Summer School Wraps Up Successful Session

Carroll ISD recently completed another successful session of secondary summer school at Carroll Middle School.

This year, the program was led by Carroll Middle School Assistant Principal Janice Rowlands. She has worked six years in the district, but this year was her first as the secondary summer school principal.

There are different reasons why a student attends summer school. The first reason would be to receive accelerated credit. There are certain credits and requirements that each student is required to fulfill before graduating. Summer School is a great time to satisfy those credits leaving room in a student’s schedule during the regular school year to take other classes.

“This program is for students who value their time during the school year,” Rowlands said. “They want to take the art program that lasts a year at the same time they want to continue participating in a sport or band.”

For example, a student participating in football needs to make room in his schedule to participate all four years. So, athletes may choose to participate in summer school in order to get credits needed to graduate and still be able to play a sport during their entire high school career. Also, students who want to work during the school year might take courses in Summer School to free up their schedule.

Another reason students may participate in summer school is credit recovery. Credit recovery is necessary when a student fails a required course to graduate. In this case, Carroll gives the student an opportunity to make up the credit in order to graduate. The opportunity does not improve the student’s grade; it is simply a second chance to receive credit. The credit recovery courses are provided through an online program called A+.

There are a number of teachers standing by to offer assistance and tutoring as needed in credit recovery. Rowlands smiles as she thinks about the interactions between the students and teachers.

“The teachers are amazing,” she said. “They work with the students and really build relationships with them. At first, I don’t think kids really want to be at summer school but, by the end, the kids are really appreciative. I’ve been very impressed by both the teachers and students.”

The teachers that applied to work Summer School are all full-time teachers in the Carroll ISD. Those teaching the accelerated courses have to evaluate what the crucial material for their course is and condense that into a reduced amount of class time. These short-term courses are hard work but are rewarding in the end.

All in all, Rowlands is very happy with her time in summer school within the district.

“My hat goes off to these kids who could be sleeping in and doing other things with their summer,” she said. “Instead they chose to come to summer school, which isn’t easy, and get ahead.”

If you are interested in the 2015 summer school, registration starts in May. Registration will be available on southlakecarroll.edu.