2025 RCDS
Summer Reading and Math
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The Impact of Summer Reading:
It is essential to continue learning beyond the end of the school year. A loss of academic skills, or the "summer slide", can affect many children. Up to two months of reading skills can be lost over the summer and it can take about six weeks in the fall to re-learn former skills.
Studies show that access to books during the summer prevents a drastic loss in reading skills. It takes just 2-3 hours per week to prevent summer learning loss. Slow the summer slide by incorporating a little bit of learning all summer long. Academic apps, playing board games, taking day trips to places like museums and parks, and watching educational videos are all great ways to make learning fun. Most valuable of all is continuing to read!
Just 20 minutes of reading per day can help prevent the summer slide!
| Student A reads | Student B reads | Student C reads |
|---|---|---|
| 20 minutes per day | 5 minutes per day | 1 minute per day |
| 1,800 minutes per summer | 450 minutes per summer | 90 minutes per summer |
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Early Childhood Center (N-PreK) & Lower School (Beginners-4th Grade) 2025 Summer Reading Requirements
Students are expected to read the following:
• One book from the “Kindness” list
• One book from the “Maker & Innovation” list
• One book from the Grade-Level Theme list (for rising 1st–4th graders)
• Books from the "100 Books to Read Before Kindergarten" list (for incoming Nursery, Pre-K, and Beginners). We hope that you read one book,
Upper School (5th-8th Grade) 2025 Summer Reading
Students are expected to read the following:
• Rising 5th Graders: Choose two books from different genres from the RCDS Summer Reading Choice List.
• Rising 6th Graders: The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers, plus one additional novel from the RCDS Summer Reading Choice List.
• Rising 7th & 8th Graders: The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers, plus one additional novel from the RCDS Summer Reading Choice List, and three articles from The New York Times. Students should complete written responses using the provided template and return the completed form to their English teachers on the first day of school.
To access your free subscription to The New York Times: Students will receive an automatic email from help@nytimes.com with login details. Using your school email address as your ID, click here to get started.
Upper School (5th-8th Grade) 2025 Math Work
In addition to summer reading, all rising Upper School students are asked to complete some summer work in math. The assignments are designed to keep skills sharp and support a strong start to the new school year. Students’ assignments are listed below and posted in each child’s 2024-2025 math teacher’s Google Classroom. If you are unsure which packet your child should complete, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your 24-25 math teacher—we’re happy to help.
For both reading and math, we recommend spreading the work out over the summer. Developing a habit of reading regularly and solving a few math problems at a time helps make these important skills part of everyday life.