Summer vacation is on the horizon. 

For some kids, it’ll mean camp with friends, practicing sports or relishing their free time. For other kids, it may mean summer programs to address learning gaps after two full years of schooling through the pandemic.

As we enter the third summer vacation since the pandemic began, PublicSource wants to know how students across Allegheny County will be spending their breaks: focusing on engaged summer recreation or prioritizing academic recovery? How are Pittsburgh parents molding or modifying their kids’ summer break to account for the last two years? 

Last summer, Pittsburgh Public Schools and other districts across Allegheny County launched several separate summer learning programs, credit recovery programs and summer camps to shrink learning gaps resulting from staff shortages, virtual instruction and delays in mental health resources. Test data for the 2020-21 school year showed the younger students struggled more than the older students in Pittsburgh to adapt during COVID.

Please let us know your plans by filling out our survey below. Note that we won’t publish anything from you without contacting you for permission, so please share your email!

How will your kids spend summer vacation?

What’s the priority for your child's summer break?

Read more: Allegheny County students look to summer school after a difficult year. But can they catch up?

Read more: How Pittsburgh-area learning hubs helped students through COVID and could change how public education is delivered

TyLisa C. Johnson is the audience engagement editor for PublicSource. She can be reached at tylisa@publicsource.org or on Twitter at @tylisawrites.

Jourdan Hicks is PublicSource’s senior community correspondent. She can be reached at Jourdan@publicsource.org or on Facebook @Jourdan Hicks.

Help us continue telling stories like this one.

We’re Pittsburgh’s Public Source, an independent, nonprofit newsroom. That means we rely on donations from readers like you to help us report accurate, timely and impactful stories for the Pittsburgh region — available to everyone without paywalls.

Everyone deserves access to credible information to understand and help shape the region they call home, which is why we work hard everyday to deliver fact-checked stories on education, environment, health, local government and more.

We've seen our journalism prompt widespread change in the Pittsburgh region — but none of it would be possible without the support of our community. If you found this story valuable, consider "paying it forward" by making a gift today.

GIVE NOW

MOST READ STORIES

TyLisa C. Johnson is the Audience Engagement Editor at PublicSource. She’s passionate about telling compelling human stories that intersect with complex issues affecting marginalized groups. Before joining...

Jourdan is a senior community correspondent at PublicSource. Previously, Jourdan was engaged as a community-based educator in the Hazelwood section of the city. A lifelong Pittsburgh resident, she’s...