As the summer temperatures heat up, so does the city’s free summer educational and enrichment program, Summer Rising.

Children at P.S. 146 in East Harlem are foregoing sleeping in this summer to be in school.

What You Need To Know

  • As the summer temperatures heat up, so does the city’s free summer educational and enrichment program, Summer Rising

  • Summer Rising provides a camp-like atmosphere for young people across the city

  • It’s not all about education; the children do everything from sports, arts and crafts, and field trips, including to city parks and museums

  • On Wednesday morning, Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels helped to welcome the children and encourage learning and education through the summer months

 “I’m excited,” said 8-year-old Aissata Gueye, who’s heading into fourth grade later in the fall.

Bryan Fortune, 8, also opened up about how he’s feeling going back to school in the summer.

“Probably happy because I get to do a lot of fun activities when I’m here,” he told NY1 when asked about how he’s feeling.

Summer Rising provides a camp-like atmosphere for young people across the city. It’s not all about education; the children do everything from sports, arts and crafts, and field trips, including to city parks and museums. Fortune, a rising fourth grader, missed out on a pool day during last summer’s program — so he’s ready to jump all the way in.

“They had a field trip last year. I didn’t go because they didn’t give me a permission slip. It was a swimming pool, yeah, it was a swimming pool. I didn’t get to go because I never got a permission slip,” he said.

On Wednesday morning, Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels helped to welcome the children and encourage learning and education through the summer months.

“You’re gonna have great academics, but also great enrichment and fun, so I’m so excited that you are here,” he said.

Summer Rising is free for kindergarten to eighth-grade students and organized by New York City Public Schools, the Department of Youth and Community Development, and community-based organizations. There are currently over 110,000 students enrolled throughout the city.

“This is now about what kids deserve,” said Sandra Escamilla-Davies, the commissioner of the New York City Department of Youth and Community. “The thing that I also appreciate is the relationships they build, and the time they get to really cultivate those relationships which really help to form their identities, not only with young people, with adults that really care about them, and are helping them navigate and imagine their future.”

The principal at P.S. 146, Mona Silfen, believes Summer Rising is providing much-needed relief to working parents who can’t afford to send their children to summer camp. She said it’s keeping young people on track with their education before they step into the next grade.

“Just seeing the smiles and the excitement, and being eager to come even in the summer months, and it’s nice air conditioning, and they’re provided with breakfast, lunch, and a snack in the afternoon,” said Silfen.

Yubiel Maldonado, 9, who is attending Summer Rising, told NY1 he’s feeling “pretty good” on the first day.

“The best part about Summer Rising is you meet new teachers and friends,” he said.

More than 116,000 kids enrolled in Summer Rising last year, up from 111,000 the year before. While the city has not released numbers for this summer yet; according to educators, the program continues to grow in terms of its reach, to include more students with challenges and multilingual learners or English-language learners.