Summer Program

The K-8 five- to six-week summer program is a hallmark of Horizons’ programming.

Beginning the summer after kindergarten, students join a small cohort of approximately 15 students with dedicated teachers and engaging, hands-on learning. The program blends high-quality academics—with an emphasis on literacy and STEM—with arts, fitness, cultural enrichment, field trips, and confidence-building challenges. Classes are designed not just to build a mastery of fundamental skills but to also help our students become creative thinkers and problem-solvers and to work effectively in teams. In addition, every Horizons student learns how to swim over the course of the five-week program and builds on their proficiency each year. For information on enrollment, please visit our Enrollment page.

Advancing Academics & Social-Emotional Learning

A summer without any reading and math support often results in the "summer slide" where students lose on average 4-12 weeks of skills - returning in the fall less prepared than when they left the previous school year. Add to that learning loss, students who are unable to afford enriching experiences that stimulate learning and positive social skills, can fall further behind their more affluent peers. We believe all children deserve opportunities to move their skills forward and experience the joy of learning that hands-on and community-based enrichment bring. Our pre- and post-program assessments indicate Horizons' students average 8-14 weeks of growth over the course of our summer program!

Educational best-practices tell us that "Problem-based learning" also known as "Project-based learning" (PBL) is how we learn best. This involves identifying the problem to solve, flushing out what is known, establishing a hypothesis, and conducting investigations to gather data to see if we guessed correctly. This type of discovery learning has been incorporated into much of students' lessons during the summer.

Horizons also intentionally teaches students valuable social-emotional skills? To succeed in life, to live truly fulfilled, we must learn to work and get along with others, which means learning the "real life social skills" of effective communication, managing our anger or frustrations, working toward a win-win when there are differences of opinion, and how to be empathetic with one another. At Horizons, community-building is our priority. Students learn the value of being honest, working hard, encouraging one another, and working as a team.

A recent Parent Survey indicated their confidence that we are advancing not only academic skills, but also students' social-emotional skills. Here's what parents told us:

• 91% believe Horizons have strengthen their students' reading abilities - with 68.2% indicating A LOT of improvement!
• 95% indicated noting higher confidence in their child as a result of the program
• 89% said their child/ren were more interested in learning
• 91% were able to make friends more easily
• 71% were more confident
• 43% said their child's mood had improved

STEM & Environmental Stewardship

In 2024, Horizons adopted a new program pillar of Environmental Stewardship to teach our students about the importance of protecting the Chesapeake Bay watershed where we live, and all our natural resources. Each summer, classrooms of students organize and carryout a hands-on, community-based service project that helps them discover the far-reaching impacts of climate change, littering, use of harmful pesticides and other chemicals that make their way into our water system, and more. We incorporate this focus into engaging STEM lessons and many of our students' field trip experiences. For example, they take water samples and test them for pH, bacteria, turbidity, dissolved oxygen and more. They learn create filtration systems to then use and retest their water samples.

Here is a list of just a few of the recent summer's field trip experiences and the partners who worked with us:

• Elizabeth River Projects - The Learning Barge - students measure salinity of the river, remove trash, see and touch tanks filled with water-life, and more.
• Lynnhaven River NOW - Students use nets to capture periwinkle snails and other sea creatures, conduct water quality tests, get up close with waterfowl, and learn about efforts to restore and protect the river.
• HRSD - The SWIFT Lab - students toured this water-treatment facility and learned how water that leaves our homes and is purified into reusable drinking water, along with the importance of keeping contaminants out of our homes' plumbing systems.
• James River Association - boat excursions where students get an up-close experience on the Hampton River and Chesapeake Bay, collect sea-life for a closeup look and conduct water quality tests.
• Sail Nauticus - Middle school students spend 3-4 days on the Elizabeth River learning to sail. For many students, this is their first time on a boat, but in no time, they are sailing! This boost in confidence and appreciation for our natural resources is priceless!

These are only a few examples of our many field trip partners - for a more complete list of program partners, please see our Partner Page or our Annual Report. 

Swim Instruction

Swimming is an integral part of the summer program and a unique aspect of the Horizons learning strategy. In learning to swim, students do more than master an important skill; they also learn strategies for tackling fears and overcoming challenges. The resulting self-confidence and resilience foster success in and outside of school.   

During the summer, students swim two days each week at branches of the YMCA of South Hampton Roads, our swim instruction partner. Each student swims for about 90 minutes each week. Students are assessed at the beginning of the summer for their proficiency and receive instruction to help them advance. We monitor each student using the YMCA's metrics to track success.

Swimming is a cornerstone of the Horizons program because it is far more than a life-saving skill. Learning to swim:

• Encourages attention to detail and commitment to a goal
• Teaches resilience and strategies to overcome fears and obstacles
• Inspires children to adopt a healthy lifestyle
• Introduces a competitive sport
• Teaches skills for summer employment
• Is FUN and promotes a love for and engagement in Horizons

We are thankful to the Southeast Virginia Community Foundation and the YMCA of South Hampton Roads for helping to make our swim program a success.

More Enrichment!

The Horizons program would not exist or be nearly as effective without a host of dedicated program partners who provide our students with hand-on experiences that help inspire a JOY OF LEARNING in our students! Here is a list of some of our Program Partners and what they have recently offered. For a more complete list, visit Our Partners page.

• Championship Chess of Norfolk - teaches chess - and life lessons to our middle schoolers twice a week
• The DAY Program - Teach African Drumming, Art and Yoga across the grade levels
• Mosaic Steel Orchestra - teaches steel pan to our middle school students
• Virtual Science Teachers - designed engaging STEM lessons for our teachers - and sometimes delivers them in person!
• Richmond Ballet - taught our 3-4th graders some awesome dances!