In an effort to change the face of summer school, the Island Trees School District administration has proposed a change, making the summer program academic support rather than just being for students who failed a subject.

Whereas in previous years students who failed a subject would attend summer school for 90 minutes over seven weeks, this new summer support program would have students spend a longer period of time each day for two weeks at the end of the summer, to better prepare them to return to school in September. The summer support programs will be designed for students in grades 7-12 who have various needs. Students who fail a Regents exam or RCT can register for a 30-hour concentrated review program 12 days prior to the Aug. 16-17 administration of the exams. A program will also be developed for students who pass their subjects but are identified as at-risk students.

Dr. Peter Egan, deputy superintendent, developed the idea for this summer support program and presented it to the Island Trees Board of Education at the March 29 meeting. He noted that the state has already mandated one major change in summer school, making districts average the grade a student received for the year in a course and the grade that student received in summer school in order to get a final grade for the year, instead of just using the grade the student received in summer school, which had been done previously. The district has also decided to strictly enforce its policy of only allowing students who have received at least a grade of 60 on the Regents and have not been absent for more than 15 percent of the year, to be eligible for summer school. Egan noted that in previous years it was too easy for students to just give up during the school year and decide that they would just go to summer school and these policy changes would decrease the possibility of this being an option. "Summer school has become almost a way of life for a certain part of the population and it's not a very productive one," said Egan. He went on to note that although the students who attend summer school are well-behaved and follow the rules, "I, personally as an educator, don't think its in their best interest to go to summer school year in and year out." The goal of this new form of summer school is to reach out to different populations of students and provide support in different ways for the different groups.

The courses for those students who had a low Regents score, but got at least a 60 will meet for two hours, either 8-10 a.m. or 10 a.m. to noon, from July 31 to Aug. 15. Although they will be grouped separately, the courses for those students who failed the Regents Competency Test (RCT), will be offered at the same times during the same two weeks.

The summer support for students in grades 7-8 is divided into two groups, according to Egan. The first group of students are those who are repeating a grade and would meet for three hours per day (Aug. 14-25) in small groups with the focus being on overcoming impediments to success. Egan said this program would be, "to strengthen the kids so they can be more successful in eighth grade the second time around." The next group of students are those, who Egan called, "at-risk" students, those who may not meet the high school graduation requirements without some extra support. Although both these groups will meet the same weeks, they will be separate so as to allow the teachers to focus on the individual needs of each population.

The next population of students to be offered courses in the new summer support program is for those students who are at risk in a time extended course. This program is for students who have had poor performance, but did not fail, in a multi-year course which ends in a Regents after three or four semesters. This program will offered from 8-10 a.m. or 10 a.m. to noon, from Aug. 14 to 25. The courses included in this program will be those such as global studies and math 1RX. The goal of this program is to help students get off to a better start in September rather than starting when they are already having difficulty with the course.

Standards-based workshops are another component of the summer support program. These courses will be teacher-designed and students will be those identified by their teachers as needing a little extra help in reaching the new standards. These workshops will offer 10 to 30 hours of assistance from July 24 to Aug. 25. The times will vary by subject and student needs. The goal of these workshops is to assist students in overcoming specific weaknesses.

Driver Education will continue to be offered for students who are 16 by the July 5 start date. This program will run until Aug. 18 and will be offered in morning and afternoon sessions, for 90 minutes per day.

Health will be offered for students who have never enrolled in that course. This will allow students to "free up" their schedule for other classes during the year rather than being tied into taking the 1/2 unit graduation requirement during the school year, which might prevent them from taking a full year elective.

The cost for all in-district secondary programs would continue to be $3 as has been the cost for previous summers. According to the district administration, the goal of the program is to change the secondary summer program from being seven weeks of course review to being a 10-day Summer Support Program, to help students successfully meet the new State Standards and pass five Regents exams to graduate from high school.