The Danville Independent School District is once again participating in the Summer Boost: Reading and Mathematics Program, thanks to a grant that Mary G. Hogsett Primary School received. 

The DISD is one of just 28 districts in the state chosen for this program, which is made possible through a partnership between the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE), the Summer Food Service Program and the Children’s Reading Foundation, according to a news release from the KDE. 

Through the program, the district has received about 1,000 brand-new books to distribute for free at Edna L. Toliver Intermediate School, one of the district’s summer feeding sites. The district is also distributing math games, handouts about the importance of practicing reading and math skills over the summer, and more. Families can receive some resources at mobile pickup sites as well. Summer feeding operates on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, June 5 through July 30 (except for Monday, June 19 due to the Juneteeth holiday). 

“The goal of Summer Boost is to keep your reading and math skills up over the summer so there’s no summer slide, and that you go into the next grade holding onto your skills, or that they’re a little bit stronger,” said Cynthia Stone, who coordinates the program for Danville Schools. Stone is also an instructional assistant at Hogsett.

“We’re asking that everybody read 20 minutes a day,” she said. “We have bookmarks where you can check off that you read for 20 minutes each day, or color it in, and we have math games to play.”

 

Staff members also read with the children one-on-one and have storytimes on the carpet set up in Toliver’s cafeteria. They can help children select books they will enjoy by encouraging them to pick a book and flip through it, to see if it looks like a good book for them, before they take it home. The program will also feature a couple of guest readers. 

“We can pull down guest readers electronically to read stories, and we’re doing storytimes on our carpet and reading stories to the kids and having them read the books with us,” Stone said. “It’s about holding onto your skills and having fun.” 

More information and resources are available on KDE’s Summer Support webpage.

Want more information about the summer feeding program? 

Danville Schools Summer Feeding runs from June 5-July 30 and operates on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays (except for Monday, June 19 due to the Juneteeth holiday), with multiple meals available for pickup each day. Free meals are available to children 18 years of age or younger, regardless of income. For more information call Danville Food Service Office, 859-936-8573 or visit this link: Summer Feeding

Pickup sites:

• Toliver Intermediate School, 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
• Shakerpoint Apartments, 11-11:15 a.m.
• Lexington Avenue Park, 11:25-11:40 a.m. 
• Longrun Apartments, 11:50 a.m.-12:05 p.m.
• Batewood Homes, 12:15-12:30 p.m.
• Imperial Trailer Park, 12:40-12:55 p.m.
• Patrician Place, 1:05-1:20 p.m.