SANDY, Utah — As students and teachers recover from a challenging school year, one Utah school district is planning to use part of the summer as an opportunity for students to catch up, both academically and socially.
Canyons School District will offer a “summer boost” program to help students prepare for the upcoming school year.
“So having three weeks even just have more of that connection particularly for a number of our students who have been online the majority of the year, that alone is an opportunity to give them a leg up versus just a re-entry into the fall without that support,” said Amber Roderick-Landward, Dir. of the Canyons School District’s Instructional Supports Department.
Educators are worried that some students may have fallen behind in their academic progress during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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“Learning loss suggests they had something and then they lost it. But we know a lot of our students just didn’t have the opportunity to learn some of these key skills for whatever reason,” Roderick-Landward said.
Roderick-Landward told FOX 13 the summer boost is meant to give students a fun learning environment.
“This isn’t just your standard summer school where kids are being sent and it feels punishing. We really have designed the program to be an invigorating learning environment with lots of collaboration. And there’s lots of prizes where they are going to be in and outside all of the time,” Roderick-Landward said.
Administrators admit one summer can’t make up all lost ground – but it’s a good starting point.
