Warsaw Looks Forward to Summer School
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
She presented this year’s program to the Warsaw School Board at its budget work session Tuesday night.
Summer Session I will be June 6-28. It will include Kindergarten Countdown, First Grade Reading Readiness, IREAD Grades 1-3, Literacy Intervention Grades 4-6, Compressed 8th Grade Science and high school courses.
Kindergarten Countdown is for preschool-aged students who have never attended preschool before and who are entering kindergarten in August, she said. The new program is funded by a grant from the United Way.
“For a student who never has been in school before, coming into full-day kindergarten is a huge change. We’re going to teach them how to be a kindergartner,” Smyth said.
Another new program, Reading Readiness targets kindergarten students from Title I schools who would benefit from extended learning opportunities in the summer. It’s funded through a Title I grant.
“We have found the earlier the intervention, the long term the benefits,” Smyth said.
In order to move on to fourth grade, third-graders must pass the IREAD-3 exam. If they don’t pass the first time during the school year, they have a second chance in summer school.
Warsaw’s IREAD summer program will be similar to the one in 2012 and is focused on reading intervention, Smyth said. It met with great success last year and is expected to do the same this year, she said.
While Literacy Intervention is for fourth- through sixth-graders, Smyth said seventh-graders may be included.
The new science program for eighth-graders is designed to teach science standards to incoming students who are taking biology for high school credit. If it does well, Smyth said, one science program will be offered in June and another in July.
Summer Session II is July 8-30. It will include high school courses, enrichment camps and a summer institute for teachers.
“We have over 50 teachers who were willing to give two weeks of their time for the Summer Teachers Institute,” said Smyth.
Funding for the institute comes from a grant Warsaw Schools received this year.
Though the budget for summer school is near $500,000, for the past three years WCS has received 105 percent reimbursement from the state. Smyth said the budget this year should be able to remain the same due to alternative funding sources like United Way and Title I grant dollars. However, Smyth indicated they will plan for lower reimbursement and keep the summer expenditures conservative.
Chief Financial Officer Kevin Scott told the board that the state has a large pot – about $18 million – for summer school reimbursement. It’s divided among school corporations, but because many have dropped summer programming it gets spread across fewer schools, meaning Warsaw gets more funding.
Scott said the corporation would know sometime in fall how much it will be reimbursed.
For the summer camps, WCS is partnering with organizations like Science Central and Martin’s Supermarket. Camps are $100 per person per camp, but scholarships are available.
Information on the summer camps and applications are available on the Warsaw Community Schools website at warsaw.k12.in.us
Smyth said each summer WCS serves 2,000. All the summer programs are expected to be filled. As long as a student lives in the school district, transportation is provided, but students outside the district are also invited to attend the camps.
“I don’t think you’ll find anything like this, as comprehensive as this, in the state of Indiana,” Smyth concluded.
For more information, contact Smyth at [email protected] or visit the WCS website.[[In-content Ad]]
She presented this year’s program to the Warsaw School Board at its budget work session Tuesday night.
Summer Session I will be June 6-28. It will include Kindergarten Countdown, First Grade Reading Readiness, IREAD Grades 1-3, Literacy Intervention Grades 4-6, Compressed 8th Grade Science and high school courses.
Kindergarten Countdown is for preschool-aged students who have never attended preschool before and who are entering kindergarten in August, she said. The new program is funded by a grant from the United Way.
“For a student who never has been in school before, coming into full-day kindergarten is a huge change. We’re going to teach them how to be a kindergartner,” Smyth said.
Another new program, Reading Readiness targets kindergarten students from Title I schools who would benefit from extended learning opportunities in the summer. It’s funded through a Title I grant.
“We have found the earlier the intervention, the long term the benefits,” Smyth said.
In order to move on to fourth grade, third-graders must pass the IREAD-3 exam. If they don’t pass the first time during the school year, they have a second chance in summer school.
Warsaw’s IREAD summer program will be similar to the one in 2012 and is focused on reading intervention, Smyth said. It met with great success last year and is expected to do the same this year, she said.
While Literacy Intervention is for fourth- through sixth-graders, Smyth said seventh-graders may be included.
The new science program for eighth-graders is designed to teach science standards to incoming students who are taking biology for high school credit. If it does well, Smyth said, one science program will be offered in June and another in July.
Summer Session II is July 8-30. It will include high school courses, enrichment camps and a summer institute for teachers.
“We have over 50 teachers who were willing to give two weeks of their time for the Summer Teachers Institute,” said Smyth.
Funding for the institute comes from a grant Warsaw Schools received this year.
Though the budget for summer school is near $500,000, for the past three years WCS has received 105 percent reimbursement from the state. Smyth said the budget this year should be able to remain the same due to alternative funding sources like United Way and Title I grant dollars. However, Smyth indicated they will plan for lower reimbursement and keep the summer expenditures conservative.
Chief Financial Officer Kevin Scott told the board that the state has a large pot – about $18 million – for summer school reimbursement. It’s divided among school corporations, but because many have dropped summer programming it gets spread across fewer schools, meaning Warsaw gets more funding.
Scott said the corporation would know sometime in fall how much it will be reimbursed.
For the summer camps, WCS is partnering with organizations like Science Central and Martin’s Supermarket. Camps are $100 per person per camp, but scholarships are available.
Information on the summer camps and applications are available on the Warsaw Community Schools website at warsaw.k12.in.us
Smyth said each summer WCS serves 2,000. All the summer programs are expected to be filled. As long as a student lives in the school district, transportation is provided, but students outside the district are also invited to attend the camps.
“I don’t think you’ll find anything like this, as comprehensive as this, in the state of Indiana,” Smyth concluded.
For more information, contact Smyth at [email protected] or visit the WCS website.[[In-content Ad]]
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