Students flock to Blue Ridge for summer school

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Teacher Yebel Garcia works with summer school students Christopher Cortez, 4, middle, and Luis Morales, 5, as they build with blocks Tuesday at Blue Ridge School. (Matt Hamilton/The Daily Citizen)
Maria Khote works with adult learner Paulino Liquidano. Dalton Public Schools offers summer English, computer, nutrition and other kinds of educational classes for parents to learn skills that can benefit their families and in turn help their children better succeed in school. (Matt Hamilton/The Daily Citizen)

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June 27, 2012

Students flock to Blue Ridge for summer school

Rachel Brown rachelbrown@daltoncitizen.com The Dalton Daily Citizen Wed Jun 27, 2012, 07:17 AM EDT

Maria Khote brags about a student in the summer pre-kindergarten class at Blue Ridge School.

The first day the student arrived, she was so afraid she refused to get on the bus. Once she finally did arrive at the school, she cried. Just a couple of weeks into summer school, the little girl, who is the first in her family to go to school, has become more at ease.

“She raises her hand all the time,” said Khote, who coordinates parent involvement activities. “It’s amazing how much she changed.”

The child is among about 30 preschool students who were invited to participate in the program because an assessment given to rising kindergartners showed they didn’t have the same skills as many students who had pre-K, day care or other kinds of experience.

Rhonda Hayes, Dalton Public Schools assistant superintendent, said this is the school system’s third year participating in the pre-K summer program, which is designed to prepare young children socially, emotionally and academically for school. Kids such as the little girl who was afraid to get on the bus will have a chance to conquer their fears before the school is full of hundreds of other students. They learn how to open milk cartons, become more at ease around other kids and away from home, and begin to learn some of the academic concepts they’ll be asked to tackle once the real deal begins, organizers said.

Laura Orr, school system Title I director, said the face of summer school is different every year as funding, students’ needs and other factors change. Yet Blue Ridge School is host to several separate summer school programs this year. They include summer sessions for certain special education students; a literacy and math program for fourth- and fifth-graders across the school district; a program for Blue Ridge students; and parent classes for adults seeking to learn English, computer essentials or other parenting skills that could help their families.

Special education students go to summer school if their Individualized Education Plan specifies they need the extra attention in order to not lose what they’ve learned during the school year or to advance further. The rest of this year’s programs are targeted toward students who either did not achieve as high as hoped on standardized tests or who are on the verge of bumping up into the “meets” or “exceeds standards” categories on the Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests with just a little more help. Students who fell in those categories were invited, but not required to, attend summer school. Title I money — federal grant money given to schools in economically disadvantaged communities — pays for most summer school programs, including transportation. There are close to 300 students involved.

A competitive grant from the Department of Human Services and administered through Georgia’s Bright from the Start funds the pre-K summer school. There are two classrooms and a total of $40,000 awarded to have school six-and-a-half hours a day for 30 days, officials said. Families who enter the program must show proof of citizenship and proof of income.

Getting kids ready for school is vital, Khote said, but helping parents learn how to help their kids is also important. For the first time this year, parents are getting to take free classes to learn about nutrition, parenting skills, how to learn outside of school and kinds of community resources that are available. Participants earn free school supplies for coming. They’ve been drawing between 40 and 50 people.

“The idea is for these parents to be so supported that their children are then very successful,” Hayes said.

On Tuesdays, Blue Ridge opens its computer lab to adults who want to learn computer skills. Paulino Liquidano, who is from Mexico, said he comes to the classes to improve his English. He said he trained sales personnel at The Coca-Cola Co. when he was in Mexico and needs to improve his job skills.

“He works very hard,” Khote said, noting the computer skills classes are completely bilingual.

Next month, the school system will begin a program Orr said would be “a literacy boost to get (students) ready to start the year.” Participating educators will meet with groups of one to three children going into first and second grades in community sites to be determined on literacy and math. The meetings will be for an hour each day, four days a week.

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Students flock to Blue Ridge for summer school

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