Henrico's Summer Academy serves record number of students

The perception of summer school in Henrico County has evolved.

In years past, Henrico’s Summer Academies were predominantly focused on remediation. Students largely attended at the recommendations of their teachers.

But this summer, families are jumping at the opportunity to get students back into classrooms after learning through the height of the pandemic, which caused massive disruptions in education.

A record number of students —  about 9,400 — are enrolled in Henrico County Public Schools’ Summer Academies this year.

“A lot of the parents say they're just ready for the kids to be back in a normal classroom community,” said Autumn Stinnett, a teacher at Skipwith Elementary School’s Summer Academy. “They were looking for more of a social base than academic base, but they're not mad about the academic base because it never hurts to have that extra push, that extra oomph for our kids.”

Academics

Before the pandemic, school districts across the U.S. were working on ways to combat “summer slide”— the decline in reading ability that takes place over summer break, especially among children from low-income families who don’t have access to high-quality child care. Research shows that students can lose up to two months of reading progress over the summer break and can end up years behind their classmates by fifth grade.

This year, focus has shifted to the so-called “COVID-slide,” which has fueled an unparalleled push for summer schools as districts grapple with ways to make up for lost learning during the pandemic.

HCPS is offering its most robust Summer Academy programming to date with 10 elementary school sites, expanded from five sites in 2019. There are 4670 elementary students attending; 1,040 virtually and 3,630 in person.

“If you mentioned the phrase ‘COVID-slide’ in front of some of our teachers in schools, I think they would tell you that actually, some of our students thrived in the virtual learning environment, and many moved mountains to achieve at the level that they did, despite the pandemic,” said HCPS spokesman Andy Jenks. “Summer Academy is not necessarily addressing something that might be considered a slide. I think our schools would tell you that a lot of learning was accomplished in the past year.”

In prior years, HCPS offered enrichment courses only at one elementary site, and seats were rather limited. This year, enrichment and remediation activities are part of a blended curriculum at the elementary level, which significantly expanded opportunities for families who are looking for enrichment, remediation or a combination of both.

“This summer more than ever before, parents are proactively wanting this kind of programming and sending their kids into our schools because of the benefits that they see in what we're offering,” Jenks said. “Summer Academy is not necessarily about trying to make out what may or may not have been lost, depending on someone's perception, but rather offering services that we were unable to replicate in their best possible methods.”

In addition to the 10 elementary sites, HCPS is running six middle school sites and five high school sites, each pulling from a swath of school communities. At the middle and high school level, approximately 4,679 students are attending the Summer Academies, with 2,078 virtual and 2,601 in person.

The programs run four days a week from July 12-Aug. 5. Three options were available: the full four weeks, the first two weeks, or the second two weeks.

Social-emotional health

Many students who learned from home virtually during pandemic shutdowns are now coming back into brick-and-mortar schools for the first time in more than a year.

“So many of our children have been at home without that peer interaction, and I think Summer Academy lends itself to allowing our students to get back into that interacting with their peers,” said Valerie Mooney, coordinator of summer academy at Skipwith Elementary. “Getting the students back with their peers, I think, makes for a well-rounded child because they can talk with each other, or they can play on the playground, which some of them have missed for a while.”

The first 15 minutes of every day at Summer Academy are carved out for a social-emotional lesson.

“I think that kind of helps our students adjust back to in person learning; helping with their behavior, behavioral social skills, things like that,” Mooney said.

A set of school counselors are on-call during Summer Academy and are available to help students or staff in need.

Teacher recruitment

In an effort to recruit teachers for the expanded summer programming, the HCPS district offered a bonus for teachers who work in the Summer Academies.

“It's been a very challenging year for folks that are in education, because we've had to adapt to something that we're not used to,” Mooney said. “(The bonus) lets teachers know, ‘Hey, we want you to work this summer, here's what we have for you,’ and keep their morale up.”

HCPS estimates that it hired approximately 613 teachers for this summer at an hourly pay rate of $27.36.

In 2019, the district hired about 462 teachers, who were paid $25.59 an hour.

Personnel costs related to the 2021 Summer Academy will be covered by the district’s FY2022 special revenue fund, its ESSER II allocation and the ESSER II Set-Aside grant award.

According to Jenks, the district expects that the costs will be covered by these grants sources, and HCPS will not have to dip into its general fund.

“It's definitely an incentive to have the extra money,” Stinnett said.

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Anna Bryson is the Henrico Citizen's education reporter and a Report for America corps member. Make a tax-deductible donation to support her work, and RFA will match it dollar for dollar.