As the academic year wraps up, Triad staff is preparing for a “booming enrollment” of summer school students.
“It’s the highest we’ve ever had,” Elementary School Principal Lee Claypool said during the Board of Education meeting Thursday.
Chief Academic Officer Morgan Fagnani said 211 students are enrolled in summer school district-wide.
Claypool said 96 of her students have signed up, while the majority of remaining students are from the middle school.
Fagnani estimated that 29 high schoolers are also registered, which she said is a “good number” for that group of students.
Board members asked Claypool if she feels as though a learning gap caused by the pandemic is the reason for such high enrollment numbers.
While the pandemic may play a role, she said she believes there are two major factors that drove students to take advantage of summer school this year.
Claypool noted that the district shifted its focus for summer learning toward STEM subjects. She said she believes students are more “excited about hands-on activities” that will be offered.
Elementary schoolers will participate in a “Curious Cardinals Camp” centered around STEM, math and reading skills.
Students in middle school will also engage in “summer games”-themed activities that highlight language arts and math.
Triad High School summer learning emphasizes an ACT Boot Camp that prepares students to take the test on July 18.
Aside from the activities offered, Claypool said the higher numbers could simply be a result of increased accessibility.
Satellite transportation will be available for students at five locations throughout the district. Those attending summer school can be picked up by a Triad bus driver at the Cable ball field, Mingo Market, The Meadows, Woodstock Post Office and North Lewisburg Church.
Superintendent Vickie Hoffman said approximately half of the students enrolled in summer school programming will be riding Triad buses.
She added that the additional transportation was made possible through grant funding and a donation from Bundy Baking Solutions.
Hoffman noted that take-home lunches will be provided for each student every day of summer school.
Triad summer school will take place from 9 a.m. to noon on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday beginning June 8 through June 24.
In other business:
– Technology Coordinator Ryan Thompson provided an update surrounding Chromebook use in the district.
He said state testing, done using the laptops, “went great.”
Thompson said he believes 1:1 learning, in which every student is provided a Chromebook to use, made students more comfortable taking their tests on a computer.
He said each classroom has two “loaner” Chromebooks that can be used if students forget to charge theirs or have other technology issues, but he only knows of “three or four” students who needed to do so during testing.
Thompson added that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the price and shipping times of Chromebooks.
Specifically, he said the cost of screen replacements has dramatically increased.
New screens costed $24 last year, Thompson said, but now cost approximately $75.
He said he is mitigating the problem by removing screens from 60 Chromebooks that are “at the end of their lives” and saving them to be used for screen replacements, when necessary.
Thompson also noted that he placed the district’s order for new fifth and ninth grade Chromebooks early – 200 computers – so they are expected to arrive this summer. He said some districts last year waited until summer to place their orders and did not receive their computers until the following December or January.