Record number of Coachella Valley students enrolled in summer school
Ah, summer! A kid’s favorite season. A break from school. A time for rest and relaxation. Camp. Video games. Sleeping in…
Or, at least that’s how it used to be.
A record number of Coachella Valley kids, including more than 6,000 high school students, enrolled in summer school this year. That’s more than one-in-four valley high schoolers taking summer coursework. Thousands more elementary school and middle school students are enrolled in summer school, too.
Relative to before the pandemic, summer school programs across the state have expanded in an effort to combat learning loss — a general loss of knowledge and academic skills, according to the Glossary of Education Reform.
Concern about learning loss escalated when millions of kids attended virtual school in 2020 and 2021, so last summer the state provided $4.6 billion in additional funding for summer school to combat learning loss. This year, school districts in California continue to use state and federal funds to support in-person summer programs.
As a result of policy changes and the pandemic, the number of local students enrolled in summer school has skyrocketed.
Desert Sands Unified
In 2018, Desert Sands Unified, for instance, enrolled more than 1,200 high school students in summer school programs offered at two school sites: Indio High and La Quinta High. This year, about 3,000 high school students enrolled in summer programs offered at all seven of the district's high schools, and summer school is available at most middle and elementary school sites.
District spokesperson Mary Perry said the main purpose for summer high school is credit recovery, a strategy that encourages students to retake a previously failed course required for high school graduation and earn credit if the student successfully completes the course requirements. In addition, the district offers a few bridge classes like calculus prep. Classes like these help students get a head start on rigorous coursework in the fall. In middle and elementary school programs, Perry says the main focus is on enrichment and recovering learning loss.
More students requires more staffing: 34% of Desert Sands Unified teachers are instructing summer school in 2022.
Palm Springs Unified
In Palm Springs Unified, a slightly smaller school district, summer programs were offered at each elementary, middle and high school this year. Summer school wrapped up on June 30. Approximately 1,800 elementary school students attended in-person courses for four weeks whereas PSUSD did not offer elementary summer school in 2018 or 2019.
“(Elementary and middle school) activities will focus on increasing literacy, numeracy and STEM activities,” said PSUSD Executive Director of Student Learning Mark Arnold before the start of summer school.
The district also offered summer coursework to more than 1,300 high school and 450 middle school students.
"At the high school level, students will have an opportunity to make up failed coursework and recover credits," Arnold said earlier.
Coachella Valley Unified
In Coachella Valley Unified, more than 2,000 elementary school students and 2,000 high school students enrolled in summer school classes. That’s more than one in three high schoolers. A majority need to take credit recovery classes, and some are enrolled in advancement courses.
Because summer school has a drab reputation, CVUSD has given its program a “MARVELous” theme — inspired by Disney’s Marvel superheroes. The district is offering field trips and assemblies as well as “enrichment activities” focused on music, art and physical education.
Jonathan Horwitz covers education for The Desert Sun. Reach him at jonathan.horwitz@desertsun.com or @Writes_Jonathan
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Record number of Coachella Valley students enrolled in summer school
