SOL Academy among summer school programs
Published 10:00 pm Monday, March 9, 2020
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Suffolk Public Schools will be holding several summer school programs this year, including a Standards of Learning Academy and an extended school year program for special education students.
The SOL Academy, to be held at Lakeland High School July 13-23, will target about 500 students who have passed a course but failed the end-of-course assessment, according to a memo from Dr. LaToya Harrison, assistant superintendent of teaching and learning.
The program will also provide students the opportunity to earn the verified credits that are required for promotion.
For the extended school year program, Stephanie Whitley, director of special education, said there would be about 120 students who would be eligible for it this year. The summer services, according to Whitley, could include participation in special education classes, with other services including occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy, hearing impaired services, vision impaired services and interpreter services, depending on the extended year program’s eligibility criteria identified in each student’s Individualized Education Plan.
The special education program will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays June 29 through July 30 for elementary students at Hillpoint Elementary School. For secondary students and for the Southeastern Cooperative Educational Programs’ students, it will take place from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at John F. Kennedy Middle School. Suffolk Public Schools will be closed on Fridays during the time period, as well as July 2 in observance of Independence Day.
About 65 students enrolled in the SECEP program are anticipated to qualify for the extended year program, according to Whitley.
Summer school for elementary students will take place at Hillpoint Elementary School and would target students in kindergarten through fifth grade who scored in the lowest quartile based on state and local SOL assessments.
Under the Learning and Enrichment for Academic Progress program, it would include academic and enrichment opportunities for about 500 students, with support and additional funding coming from the Obici Healthcare Foundation, Early Childhood Development Commission and United for Children.
Students who have registered to attend kindergarten in SPS in the fall who do not have preschool experience will also be invited to participate in the kindergarten transition program.
Elementary students would attend from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. for academics and 1 to 3 p.m. for enrichment on Mondays through Thursdays from June 29 through July 30.
John F. Kennedy would also host the middle school remedial summer school program for about 500 students. According to a memo from Harrison and Dr. Ronald Leigh, director of secondary leadership, the middle school program will incorporate a themed approach — learning on the move for the first week, engineering for the second, biomedical for the third and community awareness for the final week.
The program will go from 8 a.m. until noon Mondays through Thursdays from June 29 through July 30, except for July 2.
The middle school program will also allow students who have successfully completed English and math, but have not mastered their local or state assessments, to take virtual classes.
Lakeland will host the high school summer program for about 240 students to complete a new class or repeat a previous one.
The program, according to Harrison and Leigh, would be tuition-based and contingent on student registration/enrollment. Some students may have to take classes online. For Suffolk residents, the cost would be $200 to repeat one class, $350 to repeat two classes and $350 to take a new class. For non-residents, one repeat class would cost $250, two repeat classes would cost $450 and one new class would be $450. The high school program would be held Mondays through Thursdays from June 29 through July 30, except for July 2. Those taking repeat classes would attend either in the morning from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m., or in the afternoon from noon until 4 p.m. Those taking new classes would attend from 7:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. with a break from 11:30 a.m. until noon. No lunch is provided.