The idiom is what educators consider a regression in academic skills and proficiency that students may experience during the summer break when normal classes are not in session.

Studies suggest that elementary school-aged children lose about 20% of their school-year gains in reading, and 27% of what they learned in math during summer break.

And that’s where programs like the Alpine Education Foundation’s Summer School Students and Teachers Achieving Reading Success, or STARS, come in.

18 elementary schools across the district are participating in Summer Stars, a specialized literacy program funded by the Alpine Foundation.

The program started June 7 and ends Friday.

Kindergarten and first graders attend classes for three-hours a day, sharpening their skills in writing, reading comprehension and word decoding.

One key element of the program’s function is the presence of a reading interventionist in every building to provide specialized support.

As opposed to larger classroom settings during the regular school year, students are able to have more one-on-one time with educators and work in smaller groups to help build their literacy skills.

Alpine School District literacy specialist Rebekah Stauffer said they start examining student data during the middle of the school year and will begin reaching out to schools to determine which students are below the average reading threshold for their grade level and could benefit from the program.

“We kind of like those bubble kids that are just below that benchmark, that just need a little bit more help (to) push them up above that,” she said. “And then, if parents are available and ready, then we get them (students) signed up.”

Data indicates a 50%-60% success rate in meeting goals, especially for rising second graders, according to Stauffer.

She said it’s evident that the program is making a difference when they review the students’ test scores during the next school year.

“Most of these kids, when we check on their fall Acadience (test) scores and stuff like that; they have maintained, or even jumped up a benchmark, ” Stauffer told the Daily Herald. “Which is amazing to see — so it’s really helping that summer slide, which I think can be really powerful.”

Parents are also noticing the difference in their child’s reading abilities, thanks to the Summer STARS program.

“The feedback that we get from parents is that this program really built their child’s confidence in reading,” said Mary Newbold, a literacy curriculum specialist for the Alpine School District. “They’ll talk about how much they love school now because they can keep up with their classes.”

Stacey Gibbons, a reading interventionist for the program at Central Elementary School in Pleasant Grove, said she’s received similar feedback.

“I was even talking to some parents just today, and they were like ‘we are so glad to just have this little kind of three hour focus, and then they can just play the rest of the summer,'” Gibbons told the Daily Herald last week.

Both Stauffer and Gibbons said the STARS program is helping students discover books that they find enjoyable and interesting to read.

Felicity, a student in the program who’s going into second grade, said some of her favorite books to read include “Diary of a Pig” and “I’m Trying to Love Spiders.”

But she’s enjoyed reading about other creatures and literature involving science.

“I’ve been learning about mars, and sometimes we learn about hermit crabs,” she said.

The Summer STARS program also includes a curriculum to integrate literacy with science.

“This collaboration will focus on developing students’ oral language, vocabulary, sentence-level comprehension, and writing skills,” an Alpine School District press release about the program said.

Stauffer said the goal is for students to leave the program feeling more confident in their academic skills, thanks to small-group instruction and collaboration among teachers.

“I think a lot of the power of this is not just the student growth, but teachers that see practices and things that can really help them carry on in the classroom the next year,” she said.