As summer school marches towards its July 18th conclusion, seeing 48 grade seven and eight students attending half or full days refining their math and English skills across the district, the Rainy River District School Board is discussing expanding the program in the future.
“One of the things we’ve been considering is to put some recreation into it to make it more ‘palatable,’” Education Director Warren Hoshizaki said yesterday.
He noted physical activity could break up time spent sitting in the classroom, as well as let students enjoy their summer a little more.
“Besides having a recreational aspect to summer school, we may even have a recreation program all by itself,” Hoshizaki added. “Of course, there would be some cost to parents, but I think they would like the fact it’s an organized activity for kids to do in the summer.”
Meanwhile, at least one mother is pleased so far with having her child, who just finished grade seven, in summer school.
“It’s definitely been worth it,” she said. “It’s been hard to keep up the morale of going to school in the summer but I think she’ll realize the importance when she goes back to school in the fall.
“The class size is ideal,” she added. “It’s too bad it can’t be that way all the time. There’s 17 students in her class and you can’t really ask for better one-on-one than that.”
Hoshizaki agreed early reports on the success of the program have been positive.
“It seems to be going well,” he said. “I was just talking to some kids today and I asked them whether they liked the three-hour or five-hour days better.
“The overwhelming majority said they liked the longer day.
“We reasoned the fewer days they have to spend in the classroom, the less likely we would have dropouts,” he added. “And it’s working. Our enrollment has remained stable–I guess they can see the light at the end.”
Last year, classes were three hours long, stretching summer school throughout the entire month of July.
Summer school is being held at Robert Moore here, Donald Young School in Emo, Riverview in Rainy River, and Atikokan High School.