HOWARD, Wis. (NBC 26) -- After a year when many school districts around Northeast Wisconsin taught students in a virtual format, summer school with in-person and online options is set to start next month.
"This is really a rebound and a response to what they [students] didn't experience last summer," Howard-Suamico Deputy Superintendent Mark Smith said.
In a pandemic when kids spent time with their friends and teachers on a computer screen, Smith is looking forward to the month ahead.
"[It will help by] identifying students that may have suffered some learning loss, inviting them into a learning experience that identifies what specific skills they may have become deficient in," Smith said. "And then how do we rap that learning experience around something enjoyable?"
In the Howard-Suamico School District, every grade will be fully in-person with nearly 3,000 students participating. Smith says it'll make up for lost time in more ways than one.
"Learning isn't just a one-way interaction with words and a text book," Smith said. "It really is relational. It's about students being able to apply their learning in real life."
Some local parents say this year's summer session means more, especially for those who didn't enjoy virtual learning.
"It's a really great resource for them to be able to get the skills they need or enhance their skills to be ready for the next school year," Green Bay parent Melissa Frederick said.
Other districts like Appleton are also planning in-person summer school. Coordinator Gary Mulry says it's a good way to provide consistency in an ever-changing pandemic.
"They've been pretty much cooped up," Mulry said. "So just being able to carry those social interactions through the summer [will help]."
But Mulry says a long year for teachers, among other reasons, has caused a staffing shortage for the summer. He's looking to hire nearly 20 more instructors.
"Our summer school is larger than 90 percent of the school districts in Wisconsin, so obviously we need a lot of staff," he said.
With 300 to 400 sign ups expected for Appleton's program, Mulry hopes the June term brings more opportunities after so much change.
"This is the first year we've offered more because we want our students to be successful," Mulry said.
For both Howard-Suamico and Appleton, classes start on June 14.
Mulry says Appleton's summer school is hosted by a consortium of 10 different school districts around the Fox Valley.
"In the consortium -- Neenah, Menasha, Kimberly, Kaukauna and on and on -- we’re all looking for teachers," he said.
The administrator also says there will be more options for high schoolers this summer who are looking to boost their grades if they finish with a 'D' or an 'F' after the current semester. But Appleton schools say the June classes are mostly filled with elementary and middle children.
"Many of the [high school] students haven’t not passed the class, so therefore they haven’t signed up for summer school," Mulry said. "With having it that everything was crazy in the fall semester, I think some of the kids, [will build] not only routines, but also the social interactions," he said. "A third grader that’s going into fourth grade will take classes that repeat the major strands that were taught during the school year. So that if they didn’t get them, they’ll get them a second time."
According to Mulry, the Appleton district won't know if masks will be required for in-person learners until June 4. Howard-Suamico says it's also monitoring health conditions.
Appleton area elementary and middle school-aged kids are fully face-to-face, whereas high school students have hybrid options.
"Our high school is credit recovery, which means that students had to receive a 'D' or an 'F' in order to attend summer school to fix their grades," Mulry said.
As a summer school coordinator, Mulry says some courses will be dropped if there isn't a sufficient number of sign ups. He says the current teacher shortage is not a concern just yet.
"What makes it somewhat difficult is I would say only of our 350 to 400 teachers, only about two-thirds are from our school district," he said. "I have teachers from all over the Valley that teach summer school for us."
Students in the Appleton district can spend time at any summer school within the 10-district consortium. Specialty courses such as cooking and engineering are offered to some learners.
Appleton schools gave families the option to return in-person back in January.
