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Summer School??

© Rebecca Kojetin

The second semester of the school year is coming to an end, and some students are finding that they will be short the number of credits that they need. In elementary school a student who did not meet the requirements for a subject area might just be passed along to the next grade level where it is hoped that the student will catch up. At the high school level, however, if a student does not meet the requirements for a course, they have two options: register for the course again next year or take the course in summer school.

Granted, going to school during the summer is not in any teenager's dreams, it can be a worth while experience.

In many school districts, students who attend summer school are charged a fee. When talking to parents about having their adolescent enroll in summer school, I have many times advised parents to make the child responsible for the cost of going to summer school. This can make a definite impression on the student if they just sat back and made no effort to do the work done in class, do the homework, or get extra help if they were confused about what was going on.

Some students do have difficulties in certain subjects. For other students the high school six, seven, or eight class period day is overwhelming. These students can profit from the intense, one subject instruction that comes with enrolling in summer school. Take, for example, the program in the district where I teach summer school. The students are in attendance from 7:30 am to 12:45 on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for three weeks. They enroll in only one course, and it is an intense study. The literature that is taught is similar to what they study in the school year, but the titles are new; therefore, the students can't complain that they have read the works before. The classroom composition is also quite varied since the students come from the four schools in the district and from near-by school districts that do not offer summer school programs.

Teaching in a summer school program such as this is more challenging than teaching in a block scheduling program. The books are not allowed to be taken out of the classroom, so almost everything must be done inside the classroom. Since the time is short, student attendance is mandatory. A student is allowed one absence; a second absence is grounds for removal from the program.

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