Summer school in a COVID world? Muscogee County re-imagines classes with a camp feel
The Muscogee County School District intends to use $8 million of federal funding to implement a reimagined summer school program.
It’s designed to address the student learning losses from the COVID-19 pandemic’s disruption of school operations. And it will offer not only remediation for students who have fallen behind, but also enrichment for those who want to get ahead.
MCSD administrators called it a “summer learning experience” and promised that it will feel more like day camp than regular school as they presented the plan during the school board’s monthly work session Monday night.
The district surveyed students, parents and teachers to develop a program focused on “dispelling the old idea of what summer school was,” superintendent David Lewis told the board.
It will “motivate and entice students to get excited about learning and re-engaging with learning in a very positive and fun way,” he said.
Key dates and times
Registration for the new summer school is open on MCSD’s website now through May 7.
The prekindergarten program will start June 1 and end July 19. Classes and activities will run from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
The K-8 program will start June 1 and end July 9. Classes and activities will run from 8 a.m. to noon.
The grades 9-12 program will start June 1 and end July 9. Classes and activities will run from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Classes to be offered
MCSD plans to collaborate with other community organizations to conduct activities that will focus on improving skills in literacy, math, science, arts and sports.
The prekindergarten program is based on the Georgia Early Learning and Development Standards.
The K-8 program will offer a virtual option. Students will spend approximately two hours per day on English language arts and reading and one hour per day on math. Social and emotional learning is embedded in the lesson plans. Approximately one hour per day will be spent on enrichment activities based on results from the student survey.
Each high school will determine the content of its summer program for grades 9-12. It will focus on credit recovery and include social-emotional learning as well as practice for the ACT and SAT college entrance exams.
Program sites
The summer program will be at all MCSD high schools.
For middle schools, Eddy, Baker, East Columbus, Fort and Rothschild will be standalone sites. Midland will include Aaron Cohn and Blackmon Road. Arnold will include Richards. Double Churches will include Veterans.
Here are the sites for elementary schools, which also will host students from the schools in parentheses:
- East region: Midland (including Mathews), Dawson (including St. Marys Road), Lonnie Jackson (including Dimon), Reese Road (including Forrest Road and Waddell), Wesley Heights and Georgetown.
- Central region: Blanchard (including Eagle Ridge and Britt David), Wynnton (including Hannan and Johnson), Gentian (including Clubview), Rigdon Road (including Brewer), South Columbus (including Key), Dorothy Height and Martin Luther King Jr.
- West region: Double Churches (including North Columbus), Fox, River Road (including Allen), Downtown (including Davis) and Wynnton (including Hannan and Johnson).
Transportation and meals
The district will provide free breakfast, lunch and transportation for all students.
Requests for transportation can be made along with the summer program registration on MCSD’s website. For more information, call the transportation department at 706-748-2876.
Staffing and compensation
Assistant principals who are in the district’s aspiring principal cohort will be given the first option to be the director at one of the 34 host schools.
Each site also will have a guidance counselor, with first option given to counselors employed at the host school.
A secretary will be at each hosting elementary school, with first option given to those employed there. Secretaries at the middle schools and high schools already work during the summer.
MCSD wants to have one teacher for every 15 students in the program. Teachers will be selected based on the same process as counselors.
Three itinerant clinic workers will support student medical needs.
All positions will be paid 1½ times their local MCSD pay rate.
Community partners
The following organizations have committed to helping conduct the program:
- Boys & Girls Clubs
- Chattahoochee Valley Libraries
- Columbus State University Coca-Cola Space Science Center
- Columbus State University Oxbow Meadows Environmental Learning Center
- Columbus Museum
- Communities in Schools
- FABArts
- Girls Inc.
- Girl Scouts
- National Civil War Naval Museum
- RiverCenter for the Performing Arts
- Teen Advisors
- United Way
- YMCA
This story was originally published April 15, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
