“We want to see our students grow”: RSS offers summer learning programs for students

SALISBURY, NC (WBTV) — School is out for the summer, but that doesn’t mean the learning has to stop.

Last year, North Carolina school districts were required to have six-week summer learning programs to help students catch up on unfinished learning from the pandemic.

Related: New Rowan-Salisbury Schools Strategic Plan sets out five-year strategies for academics and student life goals

This is not a requirement this year, but Rowan Salisbury Schools still offers its students several options to improve their performance and confidence in the classroom.

“We know it will take many years as an educational village to bring our students into both socio-emotional status as well as academic status where they were before the pandemic,” said Chanel Sidbury, Principal. acting academic. officer.

RSS offers several summer apprenticeship programs, including vocational and technical training where students can take courses in cosmetology, hairdressing, and cooking.

Staff members also provide social-emotional support.

Additionally, students can participate in literacy remediation and acceleration activities in English, math, and science, as well as credit recovery for high school and STEM students.

Xanan Debord is a rising fifth-grade student. On Wednesday, it concluded day three of the STEM Horizons Unlimited program. Every day, students have the opportunity to take nature walks and hikes, explore ecosystems, code, engineer, and identify plants and animals.

Debord says working in small groups helped him improve his reading comprehension, a difficulty with which he read too quickly during class lessons.

“Because there are smaller groups, I can now concentrate better because there was a lot of reading aloud and I couldn’t concentrate well,” Debord said.

Debord says the summer learning programs are helpful for brushing up on the material they learned during the school year.

“We’re working on what we’ve actually learned rather than learning something new so we don’t forget next year,” he said.

Sidbury says parents should take advantage of these programs to combat summer slippage and learning loss.

Plus, she says parents can work with their kids daily to keep up with reading homework and do little lessons with prices at the grocery store.

“Parents can adequately engage their student in daily conversations about what you read today, even if it’s something they’re reading on social media, by talking about it,” he said. she declared.

Debord says he works on his reading skills at home by turning the volume down and turning on the subtitles when he watches movies with his parents.

Students can also retake their EOG exams at the end of the summer as part of a second chance program.

“Students have the opportunity to demonstrate they know the content and get that second opportunity, but also imagine the confidence that you can take to the next level knowing you’ve exhibited and shown that mastery,” Sidbury said.

If you would like to enroll your child in summer learning programs, click here.

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