Philly leaders highlight free and low-cost summer kids programs, say more pool staff needed

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As the days get longer and the temperatures get warmer, Philadelphia is gearing up for summer. City leaders took over an hour Wednesday rolling out “It’s a Summer Thing,” a city-sponsored initiative to keep young people entertained and out of trouble during the summer months.

Vanessa Garrett Harley, chief deputy mayor for social impact and strategic initiatives, said the goal is to prevent any child or parent from saying there isn’t anything to do when school dismisses in June.

“I don’t want anybody to be able to say that they had no place or space for their young person to go this summer,” Harley said during a kickoff news conference at Philadelphia City Hall.

Philadelphia Works President and CEO Patrick Clancy said the offerings will include some 8,000 paid summer jobs through a public/private partnership to applicants ages 12 to 24.

Parks and Recreation Commissioner Susan Slawson said Mayor Cherelle Parker gave her department $3 million to help expand youth sports at parks and rec facilities. She said they still need about 400 more lifeguards and even more maintenance staff to work the city’s roughly 60 public swimming pools.

“We have 1,200 job opportunities for young people ages 14 to 18 years old,” Slawson explained. “So there is no reason if you have children, if you have grandkids, if you have nieces and nephews, please let them know that there are these opportunities.”

Lifeguards will make $16 to $18 an hour, Slawson said, as well as a $1,000 bonus at the end of the summer if they apply by April 15.

If you are just looking to swim, you can find a site near you.

The School District of Philadelphia is also offering summer enrichment slots. Superintendent Tony Watlington said the district will have all-day programs for some 25,000 students in 135 school district facilities. The free activities kick off Monday, June 23, and will last up to six weeks.

“There’s something for all of our children in Philadelphia, and you have to live under a rock not to know about it,” Watlington said.

The summer programs include everything from kindergarten transition, summer school credit recovery and a split-day program, with education in the morning and fun in the afternoon to curb what is commonly called the “summer slide,” when students lose educational advances made during the school year.

Parents can register for the school district programs here.

The hope is to give Philly students more afternoon activities and cut down on violent interactions. Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel extended duty for some officers at recreation centers after two shootings last week at recreation centers.

Other than the additional money for the recreation department, officials could not speak to how much in additional dollars they would be spending this year, but did say they would work to come up with a number soon.

Register now for summer camps, swim lessons, academic enrichment and more. Additional information can be found here.