Greeley-Evans School District 6 elementary students showed improved results on in-house  assessments over a 4-month span surrounding summer school this year, the district reported to the board of education.

The kindergarten through fifth graders went up by at least five percentage points and as many as 31 percentage points in English language arts and math from pre-assessments in May to post-summer school evaluations in September.

District 6 spokesperson Theresa Myers said the assessments were "created to align with the state standards for each grade level" and were administered only to students in the summer-school program.

The district's summer school program was held in June, and the classes were designed to help students finish coursework and fill in learning gaps from COVID-19 disruptions during the 2020-21 school year.

Wes Tuttle, assistant superintendent of elementary and K-8 schools, showed the board of education Monday evening data outlining the gains made by the 2,215 elementary students in summer school. Tuttle addressed the board during a meeting at the district office building in Greeley.

"We know every child can achieve," Tuttle told the board while highlighting values underlined by the summer school sessions.

Tuttle's presentation included a chart indicating students in first, second and third grades who attended summer school showed less of a drop in reading assessment scores in a testing program known as Dibels upon return to school compared with peers who did not take summer classes.

On the in-district test, the biggest increase in scores in September were earned by fifth graders. The students scored 31 percentage points higher on math assessments after the summer session and 22 percentage points higher on English language arts.

Second graders also showed significant jumps from May to September.  The students improved by 30 percentage points on English language arts and 22 percentage points in math.

Middle school students were not given assessments before and after summer school. More than 800 students participated in the summer program. Myers said teachers administered weekly assessments to determine students' level of understanding and these results varied from student to student.

Tuttle said the more than 1,000 high school students who participated in summer school were offered intensive credit recovery classes, allowing them to complete missing work or to re-take courses to remain on track for graduation.

The high school students, from Greeley Central, Greeley West, Northridge, Jefferson, Early College Academy and Greeley-Evans Alternative Program (GAP) in total earned 279 credits through summer school.

"There's much work to be done getting students back on track, but this summer was a huge success," Tuttle said.

Tuttle's presentation to the board also detailed about the district's career explore internship program. Through the program, rising seniors receive 150-180 hours of a paid internship in their chosen pathway or field — such as agriculture; business, marketing and public administration; hospitality, human services and education; and skilled trades and technical sciences.

Twenty-nine business partners worked with the district to provide 88 internships.