Credit: Standard Democrat
Sikeston R-6 School District kicked off its four-week summer school on Monday with an enrollment double of what administrators anticipated when initially planning for the program.
Ryan Lindsey, Sikeston R-6 summer school director, said summer school enrollment was 400 students in prekindergarten through 12th grades.
“Enrollment was double what we initially expected it would be,” Lindsey said.
The four-week summer school began Monday and will be offered from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Thursday through Aug. 5. Students had to enroll prior to the start of the summer session, he said.
“The first day was good – a little hectic at first and got better throughout the day,” said Lindsey, who teaches marketing and management at the high school during the regular school year.
There are four sites for this year’s summer school, which is being offered for the first time in the district in about 13 years.
Prekindergarten and kindergarten students are housed at the Kindergarten Center; first through fourth grades at Wing Elementary; fifth through eighth grades at middle school; and ninth through 12th grades at the high school. Each building has about 100 students enrolled, Lindsey said.
At the high school level, remediation and credit recovery are being offered. For prekindergarten through eight grades, lessons are a mixture of both enrichment and remediation, he said.
“Due to the pandemic, everyone is there for remediation, but plenty of students are attending for the extra opportunities of learning,” he said. “… We think everyone should be enriched and given opportunities to showcase what they’ve learned, and they can help each other.”
Most classes have arranged for guest speakers from various backgrounds ranging from a Mingo Wildlife Refuge representative to a magician, children’s librarian or rodeo queen.
“All of these speakers will tie into lessons on English, science, reading or math,” he said.
The thought process behind offering summer school in July versus May or June was that it would be closer to when the regular school years starts on Aug. 23, according to Lindsey.
Parents of summer school students have received information they need, but if they have questions or concerns, they should contact their child’s teacher or school building, according to Lindsey. He also encouraged parents to talk to their children about summer school and ask them questions about how things are going, too.
Lindsey reminded motorists to be cognizant of school zones and bus stops these next four weeks as most aren’t used to school being offered this time of year.
In the meantime, students will continue to learn and have fun in summer school, he said.
“A lot of students and even parents want their children to have these extra opportunities to learn more over the summer,” Lindsey said. “We hope to expand the summer school program even more next year.”
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