By Patrick O鈥橠onnell, for
Don鈥檛 call it summer school. That has a stigma.
It鈥檚 not really summer camp either, since math and English will be taught every day.
The Cleveland Municipal School District鈥檚 鈥淪ummer Learning Experience,鈥� an eight-week program launching next month, instead uses a strategy districts across the country are testing to help students rebound after a year of COVID-19 disrupting their educations and lives.
Schools are avoiding strict academics this summer, betting instead on getting students back to class after a year away with a mix of fun activities and learning.
The hope is that a softer tone will rekindle students鈥� joy for learning not just this summer, but for years to come, helping them recover socially and emotionally, not just academically.
鈥淲e鈥檙e really thinking about how the recovery looks in the next one to three years and not the notion that somehow, in one summer, we鈥檙e going to recover everything from the pandemic,鈥� district CEO Eric Gordon said of the voluntary program, adding that mandating attendance for summer classes would backfire and drive students away.
In Cleveland, academics and a menu of fun afternoon activities like music, sports, art or neighborhood improvement projects will be braided together.
鈥淗ere鈥檚 the reality: The kids who most need to be caught up won鈥檛 come to a summer school if they don鈥檛 enjoy it,鈥� said teacher Dina Hoeynck, who will run one of the summer learning projects. 鈥淚f we think of summer school as more of the same, drilling facts into their heads, the same kids will stay behind.鈥�
Cleveland鈥檚 鈥淪ummer Learning Experience鈥� will be dramatically different from past summer programs. The district has always offered summer school for high school students who need to finish classes to graduate. And in recent years, because Ohio requires third graders to test well in reading before advancing to fourth grade, the district has offered summer reading help to students in first through third grades.
But other grades were never included and non-academic activities were limited.
This year, the district is encouraging any student to attend, regardless of how they did in online classes this year.
鈥淪ummer learning can get a negative association sometimes, that you鈥檙e doing summer learning because you failed a class or you failed a grade,鈥� said school board member Kathleen Valdez. 鈥淚 want to emphasize that it鈥檚 for all our scholars, that it鈥檚 an enrichment and an opportunity for everybody to gain something out of it.鈥�
The new approach to summer school is being adopted by many districts this year, ranging from Ohio districts like Akron and Columbus to districts like El Paso, Texas, and .
Cleveland鈥檚 plan is also gathering attention, with NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt planning to highlight the district when he .
The strategy is backed by President Joe Biden and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, who included $1.22 billion in the American Rescue Plan aid package this year just for summer programs. They also joined with the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association last month to stress enrichment and support as much as academics.
And it was championed by Stanford University professor Linda Darling-Hammond, who advised Biden鈥檚 transition team on education issues.
鈥淚t should not look... like old-fashioned summer school, where you鈥檙e drilling and killing, to make up on those worksheets, or maybe now on programmed computer instruction, what you missed,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t should look much more like where students are involved in inquiry and experimenting and figuring out the answers to questions, outdoors playing and inquiring, looking at puzzles and being together.
Students, she said at a recent forum on academic recovery, had a lot of trauma this past year and need to be welcomed back into schools, not hammered with tasks.
鈥淲e have evidence that will increase kids鈥� capacity to attend, to engage, to want to be back in school and to open their minds,鈥� she said.
Cleveland has not announced a target number of students or budget yet, saying only that CMSD will use American Rescue Plan money to pay for it.
After two weeks, enrollment in the program is approaching 3,000 students, still a small part of a district of around 36,000 kids. But the district has 24 billboards around the city promoting the summer learning program and just started radio and to attract students. And enrollment has been open only two weeks, with three weeks to go before its June 7 start.
This article is presented in partnership with , a national nonprofit newsroom covering education issues. Patrick O'Donnell is a Cleveland-based education reporter.
