Moving Our Moonshot Forward Through Summer Learning

At Kennedy Elementary, incoming first graders gather in a circle around librarian Karen Rickert. She’s reading aloud a book about sloths, and nonstop giggles fill the library.

“I try to find silly books to read to make reading fun for the students during the summer,” said Rickert. “The summer is a good time to encourage kids to read for enjoyment.”

While the school year may have ended, Omaha Public Schools continues moving our Moonshot forward by providing students with meaningful opportunities to learn, explore and grow.

“With our district’s Moonshot goal, it’s important for kids to keep being engaged with reading so they don’t lose any skills,” said Rickert.

Through Next Level Learning (NLL), summer library hours and a partnership with the Omaha Public Library Summer Reading Program, students are building reading skills.

Across our district, summer learning opportunities are designed to support continued growth.

At Dodge Elementary, NLL students are working on phonics lessons. The lessons focus on the relationship between spoken sounds and written letters or letter combinations, helping students decode words and strengthen their spelling skills.

“We want to make sure the students are very familiar with sight words and phonics,” said Katie Dose, Dodge Elementary NLL principal. “Then, we’ll add a layer of writing, so that what they’re reading, they’ll be writing. We want to gradually increase that rigor and complexity because we know students will benefit.”

NLL second grade student Juliet Griffin works on phonics with her peers, saying words out loud as a group.

“We're learning about the silent E, but I call it the magic E because it makes the vowel sound longer instead of shorter,” said Griffin. “If there’s no one saying the words, then you won’t remember what the word is, and it’s going to be even harder.”

All Omaha Public Schools students also have access to e-books through Sora, an online digital reading platform.

“Students can check out thousands of magazines, audiobooks, picture books or chapter books on any device,” said Rickert. “There are a lot of opportunities for our students to keep reading physically and digitally over the summer.”

Families are encouraged to participate in the Omaha Public Library Summer Reading Program with additional opportunities to read for fun, volunteer or attend education programs. 

As we work toward all students reading on grade level by 2030, our district is committed to providing year-round learning support.

“We're doing everything we can to bridge that gap and to get everybody reading on grade level, whether they're in third grade or a senior in high school,” said Dose. “We want to make sure we’re setting up all students for success, not only in school, but in life.”