So many people have asked me if my son is going to summer school that I’m starting to feel guilty that he’s not. I even feel I need to explain why, “Well, he would be going to summer school, but he is a counselor at sleepaway camp and I feel that is a valuable learning experience … blah, blah, blah.”
When did summer school go from being something kids only did if they were flunking out to a status thing? What would motivate high-performing kids to ditch the beach and schlep to class at 7:30 a.m.?
It’s tough to get into top schools. You can’t just be a really good student with high SAT or ACT scores anymore. The competition is fierce, and attending summer school is one strategy kids use to get an edge.
Top schools want more world language credits and lots of AP courses, especially in core classes. It is difficult to do that and fit in other required classes like health and gym, and electives as well. So kids take those classes in the summer to clear their schedule for the “serious” classes during the school year.
Another strategy is taking required classes, like algebra and geometry, in the summer to take higher level classes, like calculus and physics, during the school year.
Many kids do go to summer school for less big-picture reasons, including poor grades. This is a lifesaver for many students because a certain number of core classes are required to graduate.
If graduation arrives before the credits are met, they don’t graduate and need to continue as a high school student until they do. This doesn’t happen very often, but it does happen and it’s not a happy place. One of my students had to attend the fall semester of high school after her senior year to meet her requirements for graduation.
The alternative is doubling up on classes during the school year instead of taking an elective, which is a terrible plan. If a kid didn’t pass biology the first time, he or she definitely won’t pass it the next year while taking chemistry as well. Summer school is a safely net for these kids. It allows them to make up a class without the added stress of taking a full schedule and be on even footing the following school year.
Taking summer classes also allows kids to concentrate on one subject, resulting in a less stressful schedule the following school year. The environment in summer school is often more laid-back with smaller class sizes and more teacher support. If math isn’t your thing, taking it in isolation from other classes over the summer is a great alternative. This has become a very popular trend over recent years.
When I asked some of my students why they are taking summer classes, several of them told me they figure the classes will be easier because most of the other kids will be there because they got bad grades. I didn’t mention the future Ivy Leaguers trying to beat the competition; they can find that out for themselves.
Now that I have researched all the reasons kids go to summer school, I feel like I should retrieve my kid at overnight camp and immediately enroll him in chemistry, even though I won’t. But you can bet my next article will be on the virtues and value of summer camp.
Summer school for ivy league? I hope I don't fall into that rat race when my little ones are in high school. When my oldest son (24) went to kindergarten at age 4 in Wethersfield, it was the new trend to hold boys out of kindergarten until 7 to give them academic and athletic advantages- the problem with this theory is that it looses merit when EVERYONE in town sends their boys in at 7. I'm thinking the same may happen to the potential ivy league applicant. There are so many valuable things youth will miss out on if they spend their summer away from the many summer opportunities. I sent my little ones to Ingersoll day camp last week. At family night I was most impression by the high school and college aged counselors. They were amazing with the campers- laughing and enjoying their time. Frankly, those experiences can't be taught in a book- and I hope I have the common sense to pursue balance in my children's life when they are teens. Of course, to say my child attends Yale or Brown is an attempting lure......
Here is the link: http://www.farmington.k12.mi.us/curriculum/summerschool/ Sue
http://aceweb.fpsct.org/ShowSchedule.awp?&Mode=GROUP&Group=SUMMER&Title=Summer+Learning+Academy Thanks for bringing that to my attention! Farmington does seem to be unique in that most of the courses offered are designed for students who did not pass a class or students who need a transition class to strengthen skills before taking an advances class. Sue
The teenager goofing off too much, even during the summer, won't impress in upper tier college interviews.
The pressure on school districts to teach deeper material at earlier ages puts tremendous pressure on students, and in many cases, they can't keep up. So to somehow survive the high school rat race, they take summer classes (and this isn't part of the rat race?) to free up their schedules during the actual school year so they can take more APs. Remember the quote from "The Race to Nowhere"? The American curriculum is a mile wide and an inch deep. That describes AP classes completely. The problem is that as long as there are high pressure parents out there extolling the virtues of getting competitive advantage over other kids (and their parents!!!), many parents will feel compelled to force their kids to keep up. You see this in youth and high school sports all the time. There's nothing healthy in this for anyone.
Great colleges and universities care very little about anything that is 'generic' and 'standardized'.
I was not referring to kids taking health over the summer to lighten things up for the schoo for year or so they can have a study hall. I was referring to kids taking classes to give them a competative edge. I believe I said that I know kids are taking classes for less "big picture" reasons and that it can be a lifesaver for some kids. By the way, that makes sense to me too! Sue
I wholeheartedly agree with you! It is very true kids are asked to learn skills far above their developmental level. This is truly a disadvantage for boys who develop later than girls by over a year. I also took away the the same line from Race to Nowhere, only I thought an inch deep was pushing it:-) Sue