Summer school helps students make the grade
- June 11, 2015
- / Reggie Dogan
- / education
Instead of sleeping in and spending lazy days playing video games and enjoying summer vacation, B.J. Johnson rises at dawn to catch the bus for an early morning ride to school.
B.J. is enrolled in Escambia County School District’s Summer Reading Camp to improve his reading skills and get a jumpstart on coming school year.
“I rather come to summer school because we get to read books, play games and use the computers,” says B.J. a rising fourth-grader at Oakcrest Elementary School. “It’s fun, and I get tickets for working hard.”
B.J. is among some 100 pupils in the Summer Reading Camp at Oakcrest Elementary School. The camp is part of the district’s efforts to give pupils with reading deficiencies the extra help to become better readers or to advance their reading levels for promotion to the fourth grade.
Classes for elementary pupils in Escambia County started Monday, June 8 through July 15. Other sessions, including a variety of summer learning programs, start June 15 through June 30. Summer online courses can be taken up to Aug. 14.
About 25 percent, or nearly 500 pupils, across the district participate in the Escambia’s Summer Reading Program at designated school sites.
Hundreds more in Pre-K, middle and high school students and some with special needs are enrolled in summer school programs across the district.
[caption id="attachment_24671" align="alignright" width="300"]
Third grader Kavin Hollins reads during summer school at Oakcrest Elementary School in Pensacola, Tuesday, June 9.(Michael Spooneybarger/ Pensacola Today)[/caption]
Linda Maletsidis, director of elementary education, said summer school for first-graders is a district initiative to give pupils the boost they may need to help them catch up or keep them from falling behind.
“We want to give them a lot of help and support so they can be successful,” Maletsidis said. “If they are ready, we’ll move them on.”
Summer schools — whether credit recovery courses for high school students or remedial programs for younger pupils — have long been reliable features of the educational landscape.
But in an increasing number of districts, including Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, summer programs are becoming more prevalent — driven by a wave of initiatives designed to help at-risk students, make summer school curriculum available and more engaging, and improve school grades and graduation rates.
“Our kids need summer school so they don’t lose what they’ve learned over the summer,” said Oakcrest Principal Linda Bonifay. “It helps bridge that gap.”
Making the grade
Summer school programs in the two-county districts are geared toward low-performing students who need credits for promotion to the next grade or to extra work in math or reading to catch up and improve their skills.
Studies show that in the summer, students on average lose about 20 percent of what they’ve learned during the school year.
In the abbreviated, accelerated summer classes, students can brush up on reading, writing and math, as well as improve “soft skills” that enhances the interpersonal, leadership and social skills they’ll need to get ahead in school and beyond.
For students in Santa Rosa County, summer school runs from June 15 to July 15.
Mostly ninth- and 10-graders attend summer school for remediation, to fulfill state mandated end-of-dourse Algebra I requirements to move on to the next grade or to improve their grade point average. Pupils in elementary and middle school, much like in Escambia County, use the summer courses for remediation and to improve their reading and meet requirements for grade promotion.
“Most of what we have is course recovery or remediation-type programs,” said Buddy Hinote, Santa Rosa’s director of high schools.
In past years, schools used the FCAT scores as a benchmark to find out who needed extra help over the summer. The new Florida Standards Assessment replaced the FCAT and the results from the test won’t be available until later in the school year.
Without standardized test scores available to evaluate student performance, Santa Rosa will use Postsecondary Education Readiness Test scores, or PERT, to determine who needs to attends summer school. School grades and grade point averages play a part in finding out who may need some help.
Those who didn’t score high enough are encouraged to take PERT classes or course recovery in the summer, Hinote said.
In Escambia, Discovery Education scores are used to determine who needs extra help in the summer.
The Summer Reading Program is one of several classes offered to students from elementary to high school over the summer to improve skills and enhance learning.
Escambia school district spent $1.7 million this year for summer school, an increase of $432,000 from last year.
Implementing Escambia Virtual School, the High School Transitional Program and enrolling more students added extra costs for summer school, Maletsidis said. Transportation to and from school, as well as breakfast and lunch, are provided for all students in every session during the summer.
New and improved
The High School Transition Summer Program is a mandatory summer program that provides help for incoming high school freshmen who have identified as at-risk. Even though the students may have passed the core courses, they haven’t reached a 2.0 grade point average and need help to boost their scores.
The transition program is the place to help do that and help learn the ropes at a new school.
“They’ll be able to get used to the school, and older students are there to show them around and transition to that high school,” Maletsidis said. “It’s a good way to get acclimated and get a good start.”
Another new program is the Escambia Virtual Academy. It allows fifth-graders the chance to accelerate in math and eighth-graders and gives students who need to meet end-of-course exam requirements the time to progress through online instruction.
Without summer school, the struggling, low-performing student won’t have a chance to catch up or keep up with other students on their grade levels. Falling behind in school is one of the leading causes of students dropping out and not finishing high school.
