The summer may not be a vacation for many students this year.
Summer school, which had been largely limited to a few locations and grade levels in the past, will be greatly expanded to many K-12 students this year in an effort to tackle what’s known as the “COVID slide.”
The COVID-19 pandemic led to school closures in the spring, summer and early fall in 2020. More than half the students still stayed home when schools opened in late September in Palm Beach County and early October in Broward and Miami-Dade.
Academic performance has suffered with students at home and school, with the number of F grades doubling and absences rising way up as well. For many kids, summer will be their first opportunity to reconnect to friends and teachers face to face.
“It’s going to have to look different than what we’ve done in the past,” said Glenda Sheffield, chief academic officer for Palm Beach County Schools.
One change: Most programs won’t actually be called summer school, a name often associated with failing students trying to hurriedly make up credits. This year’s programs will have names like “Elementary summer experience,” “Reclaim and Elevate” and “Smart Start Camp.”
“We are concerned about the negative connotations of the name and want to draw people in,” said Sylvia Diaz, chief academic officer for Miami-Dade Schools.
They also will try to make it fun, often partnering with local organizations already offering summer camps and including activities like music, drama, and robotics and sports to entice students.
“With all that kids have been through, this is an opportunity to get the academic recovery started and an opportunity for kids to come back to school to socialize and see their friends,” Diaz said.
With the pandemic not yet over, school districts say they plan to continue to the same social distancing and mask requirements as they’ve used this school year until they receive new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In Broward, the School Board plans to discuss options this week. The office of Chief Communications Officer Kathy Koch declined to answer specific questions or make anyone available to comment.
But backup material for the workshop shows a wide variety of programs for students from pre-K to high school.
In recent years, few students were eligible for summer classes, and only a small number of schools offered them. The state provided funding for only a summer academy for third graders who failed a reading test that was required for promotion, and credit recovery for students who needed to make up failed credits for graduation.
This year, summer programs will operate in many schools throughout the district. For example, Broward has proposed offering programs at 90 of its 240 campuses, according to documents prepared for Tuesday’s meeting.
The programs in all three districts will be voluntary. Some will be open to everyone, but administrators are also identifying students who are struggling academically. Many will be the same students districts identified and asked to return to face-to-face instruction.
In Broward, about 58,000 students, or about 28% of all students, were identified as struggling in December. About half returned.
Palm Beach has identified at least 50,000 struggling students who may need additional help. Many were already struggling and got further behind during the pandemic.
“This is not something we’re going to be able to fix over the summer,” Sheffield said. “It’s going to take years to recover from the summer slide, the COVID slide and all over slides.”
