Summer school begins next Tuesday in the Trenton R-9 School District. But instead of the usual 140 to 150 students who take advantage of the extra educational boost each year, around 560 students are registered to spend the month of June in the classroom.
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Summer school begins next Tuesday in the Trenton R-9 School District. But instead of the usual 140 to 150 students who take advantage of the extra educational boost each year, around 560 students are registered to spend the month of June in the classroom.
Much of those numbers have to do with the new summer school program being offered to Trenton students, courtesy of Newton Learning. In an effort to increase summer school numbers, the Board of Education earlier this year agreed to contract with Newton Learning, which is providing the curriculum and equipment needed by staff as they implement programs focused in four learning cores – math, reading, science/social studies and language arts.
The effort seems to have paid off, with no less than four sections of classes being offered in grades two through nine while kindergarten and first grade will have three sections. Classes are being held at the Trenton Middle School, which has the needed classroom space.
A big difference in this year’s summer school is that students will attend classes for seven hours each day, Monday through Friday. Mornings will be spent working in the core learning groups while the afternoon will feature “adventure classes.”
“Our teachers will be teaching the core classes in the morning, with the focus on math, reading, language arts and science/social studies,” said Rissler Elementary School Principal Kathy Nolke, who is sharing administrative duties this summer with Trenton Middle School Principal Becky Albrecht. “Each class has a theme and depending on what level they are in, some students will work in a self-contained classroom setting and some will rotate from class to class.”
Self-contained classes, which allow the students to spend time with one teacher in all four core areas, will be done with students in the kindergarten, first, second/third and fourth/fifth grade levels. Sixth/seventh and eighth/ninth grade levels will have individual teachers for each topic.
Teachers from the Trenton R-9 School District have been employed as instructors for the various classes. A full-time nurse will be on staff and paraprofessionals will also assist with many of the classroom activities.
The afternoon “adventure classes” will be used to reinforce what students have learned during the morning session. Students will have a chance to learn about movement with Legos, present a puppet theater, work outdoors, learn about broadcasting, perfect their cartooning skills and build airplanes and rockets.
“We will be doing things in the afternoon classes that will use what the kids learned in the morning sessions,” Mrs. Albrecht said. “It’s a fun time, but it’s also a learning time as well.”
There is a monetary incentive for students who attend summer school, which school officials concede may be another reason enrollment numbers are up. Students who have perfect attendance can receive $100 while those who miss one day can get $75 and those who miss just two days can get $50. That money is paid by Newton Learning.
“And perfect attendance means perfect attendance,” Mrs. Albrecht said. “If a student is late one day, that’s a missed day. Leaving school early is a missed day. There are no excuses.”
Newton Learning is paying the costs for summer school, being reimbursed by the school district from the funds it will receive from the state based on the summer school enrollment. School officials actually anticipate making money from having summer school classes.
As part of the summer school experience, the school district will be offering both breakfast and lunch, both of which will be served in the high school cafeteria.
“With the number of students we expect to have, the high school commons is the only place big enough to hold that many kids for lunch,” Director of Supportive Services George Moore said.
Breakfast will be served at 7:30 a.m. each day, with classes to begin at 8 a.m. sharp. Instruction will go until 3:20 p.m.
Transportation is being provided for students who live at least one mile from the middle school (see accompanying schedule). Those riding the buses will be let off and/or picked up behind the high school at the west door which leads into the commons area. Car riders will bring students and pick them up in the circle drive area in front of the middle school/high school complex. Moore said cars should enter the circle from Oklahoma at the south entrance and exit at the north entrance, which is opposite of what is done during the regular school year. Moore said this allows for the entire circle drive to be used, causing less traffic congestion.
Summer school will also be available for students in grades 10 through 12, although a regular classroom structure will be used. Mrs. Nolke noted that physical science and English classes will be offered during the morning while “Life Sports” will be available in the afternoon. Students who take those classes will be able to earn credits toward graduation.