sports. Students were required to complete two hours of homework a night during the summer. These students have shown vast improvement due to the Summerbridge program. 97% of the students improved on their post summer skills tests. 53% of students were included in their schools honor roll, While 20% improved three or more grades since the first quarter of the year. If you wish to see what the students themselves thought of the program, click here.
A young Providence girl attended Summerbridge the first year of the program. She currently attends Classical High School (The strongest public high school in Providence) and wanted to work in the office this summer to "give back to the program that had given her so much". Not only did she gain new skills as an office administrator, but she also formed very close relationships with girls who were quiet and more vulnerable, giving them added support when she saw them during meals or after class. Supporting others gave her so much confidence and she returned to Classical this fall to start a Summerbridge tutoring program there for 9th and 10th grade Summerbridge graduates who currently attend the school. Her leadership development has been truly amazing and she is committed to returning to the program next summer.
A former female student returned to Summerbridge this summer after graduating from the program in 1994. She drifted through our after school program when she was in middle school, attending sporadically if at all due to her involvement in other after school activities such as dance. She is currently a junior at Hope High School in Providence, a large public high school that offers magnet programs in different areas, but no advanced courses. I taught one of the all female classes this summer and through this process recommitted herself to Summerbridge and became one of our most vocal advocates of the program. She calls her students to make sure they are attending the after school program because she wants them to have more academic options in high school than she had. She does not feel challenged in high school, and she is using her past experience to promote our academic curriculum and ensure that our current students don't close doors to their futures. She will return to Summerbridge next summer.
A male student graduated from Summerbridge in 1993. As a new member of the Providence community in 1992, he lacked important English skills in middle school, but showed potential, and he credits the program for helping him attain straight A's in 7th and 8th grades. He came to the Wheeler School for 9th grade and experienced a variety of challenges in an independent school setting. His first few semesters were extremely difficult, but he began to manage his time more efficiently and catch up on skills that his peers learned in 6th - 8th grades. I taught him math last year -he earned one of the higher grades in the class and impressed me with his number sense and problem solving skills. This summer, he returned to Wheeler school to teach his own math class. A sight that was significant for both of us. His expectations of his students were high (and so was his patience). He did a great job, and in the process came to appreciate his own teachers more while recommitting himself to his studies.
The Providence Summerbridge Program relies heavily upon donations from individuals and groups in order to carry out its day to day operations. Their main support comes from the AmeriCorps program. However, the program also receives a great deal of money from foundations, companies, organizations, and individuals throughout Rhode Island. During the 1996-97 school year, the main contributors to the program were the AmeriCorps Program, the Horace Kimball Foundation, the Wheeler Parent's Association, National Learn and Serve, and the Providence School Department. The program also benefitted from funds that were created by the Providence Community Development Block Grant. While these groups were the main supporters of the program, it would not be able to function without the donations of smaller groups as well. Many fraternities, companies, and individuals gave a great deal to the program, and it would not be able to function without them.
The money that is donated to the Summerbridge program is used in a variety of ways. The funds are used to give stipends a to the teachers and staff. Many of these people are full-time volunteers, so they receive stipends for their work that range from $500- $2,000. The rest of the money is used for administrative purposes such as materials, promotional goods, and office equipment.
Summerbridge tries to solve many of the problems that are created by metropolitan fragmentation. Due to the lack of resources that the City of Providence faces, many of the schools that these children attend are not able to provide the same quality education that many schools in other areas take for granted. This problem is compounded by the students poverty rate. Most of the students that attend the Summerbridge program are from poverty stricken households. This poverty at home, as well as at school, can work to decrease the students sense of worth and self- esteem. These are the problems that Summerbridge works to correct.
They realize that the students they work with are receiving an inferior education and often times will end up lacking many of the skills that are necessary for education beyond the normal programs. By offering these students a chance to work with tutors and teachers over the summer to improve their skills, the Summerbridge offers children a sense of hope, the hope of going on to college. The program individual goals are to eliminate problems that are associated with growing up poor in a poverty stricken community. Students at Summerbridge are taught that they do have what it takes to succeed in life, and that with a little effort, they can overcome the inequalities that they face in the educational system.
Summerbridge has been widely acclaimed for their educational techniques. The Providence Journal- Bulletin has written two articles that applauded the program for its education of Providence's youth. The article "Bridge To Achievement" gives a brief overview of the program, and then offers two success stories to show that the program works. The National Association of Social Workers has also declared a need for programs such as Summerbridge. In their position statement on Education of Children, NASW states that "Millions of youth are under served or not served at all by the educational systemÖHowever, these alternatives must be provided not to isolate undesirable students from the mainstream, but rather to enable them to find sufficient support to meet their unique behavioral and situational needs." This statement reflects perfectly what Providence Summerbridge is trying to accomplish. The program works to empower those students who wish to learn and advance in life. It provides these students with the extra help that they need to make it to major universities, in hopes of improving their lives.
Providence College Black Studies Program
National Association of Social Workers
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Dr. Anthony Affigne, Director of Black Studies Program at Providence College
This page was constructed by Bryan O'Malley, Gera DiSanto, and Francis Coughlin for the Providence Summerbridge Program. If you have any questions or would like to contact the directors themselves, feel free to E-Mail: