It’s back to school for some students in the Santa Barbara Unified School District.
Voluntary summer school will begin Monday for students seeking grade improvement or “learning recovery.”
“We are getting ready to open our doors,” said Sierra Loughridge, director of elementary education.
So far, 2,874 students have signed up — 766 at the elementary level, 324 in junior high, 1,428 in high school, 230 in special education classes, 49 in preschool summer school and 77 through the Newcomer Academy.
The district is offering a voluntary, six-week summer school program that will help students recover from so-called learning loss and retake classes to earn a C or better.
The district closed schools and moved to remote learning in March 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and didn’t reopen them until a year later, resulting in waves of students falling behind and suffering learning loss. To make up for reopening so late in the process, the district created a summer of learning program. Work will be focused on math, literature, language arts and social-emotional learning.
Students who earned a D or an F in their high school classes can retake courses to earn a C or better.
For the first time, the district is starting a Newcomer Academy for students who have been in the United States for fewer than three years. The sites will be at McKinley Elementary School and San Marcos High School.
The focus of the Newcomer Academy will be on language, literacy and numeracy, using a dual-language approach. The classes will be taught by bilingual teachers.
In order to recruit students to enroll in summer school, district officials mailed invitations and made personalized phone calls. As an incentive to join, students will receive backpacks, T-shirts, water bottles and books, and will go on field trips.
School board president Kate Ford asked if there was a way to sign up more junior students for the summer school program.
Anne Roundy-Harter, director of secondary education, said they will continue to make efforts to reach out to families.
“I have had some feedback from the junior highs that kids are tired and some of them are just saying to their parents, ‘We just need a break; we just need a summer without school, without any pressure,’ so I think we need to honor that as well,” Roundy-Harter said. “Even though we would like to have every student there that is eligible, some are choosing to make a different choice.”
Field trips also are planned for the students, including trips to Camp Whittier, MOXI and other places.
“There is hands-on art. We have art, music, STEAM teachers for each site,” Loughridge said. “It should be a very enriching and engaging summer of learning and movement and exploration.”
Board member Virginia Alvarez requested that Superintendent Hilda Maldonado look into ways to provide free MTD bus passes and fares for all Santa Barbara Unified students participating in the summer school program. Currently, students pay the regular $1.75 cash fare, but can purchase a discounted bus pass.
In addition, board member Laura Capps noted that meals will be offered to students during summer school.
“Summer is a time when hunger strikes for our kids because they are disconnected from our wonderful, nutritious meals,” she said. “That will have a real impact on poverty, hunger and child health.”
— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
