Pasco County Schools’ $1.3 million summer school program this year will serve 6,580 students. That’s an increase of 1,820 over last summer’s rolls, according to district officials.
This year’s programs also will reach younger children, and will give older students more time to work on recovering course credits.
School board member Steve Luikart applauded the expanded program.
“The need is there,” Luikart said. “We’re doing everything we can to help more kids.”
The district is piloting new programs for kindergarteners and first graders focusing on literacy, and for second graders emphasizing mathematics.
The literacy pilot will serve about 390 students, and the mathematics pilot will serve about 400 children. The students will come from Title 1 schools, which are schools that qualify for federal funding because they have a large percentage of children from poor families.
Another pilot will focus on science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics, otherwise known as STEM. It will serve approximately 45 third- and fourth-grade students from Fox Hollow, Schrader, and Gulf Highlands elementary schools, and will be held at Gulf Highlands.
The district’s summer reading camp will continue to target third graders. About 700 children are expected to receive the additional help. The media centers at each of the summer camp locations will be open to all students on those days.
The district also will be using migrant camps for kindergarten through 12th-graders at eight east Pasco schools, to help close the achievement gap.
The program will serve about 45 students, an increase of 15 from last year.
A program aimed at giving children a chance to learn through a variety of environmental experiences also is being offered to students from Title 1 schools. About 600 students from Title 1 schools will visit Safety Town, Energy Marine Center, Starkey Ranch, caves, and The Florida Aquarium through the Pasco Environmental Adventure Camp Experience.
The district also is providing additional help to middle school students who have not met the requirements to be promoted to the next grade. The district’s course recovery programs have been extended from half-days to full-days to give students more time to master essential content.
The district is providing this opportunity for students to get back on track to up to 100 students per Title 1 school, and up to 50 students at other schools.
Courses also will be available for high school students needing to recover credits, with seniors being given the highest priority for those opportunities.
The district also will offer summer school for exceptional student education programs for students who have individual education plans that call for summer instruction.
The district will serve summer meals at locations where more than 50 percent of the students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals during the regular school year. District staff members will serve breakfast, lunch and a snack to children through age 18.
Transportation also will be provided to summer programs for students who meet the district’s requirements.
Teachers can upgrade their skills in the district’s Secondary Literacy Symposium for sixth- through 12th-grade teachers. Teachers will work in collaborative groups to deepen their learning related to the English Language Arts instructional shifts of the newly adopted Florida Standards.
Other teachers also will have a chance to strengthen their content knowledge of the standards at the 2014 K-8 Mathematics Institute and at the High School Mathematics Institute.
Published June 4, 2014
