The start of summer school has arrived. Students will return to class in hopes of receiving the extra help they need to pass state-mandated tests and meet local requirements so they can advance with their classmates to the next grade level when next school year starts.
Different sessions for elementary, middle and high school students will run until July 31.
Figures released Tuesday by Wilson County Schools show an estimated 181 students are expected to attend the K-2 Academy at Vick Elementary School while an estimated 554 students are expected to attend School Year Plus at Barnes Elementary School. School Year Plus for Grades 6-8, which will be held at Darden Middle School, will involve an estimated 680 students. Roughly 386 students are expected to attend the high school session at Beddingfield.
The district's scores at the elementary and middle school levels rose on the state math test this year. But a large number of students still failed the test, so much of the focus in summer school at the elementary and middle school levels will be on math. Patti Sanders-Smith, Wilson County Schools assistant superintendent for instructional services, said Tuesday officials will look at the areas students have not been successful in and offer more individualized and more small group instruction. Areas that students struggle with on state math tests involve word problems and multi-step problems. Smith said the students know how to do the computation piece but they sometimes have problems pulling out what they need to compute.
Students in summer school failed the state tests initially, then failed the tests a second time after receiving remediation. Students will be tested a third time at the end of summer school. Some students attend summer school because they failed to meet local promotion standards.
Final decisions about promotion are made by the principal at the student's base school not the principals of the schools where the summer sessions are held.
Smith said school officials are asking teachers working during summer school to be more creative because most students who come to summer school are hard to reach and need more time to understand content. For example, middle school students will be using a curriculum from "USA Today." Students will receive the newspaper and they will read about current events and do activities emphasizing science, math and reading.
School administrators will spend time this year observing what's happening in the classrooms and the different teaching methods used during summer school. Smith said the principals and her staff will then come together and talk about what they saw and ways or strategies that can be used to make summer school better.
Smith said the teachers apply for summer school. Teachers working during summer school have to be recommended by their principals. Class sizes are limited to around 15 students.
Other school districts in the area are in the process of either holding or have held their summer sessions.
Nash-Rocky Mount Schools, for example, started its summer session on June 18. Classes ended Tuesday. Between 600 and 700 students participated, according to Sandra Drum, the district's communications director.
Nash-Rocky Mount Schools does not offer summer school for elementary and middle school students. Testing and remediation for those students was completed prior to the end of the school year, Drum said.
creech@wilsontimes.com | 265-7822