The National Summer School Initiative 2025
Meet the moment. Tackle unfinished learning. Propel students forward.
We help your teachers deliver a five-week summer program that is uncommonly engaging and exceptionally effective.
Raise expectations for teaching and learning. Propel your students ahead. Join us.
The results are in.
Rapid academic gains
In summer 2024, thousands of like-minded educators joined forces with NSSI to deliver extraordinary learning experiences across the nation. From its inaugural summer in 2020 with 12,000 students, NSSI’s impact has vastly expanded—now preparing 82,000 students to thrive in the 2024-25 school year.
Guided by NSSI’s expert mentors, 4,250 teachers and 715 school leaders sharpened their instructional skills and helped their students achieve meaningful academic gains.
Summer 2024
Vibrant instruction every day. Connection. Fun. And extraordinary academic growth. See how NSSI is changing the way students feel about summer school.
Partnering for excellence
Meet our Mentor Teachers.
Your teachers work in close partnership with our award-winning Mentor Teachers in their grade and subject. Together they craft and deliver extraordinary learning experiences for your students.
Expect more
Build teacher capacity.
Welcome to an entirely new approach to improving instruction.
When your teachers watch an admired mentor teacher pitch a lesson sky-high and, by lesson’s end, reliably succeed with every child, it’s a transformative experience.
They start to expect more. And their students rise to the challenge.
Watch your students soar.
“It was not like a normal summer school at all.”
Harvard and University of Virginia scholars found that students in NSSI last summer improved their academic skills and gained confidence.
I honestly felt like all of my kids, they improved. Pretty much across the board they all said, I read differently now. And I pay attention to what I read. And I'm going to be thinking about what I read and what it means for my life.
—from a summer 2020 ELA partner teacher
Turnkey programming
"Best-designed summer program I have taught thus far."
For many partners, NSSI serves as an extension of their team. With high quality curriculum, best-in-class professional learning, and meticulous operational support, NSSI helps its partners to plan, launch, manage, and evaluate a rigorous summer academic program at scale.
Each year, this gets better and better. Thank you for all the time and effort you put into helping us launch and run successful summer programs with great opportunities for teacher growth and great student outcomes.
—Laurie Wolfe, Chief Academic Officer, Gem Prep
Program-wide, teachers and leaders appreciated NSSI’s ease-of-use. Respondents to our end-of-session surveys gave the statement “I am happy that I taught/led summer school in partnership with NSSI” an average rating of 4.5 out of 5 possible points.
Learn more about why partners choose NSSI to eliminate the complexity and capacity challenges of scaling high quality summer academic programming.
Hear from a returning partner
"We partner with NSSI because they are 'student first.'"
One of the key factors in deciding to partner another year with NSSI was the demonstrable impact of the program, with students making gains of 15–40% in priority grade level standards assessed through pre- and post-assessments. Moreover, students, families, and teachers continue to share with us their enthusiasm for the lessons, materials, and for the emphasis on social-emotional learning. We partner with NSSI because they are 'student first.'
Dr. Jeanne Willard, Ed.D., Executive Director of College & Career Readiness and Extended Learning Options, Everett Public Schools
In their own voices
Students love NSSI
Hear how students take intellectual risks and learn from one another in Ms. Shampain’s fourth-grade math class.
A focus on equity
Our five-part organizational commitment to leading for racial equity includes:
Rigorous curriculum that tackles texts and ideas that are at or above grade-level
Leveraging students' voices and expertise through discourse and deep thinking
Intentional connection and relationship-building, led by a diverse mentor teacher team
Psychologically safe classrooms
A culturally responsive curriculum that foregrounds and celebrates authors of color and thinkers and elevates their voices and perspectives.
The curriculum both creates windows (to learn about other countries, people, cultures, and ideas) and mirrors (to affirm the beauty and brilliance of people who are similar to our students) that are vital for young people to grow and thrive.
Ideas into action
Ian Rowe shares NSSI's innovation
See highlights of Ian Rowe's presentation at NewSchools Venture Fund Summit 2021. Joining an esteemed group for the opening plenary, in “Provocations for the Future," Ian sets out how NSSI accelerates learning and builds teacher capacity.
NSSI offers quality learning time as a solution to pandemic learning losses.
Steven Wilson shares the importance of increased quality learning time in combatting long-term consequences of the pandemic in Fortune.
“[There’s a] belief that academic learning is something to be suffered and endured, as opposed to something that can be deeply joyful and exhilarating,” Wilson said. “Kids are smart. What they’re going to feel good about is academic success, for which there will be no emotional substitute.”
As featured in national news publications
Our partner network
Join district, charter, and independent schools partnering with us to offer a singular experience next summer.
National Summer School Initiative, Inc. 147 Prince Street, 3-54 Brooklyn, NY 11201
© National Summer School Initiative 2024