Summer Instructional Programs Prove Successful

Menlo Park City School District officials reported to the Board of Education Tuesday detailing the progress of the Summer Instructional Programs and the Summer Math Lab at

“This was the first year in eight years that we’ve had incoming kindergartners attend summer school, so it was a very positive experience,” said Bets McKnight, Director of the Kindergarten Readiness, Grades 1-3 Early Intervention and Grades 4-5 Remediation and Enrichment for the district.

Incoming kindergarteners were given the opportunity to benefit from socialization exercises and assessments that would better transition them to their new surroundings.

The Summer Instructional Program aimed to provide familiarity with school schedules and appropriate behavior. The program accepted a range of students that included Special Education, Kindergarten Readiness, Grades 1-3 Early Intervention, Grades 4-5 Remediation and Enrichment and Grades 6-8 Focused Studies. A total of 227 enrolled.

The directors of the programs provided progress descriptions for the students attended the programs in June and July. 76 percent of the 83 students in grades 1-3 improved reading skills this summer, while 87 percent of students in the program improved by a Development Reading Assessment level.

Although the programs were an overall success, McKnight noted that some students who registered were forced to pull out.

“Before and after school care can be a real problem for some people,” she said.

McKnight suggested that the district implement summer before and after school care along with a consideration to provide transportation for all students.

Diane Mathews, Director of the Special Education, said in the past the classes were structured by age but this year the program took a different approach.

“This year we played with socioeconomic groups,” Mathews said.

Students with disabilities focused on language arts and reading during the summer months, but took time to also include music and movement exercises.

One teacher had her students evaluate their experience in the summer program.

“The biggest word out there was fun, which we were happy with,” Mathews said. “The second was partner reading.”

Director of the Grade 6-8 Focus Studies program, Kim Staff, said the summer program ended up to be much more than drudging coursework; it became a lesson in self-worth.

 “We are a whole different beast in middle school,” Staff said, noting that the class became therapeutic to many students.

“I think it was it was hard for them to see themselves as heroes because a lot of them have low self-esteem,” Staff said.

The Focus Studies program, which concentrated on reading and writing skills, was split into one girl’s class and one boy’s class for the majority of the program.

Staff had 29 boys in her class.

“It certainly was rambunctious but it worked,” Staff said.  As 45 children enrolled this year, Staff said she hoped the district would be able to offer larger facilities as well as more teachers next summer. Until then, teachers will use the data from the reports to assess what went well and identify what practices they should incorporate into the next program.

The Summer Math Lab at Encinal School certainly allowed allowed students to receive additional instruction and for instructors to evaluate their teaching methods during its weeklong program.

“It was very interesting to see where the teachers comforts were,” said Encinal Assistant Principal Joan von der Linden.

The students had the ability to increase problem-solving skills and play as an audience to teachers seeking to develop their math teaching abilities.

“They were there to teach us,” von der Linden said of the students.

Each day, the teachers would provide 90 minutes of math instruction. Afterwards, von der Linden said, teachers would review the coursework and plan for further engagement the next day.

“The kids walked away enjoying it,” she said.

The next is scheduled for October 11 at 6 p.m. in the Board Room at 181 Encinal Ave.