Back in classrooms, students energized to learn at Modesto City Schools’ summer sessions
Tuesday morning, at a desk surrounded by plexiglass barriers, Jose Mondragon finished the last assignment he needed to graduate Peter Johansen High School. It was the last day of Modesto City Schools’ summer session.
Like many students, Mondragon said he struggled to find motivation over the past year of distance and hybrid learning. But back in a classroom five days a week for summer school, he completed his economics class and earned his diploma.
“It kind of feels surreal after a year,” the 17-year-old said about returning to in-person learning.
MCS offered summer remediation and enrichment at all schools this year for the first time, using COVID-19 relief funding to expand camplike enrichment and bridge programs, said Tony Lomeli, director of student support services. Two schools were closed for renovations, but their programs moved to other buildings.
As they hoped would happen, school officials saw students progressing at a faster rate than usual, suddenly motivated to be back at school and make up for lost time.
Catching up on academics
Summer school focused on remediation for grades TK-8 and credit recovery for grades 9-12.
High school students made up specific credits through a self-paced online program completed in a classroom staffed with a teacher for help — a summer model the district has used since 2013.
MCS typically caps summer classes at three per student. This year, the district let seniors request to take more than three if they needed those credits to graduate or bump up grades.
A third to half of students enrolled earned A’s and B’s before the pandemic — not the student population school officials expect in a remediation program. But their grades dropped over the past year, and they used summer school to earn at least a C to satisfy A-G course requirements for the California State University and University of California systems, said Craig Springer, who oversees 9-12 summer school.
These students completed summer courses so quickly that administrators initially questioned whether the program was flawed, Springer said. But that wasn’t the case.
“They’re thriving,” he said. “They’re on fire right now.”
As of Tuesday morning, 829 high school students had earned one course grade, 309 earned more than one and 17 earned three or more, Springer said. About 700 students completed classes on the last day, so final enrollment numbers were uncertain.
School leaders filled seats by grade level seniority, Springer said. If students finished a course or courses early, other students could replace them and begin their summer coursework later into the session.
Teachers also offered an intersession program tacked onto the end of the school year for about 700 students who were only an assignment or so away from finishing a course. This freed up seats in the summer session, Springer said.
High school summer class sizes decreased from 39 to 25 to spread out desks with plexiglass barriers, Springer said. Still, 90% to 95% of students who requested summer school got into at least one class.
English teacher Denise Wright said students’ new adeptness with online learning helped them move through summer school more quickly.
“I haven’t seen the reluctance I usually do to using the computers,” she said.
Full-time in-person attendance made a difference, though.
Seth Simas, a teacher in Johansen High School’s summer social sciences classroom, said being in the same place as his students allowed him to once again read body language cues and pick up on tone to notice when students struggled to understand a concept. He could walk over to their desks to see what appeared on their screen instead of asking them to send screenshots.
“It’s easier to help a student,” Simas said.
Districtwide, about 2,500 K-6 students and 600 junior high students enrolled in remediation, according to numbers provided by public information officer Becky Fortuna.
At Orville Wright Elementary, some school officials called parents to persuade them of the benefits to sending their children back to school and reassure them of safety precautions. About a third of students, or 120 per day on average, attended.
“They were ready to come back,” sixth-grade teacher Lucrisia Hurtado said.
Reteaching foundational math concepts and reading as a group pushed some of Hurtado’s students to catch up to grade level.
Reconnecting socially
MCS’ enrichment and bridge programs vary by school and run throughout June and July. Enrichment options range from book clubs to basketball to culinary arts. Bridge programs are tied to a specific academic class. All of them are aimed at reenergizing students.
About 2,300 students enrolled districtwide, according to numbers from Fortuna.
Enochs High School teacher Bryan Rogers led three sessions of an AP Bootcamp program. He drew on AP learning objectives to complete team-building activities designed to help students reconnect in a classroom environment. He also gave students time to complete summer homework not associated with the boot camp so they would have a space to work free of distractions.
“It’s basically getting comfortable being in a classroom,” incoming sophomore Reema Deshpande said.
Because she began high school in the pandemic, she wanted to meet her teacher and other students during the summer session before taking Rogers’ AP European history class in the fall.
“It’s really good to be able to build a bond,” she said.
Other students, like incoming junior Maria Pacua, took Rogers’ class this past year and wanted to get to know him in person. Rogers planned to bring in an AP history teacher so incoming juniors could meet the teacher they’d have for the upcoming year.
Pacua said she didn’t feel like she could communicate with her teachers as easily online, where cameras were often off and at-home distractions added stress.
“It was hard to be able to reach out to the teacher comfortably,” she said.
Being back in a classroom made her realize just how much she’s missed without in-person interactions. She’s excited to be back.
This story was originally published July 1, 2021 at 5:06 AM.