[caption id="attachment_24676" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Students in Escambia County's Summer Reading Program attend class to improve reading skills and grades to get promoted to the next grade level.[/caption]
While students — and teachers — look forward to summer break, the average summer learning loss in math and reading for students amount to one month per year, according to a report by the RAND Corp.
Low-income students lose two months of reading skills, while their higher-income peers — whose parents are able to afford summer camps, educational vacations and books during the summer — make slight gains, the report said.
The district opened summer school to about 30 percent of pupils in third grade who needed extra help to get ready for the fourth grade.
Oakcrest is one of six elementary schools that serve as a site school for pupils from the 34 elementary schools in the district.
From 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday, pupils spend six weeks getting extra help in reading for remediation or promotion to the next grade.
Lori Martin, the Summer Reading Camp instructor and a third-grade teacher at Oakcrest, doesn’t mind giving up a few weeks of her summer to help students advance and improve their skills.
Summer school for the children who can’t or don’t attend summer camps or take enriching vacations is a good place to stay sharp, raise their grades and keep on track, Martin said.
“A lot of kids have challenges at home and don’t have the same opportunities, so I put my heart and soul in this,” Martin said.
“People give up on kids with challenges and behavioral problems, but these are the kids who need you the most.”
The challenge in summer school for teachers is to the preparing daily lesson plans that are educational, entertaining and engaging, Martin said.
She’s constantly changing classroom routines, using paddles with letters, singing songs and videos to keep pupils involved and engaged.
Martin uses incentives for good behavior and hard work, passing out Eagle Bucks for pupils to cash in for prizes.
A pile of blue Eagle Bucks accumulated on B.J.’s desk as reward for his efforts in the classroom. As the class works on pronouns, Martin squats at B.J.’s desk as he reads a passage from the reading book. They slap high-fives when he finishes his reading without missing a beat.
“Everyday is something new and different,” Martin said. “I try to make it interesting to keep them from getting bored.”
Another challenge for students is adjusting to a new school in a short period of time.
Teaching life lessons
The principal gave high marks to some of the Oakcrest pupils who stepped in as ambassadors to befriend the new ones in an unfamiliar surrounding.
Throughout the school year, students at Oakcrest had worked on “soft skills,” learning how to greet people, shake hands and make contact with adults, Bonifay said.
On the first day of summer school, without any prompting, La’daisha Stallworth put her newfound skills to work.
She spotted a shy newcomer who was intimidated at a new school among new faces.
“She was scared to go to the cafeteria for breakfast,” said Stallworth, a fourth-grader. “I welcomed her to Oakcrest and told her it will be fun and she will have a great summer school here.”
That kind of out-of-the-classroom skill-building doesn’t always show up on test scores, Bonifay said.
“When the day was over, one student said, ‘Can I come back tomorrow?’” Bonifay said, smiling.
La’daisha enjoys not only being an ambassador for new students but also learning new skills and seeing her teachers She’s not so eager for summer school to an end.
“I will be sad because I’ll miss all my teachers, but we’ll come back next (school) year,” she said. “I’m excited about going to summer school for extra education.”
Third grader Kavin Hollins reads during summer school at Oakcrest Elementary School in Pensacola, Tuesday, June 9.(Michael Spooneybarger/ Pensacola Today)[/caption]
Linda Maletsidis, director of elementary education, said summer school for first-graders is a district initiative to give pupils the boost they may need to help them catch up or keep them from falling behind.
“We want to give them a lot of help and support so they can be successful,” Maletsidis said. “If they are ready, we’ll move them on.”
Summer schools — whether credit recovery courses for high school students or remedial programs for younger pupils — have long been reliable features of the educational landscape.
But in an increasing number of districts, including Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, summer programs are becoming more prevalent — driven by a wave of initiatives designed to help at-risk students, make summer school curriculum available and more engaging, and improve school grades and graduation rates.
“Our kids need summer school so they don’t lose what they’ve learned over the summer,” said Oakcrest Principal Linda Bonifay. “It helps bridge that gap.”
Making the grade
Summer school programs in the two-county districts are geared toward low-performing students who need credits for promotion to the next grade or to extra work in math or reading to catch up and improve their skills.
Studies show that in the summer, students on average lose about 20 percent of what they’ve learned during the school year.
In the abbreviated, accelerated summer classes, students can brush up on reading, writing and math, as well as improve “soft skills” that enhances the interpersonal, leadership and social skills they’ll need to get ahead in school and beyond.
For students in Santa Rosa County, summer school runs from June 15 to July 15.
Mostly ninth- and 10-graders attend summer school for remediation, to fulfill state mandated end-of-dourse Algebra I requirements to move on to the next grade or to improve their grade point average. Pupils in elementary and middle school, much like in Escambia County, use the summer courses for remediation and to improve their reading and meet requirements for grade promotion.
“Most of what we have is course recovery or remediation-type programs,” said Buddy Hinote, Santa Rosa’s director of high schools.
