Three weeks before the school year officially starts, Monday about half of the students from Rochester’s Monroe High School sauntered in for classes. 583 students, who didn’t have other summer learning programs, began a special summer curriculum at the Fredrick Douglas Educational Campus.
The summer program is one approach to bring up student achievement in the struggling school. It is one of 14 in the district at risk of being taken over by the state. Vicky Ramos, Monroe High School principal, says the approach is meant to engage the 7th through 12th graders.
“It’s helping us achieve our learning gaps without the students realizing they’re learning. That’s our goal. So, if when kids leave in three weeks they say, “Wow. This was fun.” We achieved our goal,” says Ramos.
Administrators want to see all students begin the school year ready to learn. “We all know that research shows that we all have summer loss, and we’re just trying to do a jump start for all kids. All kids that get exposed to some type of summer learning benefit from that exposure,” says Ramos.
Many of the students in the program are new to both the school and the region. The school averages more than a third of students whose first language is Spanish. English-language learners have English classes and all other subjects through the bilingual education program.
Ramos says they learn, “a little bit of everything. So, that when they start on September 2, they don’t feel as scared. If you and I were new in a different country all of a sudden, it can be very frightening.”
Annissa Hines, a mother of a seventh grader in the school, is optimistic the summer program will bear fruit. “I think at the end it will really help the kids get started with the beginning of the school year, throughout the school year, especially the kids who do have difficulties,” says Hines.