Horizons Makes a Difference
	Horizons at GFA provides experiences for students in grades K-12 that strengthen academic performance, build awareness of the outside world, and foster curiosity, creativity, self-discipline, and a sense of community responsibility. Our assessment and tracking is on target with research that shows the value of summer learning and enrichment on long term academic and social success. Horizons at GFA provides students with a strong motivation to learn and helps them recognize and acquire the academic and social skills necessary for success in school and in life.  Studies show that motivation increases with age, indicating that the longer students remain in the Horizons program, the greater their motivation becomes. Hence, retaining our students year after year is a program priority. Low motivation is associated with poor school performance, directly correlating with economic viability in adult life.  Motivation may very well be the most significant asset Horizons provides its students.

	Giving Back: 8th Grader Reading to Kindergartner Horizons at GFA is able to offer creative, hands-on learning guided by experienced and dedicated educators who attend to the individual needs of each child. Assessment and evaluation are key components of the Horizons program. Student skills are assessed at the beginning and conclusion of the summer session, using nationally-recognized, cutting edge testing technology to provide real-time data that is used by teachers to adjust reading and math instruction to meet students' needs. In partnership with Yale University's Child Study Center, student progress is also tracked by Horizons National (www.horizonsnational.org), the organization that provides support to the 20 Horizons affiliates across the United States.

	Computer Class The Horizons summer session helps our students avoid summer learning loss. The National Center for Summer Learning reports evidence concluding that summer learning loss affects nearly all young people, but is usually most severe with children that come from low-income households. The types and amounts of losses vary, but overall, the research consistently shows that summer learning loss results in long-term, life-altering consequences. For example, new and existing research reveals that: Two-thirds of the achievement gap between lower and higher income youth can be explained by unequal access to summer learning opportunities. As a result, low-income youth are less likely to graduate from high school or enter college (Alexander et al, 2007). Most students lose about two months of grade-level equivalency in mathematical computation skills over the summer months. Low-income students also lose more than two months in reading achievement, while their middle-class peers make slight gains (Cooper, 1996). When this pattern continues throughout the elementary school years, lower income youth fall more than two and one-half years behind their more affluent peers by the end of fifth grade. Our academic testing results and the Yale assessment of this data show that Horizons students are not merely avoiding summer learning loss -- the primary purpose of the summer program -- they are actually advancing their skills! Over 87% of the children demonstrated improvement in reading, writing and math skills during the last four summer sessions. Test results from the last five summers show that Horizons students demonstrated an average of a two to three month improvement in reading ability, with students that began the program behind grade level demonstrating three to four months of improvement. These improvements are not just limited to reading skills -- math skills test results show an average improvement of three to four months among all students tested. For further information on the importance of summer learning in addressing the achievement gap, visit www.summerlearning.org or www.horizonsnational.org.