Newark/Lyons Cooperative Summer School Program Changes Were Effective 🎯

While Summer School may be viewed by some students as a less than desirable way to spend their summer season, the 2026 Newark/Lyons Cooperative Summer School planning team worked hard to change that perspective for students and families.

To view the full designed article, navigate to the following link: https://files.smartsites.parentsquare.com/12545/newark_lyons_cooperative_summer_school_program_changes_were_effective.pdf

“This year’s program focused on promoting a passion for discovery and learning while building on requisite foundational skills,” explained Donna Rizzo, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum & Instruction for the Newark Central School District. “We are proud of the programming we offered at our 2026 Newark/Lyons Cooperative Summer School!”

“Planning for this year’s summer program began last September,” Rizzo said. “Administrators from both Newark and Lyons met monthly with Wayne-Finger Lakes BOCES partners to design and plan programming for students around three core instructional principles: standards-focused, data-driven, and student-centered.

“The goal was for students to progress in their learning or, at a minimum, maintain their learning from last year,” she continued. “Our teachers worked to provide personalized learning for all students by regularly analyzing student work, monitoring their progress, and adjusting their instruction. As a result, our students demonstrated growth in their foundational skills and increased readiness for the upcoming school year.”

Rachael Hawver, a second-grade teacher at Newark’s Lincoln School who will be working this school year as an Administrative Intern was the Summer School Principal at Perkins and worked alongside Courtney Clark, a fifth-grade teacher from Northside Elementary School in Fairport who worked as Assistant Principal.

“As Principal, one of the greatest lessons was learning to unite multiple districts, departments, and professionals around one common goal. Success depended on building systems, fostering collaboration, communicating clearly, and keeping every decision centered on what was best for students,” Hawver said.

“Those are the themes that make this story much bigger than ‘Summer School.’ They're about regional collaboration, intentional instructional design, data-informed practice, and creating sustainable systems that improve outcomes for students.

“From day one, Courtney and I wanted this program to be more than traditional summer school. Our vision was to create a collaborative, standards-

driven program where every instructional decision was grounded in data, every student had the opportunity to demonstrate growth, and every child left more confident and better prepared for the school year ahead.”

Clark agreed.

“Serving as Assistant Principal of the Newark/Lyons Cooperative Summer School reinforced my belief that summer learning can be much more than remediation. From the beginning, we shared a vision of creating a collaborative, data-driven program where instruction was rooted in student data and guided by priority standards to ensure every lesson had purpose and impact.

“Working alongside educators from multiple districts, I helped build systems that promoted collaboration, consistency, and high-quality instruction,” she continued. “Every decision centered on preparing students for a successful return to school while fostering confidence and academic growth. This experience demonstrated that when educators unite around a shared vision and intentionally use data to drive instruction, summer school becomes a powerful opportunity to accelerate learning and improve outcomes for students.’’

Similar progress was noted at programs at NMS where Marcella “Marcy” Tilson has served as principal and Daniel Uebbing as AP and at NHS where Jason Semmel has been Principal and Tina Peets as AP.

Rizzo said planning for Summer School 2027 will begin in September and build on the advances in programming provided this year.

“I want to thank all our summer school staff,” Rizzo continued. “The program’s commitment to high expectations ensured that every student had access to meaningful learning opportunities. Both districts had a vision for our Newark Lyons Cooperative Summer School. The summer team of administrators and teachers collaborated and made that vision a reality. Well done!”