Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good for DC. We come from Europe, where summer breaks from school are 3-4 weeks shorter than in the US (and kids perform better on PISA tests than in this country). Kids here do tend to lose ground academically over the summer, unless they're put in an academic program, at least part-time.

FYI--The US also has far superior economic growth than Europe does, particularly the Eurozone. So clearly their great education system isn't leading to much beyond economic stagnation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's probably still room in the post 3rd grade plus program. But, realistically, the kids involved are likely to be far behind academically.

This is not true. My son attended the summer school program last year, and there were plenty of advanced kids. The 3rd grade and higher classes focused on topic areas like astronomy or history (I can't remember all the topics).

My 3rd grader and a few of his friends are going to go this summer. It will be our first year, so hopefully he will like it, but the kids I know who are going are all on track academically.

So it's basically used as child care instead of camp?

You can see it that way. Or you can view DCPS as a school system leader in trying to forestall "the summer slide" academically. My child attended the reading-focused program after 1st grade last year, and emerged as one of the few students in his class (not at a Title 1 DCPS) who made gains in reading over the summer. I really like how DCPS summer school is open to all comers, not just kids who aren't working at grade level, or poor kids who don't get enough intellectual stimulation at home. They offer lots of spots city-wide and encourage a diverse group of kids to show for mornings in late June and July.

Good plan.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good for DC. We come from Europe, where summer breaks from school are 3-4 weeks shorter than in the US (and kids perform better on PISA tests than in this country). Kids here do tend to lose ground academically over the summer, unless they're put in an academic program, at least part-time.

FYI--The US also has far superior economic growth than Europe does, particularly the Eurozone. So clearly their great education system isn't leading to much beyond economic stagnation.

Anonymous wrote:DCPS summer school is basically built in daycare. Some of the sites are a little bit organized, while others are mass chaos. I wish they would open more NW sites.

Anonymous wrote:Good for DC. We come from Europe, where summer breaks from school are 3-4 weeks shorter than in the US (and kids perform better on PISA tests than in this country). Kids here do tend to lose ground academically over the summer, unless they're put in an academic program, at least part-time.