While some schools stay quiet over the summer, Hamlin Robinson School hums with the activities of HRS Summer Academy. 

For Students: 

Over 190 students from schools throughout the region participated in this year’s Slingerland morning classes and afternoon enrichment camps. Though the first day comes with many emotions – excitement, nervousness, uncertainty – students soon settle into a rhythm. For many, entering the summer Slingerland class may be the first time they don’t feel like an outsider in the classroom. Learning in a room of peers who share similar struggles empowers them to take risks and learn new skills, setting them up for a more successful school year ahead. The sense of camaraderie and mutual understanding is a hallmark of the HRS experience, whether a student is enrolled in HRS or the Summer Academy. Additionally, the summer program connects new families to the many supports the HRS Learning Center provides.

For Teachers: 

While students took lessons in oral language and writing, teachers were also back in the classroom. All new HRS faculty (as well as educators from outside HRS) receive a month of specialized, comprehensive training in the Slingerland® Approach to literacy instruction. Experienced Slingerland teachers also have the opportunity to take advanced training during HRS Summer Academy.  

For Parents: 

• Parents of students attending HRS Summer Academy can participate in multiple learning experiences during the month of July. 
• HRS hosts a parent information session on the first day of the program, sharing information about dyslexia, the social-emotional impact of a learning difference, and how multi-sensory, sequential, structured literacy instruction can help. 
• Parents can attend a summer session of Walk In The Shoes – a workshop which simulates the frustrations and challenges that students with learning differences can experience in a traditional school setting.  
• On the last day of HRS Summer Academy, parents can attend a classroom observation. This experience gives them the opportunity to see what happens in their student’s classroom and the excitement shared by the students as they demonstrate their new skills. 

HRS Summer Academy empowers students, families and teachers – and it’s fun! Hats off to the faculty and staff who manage this mini-school year and to the families who commit to this program.