Horizons at Warner Celebrates 10th Year of Summer Learning for City Students on River Campus  

Yellow school buses rolled up into the University of Rochester’s River Campus at 9 a.m. on July 8, bringing children to opening day of the annual Horizons at Warner summer program. The six-week program runs through August 14. Watch a video of first day 2019.
 
Horizons at Warner, an enrichment out-of-school program for Rochester City School District students, grades K-9, began in 2010 and is now celebrating its 10th summer. Students join the summer before entering kindergarten and stay onboard through 9th grade, building bonds with teachers and peers and creating a strong sense of community.  
 
The first-ever Horizons National affiliate nationwide to be housed on a college campus, Horizons at Warner is now located in the Warner School of Education’s LeChase Hall. Spending time on campus helps children picture themselves as future college students and what they ultimately want to be—a teacher, doctor, engineer, or anything they wish—when they grow up.
 
This year, 150 students are participating in engaging academic programs in LeChase Hall and throughout River Campus. The meaningful and authentic learning experiences and skills students gain this summer will carry over into the upcoming school year. They will also return to campus periodically throughout the year for family events, academic enrichment opportunities, mentoring, tutoring and more.
 
A hallmark of the program is the different theme that Horizons at Warner features from year to year. The theme for each summer provides in-depth learning experiences and exposure to new topics. A thematic curriculum balances literacy and mathematics with swimming and other health and wellness activities. Weekly field trips take place every Friday and connect back to the summer’s overarching theme.
 
This year's theme is “Change Over Time.” (Past Horizons’ themes have included: “Amazing Animals,” “Rochester’s History,” “The Genesee River,” “Inventors,” “Architecture,” “Entrepreneurs,” “Pollution Solutions,” and “Performance.”) Throughout the summer, students will embark on research projects that will come to life in various forms of murals. A culminating event, showcasing the students’ summer learning and murals connecting back to the theme, will be held from 1:30 to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, August 14.
 
With a new theme comes a new leader for Horizons at Warner. Julia Postler serves as the new executive director of Horizons. She succeeds Horizons at Warner co-founder Lynn Gatto, who served as executive director for 9 years and now teaches in and directs the early childhood and childhood programs at the Warner School.
 
“It’s always a pleasure to welcome everyone back to Horizons each summer,” says Postler, who previously served as assistant director. “I look forward to leading Horizons students, families, and staff as we work together to build on the excellence and success of the program under Lynn’s leadership.” 
 
Horizons at Warner not only helps to prevent summer learning loss among enrolled students, but it also offers an opportunity for graduate students at the Warner School to gain additional hands-on experience working with students of various ages in a non-traditional, informal academic setting.
 
View photos of Horizons at Warner summer 2019. Learn more about Horizons at Warner here.
 
About the Warner School of Education
Founded in 1958, the University of Rochester’s Warner School of Education offers graduate programs in teacher preparation, K-12 school leadership, higher education, education policy, counseling, human development, online teaching and learning, program evaluation, applied behavior analysis, and health professions education. The Warner School also offers PhD programs and an accelerated EdD option that allows eligible students to earn a doctorate in education in as few as three years part-time while holding a professional job in the same field. The Warner School is recognized both regionally and nationally for its tradition of preparing practitioners and researchers to become leaders and agents of change in schools, universities, and community agencies; generating and disseminating research; and actively participating in education reform. For more information on the Warner School, visit www.warner.rochester.edu.