Atlanta’s schools may be officially closed for the summer, but that doesn’t mean learning should stop during the summer months. Without the opportunity to experience enriching summer activities, many children and youth, especially those living in communities with historical educational inequities or who struggle academically during the school year, often lose up to two months of academic skills during their time away from school.
Horizons Atlanta at Atlanta International School (AIS), located in Buckhead on the campus of the Atlanta International School and one of 11 Horizons Atlanta program sites in metro Atlanta, launched in 2016 focusing on students at nearby Garden Hills Elementary School to address the opportunity gap experienced by so many Atlanta Public Schools students attending Title I schools. Horizons Atlanta’s six-week summer programs are unique because not only do they provide daily meals and snacks, teach academic subjects, and include a variety of enrichments and swim instruction, they are also 100% tuition-free and provide transportation for every child to attend the program every day of the week.
While Horizons Atlanta believes that learning shouldn’t stop in the summer, we also feel strongly that learning outside of school should not feel like school. We excel in creating a joyful summer program that students want to attend. Our summer, year-round after school and special weekend programs blend math, literacy, STEM, social and emotional learning, cultural and enrichment activities, and physical fitness and health with an emphasis on international context and language learning. We want our scholars excited to attend our summer program every day – and return year after year -- because attendance and longevity of instruction matter when it comes to learning.
Across all our program sites, we had close to a 90 percent daily average attendance rate last summer, which is especially rewarding considering the increased chronic absenteeism challenges schools have been facing since the pandemic.
Horizons Atlanta’s mission is to provide scholars with the promise of opportunity. Horizons Atlanta has a 25-year history in Atlanta and each of its 11 program sites collectively serve more than 1,500 scholars on the campuses of independent, public, and charter schools, colleges, and universities in metro Atlanta and Athens.