Summer School Blues

Until recently, I thought that summer school wasn't a "good" place to end up. A place reserved for the kids who had failed a class, who lacked enough credits to graduate -- in other words, Spicoli types (see "Fast Times at Ridgemont High") who were not academically inclined.

This is not the case anymore. Now, it is the highly motivated, elite college-bound whiz kids who fill summer school classrooms.

L.A. Unified piles so many requirements on high school students (two full years of P.E., a semester of life skills, a semester of health, a year of applied technology, two years of a foreign language, etc.) that many motivated students are willing to give up a good portion of their summers (between six and 10 weeks) in exchange for being able to take other classes, most likely an academic course or even an Advanced Placement class.

I am one of those kids. In fact, I am the poster boy for the new summer school attendee. Last summer, I took a full year of P.E. at Hamilton, and a full year of computers at Santa Monica College. This finished off my P.E. and technology credits and gave me room to take AP European History and AP Psychology. This summer, I am taking Spanish 2 and math 2 (pre-calculus) at SMC so that I can take AP Economics and Academic Decathalon in the fall. And I'm resenting it, as are many like me. The district needs to eliminate some of these needless requirements and let students who work hard during the year have two months to relax. Summer school was meant to be a place for kids that have fallen behind (for whatever reason) and need to catch up; not a place for kids who are already ahead.

-- Jimmy Biblarz

Comments

[Jeff]

Wow. not that way at our school. The vast majority, IMHO, is made up of seniors making up 9th grade English and Math. As a teacher, I like the chance to make a little extra money. I also like the 'no BS' attendance policy: miss three times and you don't come back. This is a real eye-opener for these kids, since poor attendance is the reason many have to be here.