Summer school draws more than 200 Denair students

At Denair Elementary Charter Academy, summer school includes a different kind of academic focus in the morning and plenty of fun, enriching activities in the afternoon.

Next door at Denair Charter Academy, summer school is an important chance for high school students to earn required credits toward graduation in classes they didn’t pass in the school year just ended.

Either way, there is plenty happening in Denair classrooms during June.

On the elementary campus, there are 125 youngsters in transitional kindergarten through grade five. Some grade levels have as many as 20 students; others fewer than 10. There are also classes for students in the Dual Language Immersion program.

Priority for enrollment was given to elementary students identified by their teachers as needing additional help, especially in core academic subjects like math and English. And while it’s important that they receive that extra attention, no grades are given in summer school. The learning environment is no less serious, but there is a different methodology at work.

“We want to continue their learning, especially in reading and math,” explained Robert Moore, DECA’s learning director during the regular school year and principal this summer. “But we also include more engaging-type activities. We’re trying to lean away from paper and pencil and into more hands-on activities. We want to make students want to be here because we’re doing fun things.”

In DLI teacher Araceli Fernandez’s classroom of fourth- and fifth-graders, that means reading the same book in English and Spanish in the morning to improve comprehension in both languages, and then exercising their creative juices with an art project in the afternoon.

“It’s nice to do something interesting that makes them want to come back to school,” Fernandez said.

Though classes don’t begin until 8:30 a.m., many elementary students arrive at 7:30 to take advantage of the district’s Extended Learning Opportunities Program (ELOP), which lasts until 4:30 p.m. Free meals are provided daily for all students – breakfast before class begins, lunch at 11:30 a.m. and a mid-afternoon snack.

Also at DECA this year for the first time during summer school, 12 girls in fifth and sixth grades are able to take part in the ROX (Ruling Our eXperiences) program led by counselor Kara Binkley. ROX is intended to empower girls by teaching them how to handle conflict, create and manage better relationships, and think positively and differently about their futures. Binkley moves quickly through the curriculum, covering 20 key lessons in just 21 days.

At DCA, the learning atmosphere is decidedly more serious than what exists next door at DECA. That’s because – for many students – the ability to earn a high school diploma is literally on the line. Students who have failed classes must retake them to receive those all-important credits that will allow them to graduate.

“Students are strongly encouraged to attend,” said co-Principal Anajanzy Montoya. “If it gets to a point where they have too many courses to recover, that leads to a hard conversation between the (high school) counselor and the student and their families.”

There are two tracks toward credit recovery available at DCA. Both have roughly 40 students enrolled this summer.

The first is independent study – where the students do the bulk of their work at home on a computer and come to campus once a week to meet with their teacher. This is the path taken by students who attend DCA the rest of the year. They can choose from courses in math, English, careers, art, history, science, physical education and computer literacy.

The second option is cyber high, which requires students to physically come to campus five days a week from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. This is the favored alternative of students who attend Denair High and need to make up classes in math, English, health or social science. They typically take one intensive online course at a time. Once they pass the first, they move on to the next one.

In addition to the classes being held at DECA and DCA, 25 special education students also are taking part in the district’s Extended School Year program. The students work with the same teachers they have during the regular school year, and also enjoy community-based instruction opportunities and educational field trips throughout the summer program. 

School began May 29 and will be finished on June 26.

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