New School of Thought Leads to Changes in Summer School

Summer school in the these days is all about looking forward, not back.

The district is trying something new with summer school at the grade school and middle school level. Educators are hoping to give kids a jumpstart right before the next school year begins rather than make them come back to the classroom right after the previous school year let out.

“It’s hard to get kids to want to come to something that is optional,” said Dana Liberton, assistant principal at . “When June first hits, they want their summer.”

So at a time when some cash-strapped schools are trimming or cutting free summer school altogether, Kirkwood educators are hoping the change will pay off in several ways – better attendance; happier, more motivated and more confident students; and more efficient use of school resources.

Old School vs. New School

Summer school traditionally is for struggling learners. They are recommended for the program in the spring by their teachers.

The old school of thought was to have those students go back over material they were supposed to have just learned. The new way will have them getting a headstart on material they will see at their next grade level.

Another change is the timing. Now, instead of going back the first of June for five weeks, summer school students get a break first and return to the classroom at the end of July for two weeks.

That’s where the efficient use of resources comes in – two weeks versus five weeks.

“Our goal is quality, not quantity,” said Liberton, who is supervising the program for the elementary and middle school levels. (The Kirkwood High School summer school program is a mix of credit recovery and credit enhancement, where students can take certain required classes that don’t fit into their schedule during the regular year.)

The old way of doing things felt punitive and resulted in a lot of no-shows, Liberton said.

“They hadn’t gotten a summer yet and they were dying for a break,” she said. “We thought, let’s try this approach and build on the excitement of August that every kid has.”

The Payoff and the Approach

Liberton said teachers hope students will be more motivated to come and do their best because they will see the reason for being there.

“I think they can see the purpose – ‘If I can learn this now, wow, I’m going to ace that test in September,’” she said.

Jason Moore, a seventh grade science and reading teacher who is in charge of summer school at this year, said the focus would be on content students will see in their core classes in the first quarter of the next year.

The core classes are communication arts, science, math and social studies. Moore said teachers would emphasize four key vocabulary words per subject over the eight days summer school is in session.

For instance, if a student will be learning about the metric system in the first quarter of the fall, his summer school class would focus on words such as “kilo.”

“So when students come into science (in August,) and see ‘kilo,’ they’ll say, ‘Oh, I know that means one thousand,’” he said.

Teachers also will help students work on their organization skills, he said. The kids will get their locker combinations ahead of their classmates, for example, alleviating first-of-the-year anxiety.

Liberton and Moore said another benefit they hope to see is a decrease in behavior problems during the regular school year because teachers will have gotten to know kids who may need extra attention.

“They see it as an opportunity to get to know the kids and build relationships,” he said.

Summer school sessions will run four hours a day Monday through Thursday from July 25 through Aug. 4.