Cape, Jackson schools work to solidify summer school plans

As the academic year came to a close Tuesday for area elementary and secondary schools, administrators worked to solidify plans for summer school, which look a little different amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cape Girardeau School District

The Cape Girardeau Schools Board convened for its regular meeting Monday night and approved a summer school plan for elementary and secondary schools across the district. 

District officials have identified the following goals of summer school programs: 

• To provide quality instruction in a face-to-face format
• To reduce large group contact as much as possible
• In preschool, to provide opportunities to access “ready-to-learn” skills
• In grades K-8, to focus content on fourth-quarter material
• In grades 9-12, to provide opportunities for credit recovery and credit advancement

Bus transportation will not be provided for Cape Girardeau summer school sessions in an effort to “mitigate large group exposure” to the virus, according to a document presented to the school board Monday. 

All class sizes will be targeted to between 10 and 12 students per class, according to Christa Turner, deputy superintendent of elementary education for Cape Girardeau schools, who spoke to the board Monday.

Elementary, middle and junior high schools

Summer school sessions for students in preschool through the eighth grade will be held from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 20 through 31. 

The summer school sessions for students in these grade levels will include an emphasis on material that would have been taught during the third and fourth quarters of the 2019-2020 academic year, Turner told the board.

In the elementary schools, students will remain with their designated teacher throughout the day, according to a district document highlighting summer school plans. 

The six-hour school day will include an hour of break times split evenly among breakfast, lunch and recess. Breakfast and lunch will be delivered to classrooms, according to district documents, and recesses will be scheduled to limit one class per playground or area at a time. 

Each elementary school — with the exception of Alma Schrader Elementary School — will host its own students in preschool through fourth grade. 

Parents may opt to access a different site for convenience in transportation plans, according to district documents. 

Alma Schrader students will be scheduled with teachers from their school and supervised by their own principal. Those students may attend summer school sessions in the following locations: 

• Preschool, kindergarten and first-grade students will attend at Franklin Elementary School at 1550 Themis St. 
• Second-, third- and fourth-grade students will attend at Central Middle School at 1900 Thilenius St.

Central Middle School will also host its own fifth- and sixth-grade students at its campus.

Central Junior High School students will be able to attend summer school at their regular campus at 1910 Whitener St.

The school day for junior high school students, also six hours, will include an hour of break time evenly split among breakfast, lunch and a “brain break” or “outside time.” 

Breakfast and lunch will be delivered to classrooms, and any outside breaks will be assigned to each classroom at a different time to limit possible virus exposure, according to district documents. 

Students will be assigned to one classroom for the day, and core content teachers will rotate to classrooms throughout the summer school day.

High school students

From July 8 through 27, morning summer school sessions for high school students will be held from 7:30 a.m. to 11:15 a.m., and afternoon sessions will be held from 11:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., according to district documents. 

As no buses will be running, summer school sessions for high school students will also be housed at CJHS to offer students, parents and guardians a more centralized and accessible location. 

“[Principal Nancy] Scheller and her team will still be running it,” Turner told the school board. “We’re just going to use the facility at [the] junior high so [the commute is] a little easier for those without transportation.”

Summer school dates for high schoolers begin earlier in the month to offer students more class time options, Turner told the school board Monday.

“We really need 16 days in order to get where students could take an a.m. session or a p.m. session; it’s still a pretty long class period,” Turner told the school board Monday. “But 16 days is really about as short as we can get it and still have two sessions in a day.”

Students can earn a half-credit during the morning session and a half-credit in the afternoon and may enroll in either or both sessions, according to district documents. 

In addition to the in-person learning opportunities, high school students will also have the option to take virtual summer school classes that will include a daily 45-minute Zoom or Google lesson. 

At Monday’s meeting, Turner explained these virtual classes will be “much more structured” than those offered during the spring semester. 

Students in virtual classes will be expected to complete additional assignments, projects or assessments outside of lesson time, and teachers will have virtual office hours during the sessions. 

Because high school summer sessions are credit-bearing, all classes will be prepared to move to virtual instruction immediately should the need arise, Turner said, and device checkouts will be available, according to district documents. 

Summer school sessions will also be offered for Central Academy students and those requiring special education. For more information, contact the district office at (573) 335-1820 or to register, visit www.capetigers.com/cms/one.aspx?portalId=204583&pageId=30333854.

Jackson School District

In a May 14 letter to families, which is also available online, the Jackson School District shared information about summer school learning dates and other details associated with summer programs. 

Detailed information about drop off times, locations and potential costs for each school can be found at www.jacksonr2schools.com/Summer-School-Information-2020.

“Transportation will not be provided but meals will be served,” the district website stated.

Elementary and middle schools

For students in kindergarten through sixth grade, summer school sessions will run from July 6 through 24. If in-person summer school is able to be offered for students in this age group, class sizes will be reduced as much as possible, according to the district website, and hand-washing/sanitizing will be enforced as a safety measure for students. 

Parents of incoming kindergarten students can choose a morning or afternoon session for the full 15 days of summer school. The morning kindergarten session will be held from 8 to 11:10 a.m. with an option to purchase breakfast, which will be served from 7:30 to 7:50 a.m., according to the district website. The afternoon kindergarten session will be noon to 3:10 p.m.

Lunch will not be served at morning or afternoon kindergarten sessions, but both kindergarten sessions will serve a snack at no cost to the students. 

Incoming first- through fourth-grade students will attend 8:10 a.m. to 3:10 p.m. for the full 15 days of summer school and will be served breakfast and lunch. 

According to the district website, summer school sessions for elementary-aged students will take place at the following locations:

• Students who attend East Elementary School will attend East Elementary summer school at 455 N. Lacey St.
• Students who attend West Lane Elementary School and Millersville Elementary School will attend West Lane summer school at 338 N. West Lane.
• Students who attend South Elementary School and Gordonville Elementary School will attend South Elementary summer school at 1701 S. Hope St.
• Students who attend North Elementary School will attend North Elementary summer school at 10730 Route W.
• Students who attend Orchard Elementary School will attend Orchard Elementary summer school at 1402 Orchard Drive.

Jackson Middle School will offer students entering fifth and sixth grades the option of choosing between a half or full day of summer school classes, according to the district website. More information will be sent from assistant principal Michael Martin, or families can email questions to Martin at mmartin@jr2mail.org.

Junior high and high school

Virtual summer school will be offered for students in high school and junior high grade levels, beginning May 28 and ending June 18, according to the district website. The high school also plans to offer on-site courses, if possible, from June 25 to July 17. 

The district website states more information about summer school sessions for high school students will soon be emailed to parents and students. 

Jackson Junior High School is offering virtual summer school sessions with the proposed dates of May 28 through June 18. Of the seven listed on the district website, students may choose two classes for virtual summer school, which include topics such as online physical education, STEM, history and sports, guitar and more. Any questions should be directed to assistant principal Mike Ford at mford@jr2mail.org. 

“As a district, we are always working to provide the safest environment for our students and staff as possible,” the district’s letter to families read. “We will monitor updates and recommendations from local, state and national authorities to make the most informed decisions as possible. We will keep families up to date on all school-related information.”

For more information or to enroll in summer school classes, visit www.jacksonr2schools.com/Summer-School-Information-2020 or contact the district office at (573) 243-9501.