Several school districts to extend summer programs to help make up for lost classroom time

CINCINNATI (FOX19) - Several school districts will extend their summer school programs to help students make up for any academic losses because of the pandemic.

The Cincinnati Public School district is just one of many districts that will be offering extended summer school programs to keep kids on track because of the pandemic.

Fran Russ with CPS says school leaders are excited they will have the capability to offer an extended summer school program to all of their students this year in June.

Russ says school leaders and teachers are revamping summer school for all grades, dedicating their mornings to academics and the second part of their day for enrichment programs.

Russ says parents should reach out to their child’s school for additional information on their Summer Scholars program.

Another school district that will offer additional summer school classes is Princeton City Schools.

“We have to do more, we have to have innovative programming and this covid gap we see is real and we need to do everything we can to close it,” said Princeton City Schools Superintendent Tom Burton.

Superintendent Burton says closing the gap means extending summer school programs from three weeks to five weeks and opening more schools during the summer to get more kids back to where they need to be academically.

“We are also having a camp component to a couple different programs,” says Burton. “So, extending that even more, also looking at doing some extended time to help parents that are working as well.”

One district that will not be changing things up this summer is Mason City Schools.

“We’ve been in school since August for the 70% of the families that chose in person, but for the 30% of families that chose online, the virtual option, there’s been really no significant difference,” said Tracy Carson of Mason City Schools.

Carson says the year has been anything but normal, but students have not had any significant learning loss this year.

She says it takes a village to keep the kids on track.

“We saw what is possible when we all work together,” said Carson.

Burton echoes that sentiment, “Schools were built to have students in them, teachers, administrators, and great staff, supportive staff, working for the betterment of our students.”

New Richmond Exempted Village School District will also offer additional summer school classes. Officials with the school district said the plans are still not finalized, and they will share more information in the next week.

If you are interested in summer school programs, parents are asked to reach out to their child’s school.

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