In past years, schools used the FCAT scores as a benchmark to find out who needed extra help over the summer. The new Florida Standards Assessment replaced the FCAT and the results from the test won’t be available until later in the school year.
Without standardized test scores available to evaluate student performance, Santa Rosa will use Postsecondary Education Readiness Test scores, or PERT, to determine who needs to attends summer school. School grades and grade point averages play a part in finding out who may need some help.
Those who didn’t score high enough are encouraged to take PERT classes or course recovery in the summer, Hinote said.
In Escambia, Discovery Education scores are used to determine who needs extra help in the summer.
The Summer Reading Program is one of several classes offered to students from elementary to high school over the summer to improve skills and enhance learning.
Escambia school district spent $1.7 million this year for summer school, an increase of $432,000 from last year.
Implementing Escambia Virtual School, the High School Transitional Program and enrolling more students added extra costs for summer school, Maletsidis said. Transportation to and from school, as well as breakfast and lunch, are provided for all students in every session during the summer.
New and improved
The High School Transition Summer Program is a mandatory summer program that provides help for incoming high school freshmen who have identified as at-risk. Even though the students may have passed the core courses, they haven’t reached a 2.0 grade point average and need help to boost their scores.
The transition program is the place to help do that and help learn the ropes at a new school.
“They’ll be able to get used to the school, and older students are there to show them around and transition to that high school,” Maletsidis said. “It’s a good way to get acclimated and get a good start.”
Another new program is the Escambia Virtual Academy. It allows fifth-graders the chance to accelerate in math and eighth-graders and gives students who need to meet end-of-course exam requirements the time to progress through online instruction.
Without summer school, the struggling, low-performing student won’t have a chance to catch up or keep up with other students on their grade levels. Falling behind in school is one of the leading causes of students dropping out and not finishing high school.
[caption id="attachment_24676" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Students in Escambia County's Summer Reading Program attend class to improve reading skills and grades to get promoted to the next grade level.[/caption]
While students — and teachers — look forward to summer break, the average summer learning loss in math and reading for students amount to one month per year, according to a report by the RAND Corp.
Low-income students lose two months of reading skills, while their higher-income peers — whose parents are able to afford summer camps, educational vacations and books during the summer — make slight gains, the report said.
The district opened summer school to about 30 percent of pupils in third grade who needed extra help to get ready for the fourth grade.
Oakcrest is one of six elementary schools that serve as a site school for pupils from the 34 elementary schools in the district.
From 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday, pupils spend six weeks getting extra help in reading for remediation or promotion to the next grade.
Lori Martin, the Summer Reading Camp instructor and a third-grade teacher at Oakcrest, doesn’t mind giving up a few weeks of her summer to help students advance and improve their skills.
Summer school for the children who can’t or don’t attend summer camps or take enriching vacations is a good place to stay sharp, raise their grades and keep on track, Martin said.
“A lot of kids have challenges at home and don’t have the same opportunities, so I put my heart and soul in this,” Martin said.
“People give up on kids with challenges and behavioral problems, but these are the kids who need you the most.”
The challenge in summer school for teachers is to the preparing daily lesson plans that are educational, entertaining and engaging, Martin said.
She’s constantly changing classroom routines, using paddles with letters, singing songs and videos to keep pupils involved and engaged.
Martin uses incentives for good behavior and hard work, passing out Eagle Bucks for pupils to cash in for prizes.
A pile of blue Eagle Bucks accumulated on B.J.’s desk as reward for his efforts in the classroom. As the class works on pronouns, Martin squats at B.J.’s desk as he reads a passage from the reading book. They slap high-fives when he finishes his reading without missing a beat.
“Everyday is something new and different,” Martin said. “I try to make it interesting to keep them from getting bored.”
Another challenge for students is adjusting to a new school in a short period of time.
Teaching life lessons
The principal gave high marks to some of the Oakcrest pupils who stepped in as ambassadors to befriend the new ones in an unfamiliar surrounding.
Throughout the school year, students at Oakcrest had worked on “soft skills,” learning how to greet people, shake hands and make contact with adults, Bonifay said.
On the first day of summer school, without any prompting, La’daisha Stallworth put her newfound skills to work.
She spotted a shy newcomer who was intimidated at a new school among new faces.
“She was scared to go to the cafeteria for breakfast,” said Stallworth, a fourth-grader. “I welcomed her to Oakcrest and told her it will be fun and she will have a great summer school here.”
That kind of out-of-the-classroom skill-building doesn’t always show up on test scores, Bonifay said.
“When the day was over, one student said, ‘Can I come back tomorrow?’” Bonifay said, smiling.
La’daisha enjoys not only being an ambassador for new students but also learning new skills and seeing her teachers She’s not so eager for summer school to an end.
“I will be sad because I’ll miss all my teachers, but we’ll come back next (school) year,” she said. “I’m excited about going to summer school for extra education.”
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