San Diego Unified is turning summer into a full-day freebie for families, rolling out a no-cost month of summer school for every student in transitional kindergarten through sixth grade this year. Mornings will be teacher-led academics, afternoons will be PrimeTime enrichment, and together they add up to an 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. day at participating elementary schools. Families will need to move fast, though, since enrollment opens Monday, March 23, for a short district-set window.
The district’s Extended Learning calendar breaks it down like this: Session 1 runs from Thursday, June 4, through Thursday, July 2, with academic classes in the morning from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., followed by PrimeTime enrichment from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. A separate full-day PrimeTime enrichment session runs Monday, July 6, through Friday, July 17, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. According to San Diego Unified, the TK-6 enrollment window opens March 23 at 8 a.m. and closes March 27 at 5 p.m.
Local coverage first surfaced the scope of the change along with the district’s projections. Tobie Pace, senior director of extended learning, told Axios San Diego that last year the program served roughly 12,000 students, and that San Diego Unified now plans to reach as many as 55,000 this year. Pace put it bluntly, saying, “We’re a little nervous about it.” Axios also reports that parents will receive one unique signup link per child via text or email.
Schedule and Sites
District materials say select elementary schools in every cluster will host the summer programming, so families should be able to find a site relatively close to home. A full roster of participating campuses and logistical details is posted online. The schedule and site plan were presented to the Board of Education in November, and the district’s notice spells out which schools will open for summer sessions. That announcement is available from San Diego Unified.
How to Sign Up
When the enrollment window opens, the primary parent or guardian listed in PowerSchool will receive a student-specific TransAct link by text and or email that kicks off registration. In other words, if your contact info in PowerSchool is old, this is the time to fix it. Families are being urged to double-check that each child’s phone and email information is current in PowerSchool so those links land where they should.
The Extended Learning site offers step-by-step enrollment videos and instructions in multiple languages, including how to choose preferred sites and complete required forms. For full instructions and details on the TransAct link process, families can head to San Diego Unified.
What It Means for Families
District leaders are framing the move as a shift from targeted summer offerings to universal access for TK-6 students. For parents who usually scramble for camps or childcare in July, a free, all-day option could be a serious budget saver.
In a 2025 news release, the district said it supported 34,000 students through summer programming, highlighting the size of the system it is now trying to grow even further. The district’s 2025 release provides additional context on participation and meals as San Diego Unified attempts to scale up.
Capacity and Outlook
San Diego Unified credits its designation under the state’s Extended Learning Opportunities Program, listed as Rate 1, along with a push for increased state funding, for making the expanded summer plan possible. At the same time, officials are candid that staffing and space could be tight as participation ramps up.
The short enrollment window and the strong nudge to update PowerSchool contact information are both meant to help the district manage demand and communication. Families with questions can reach out to the Extended Learning office using the contacts provided on the district’s pages.
