While Indian Prairie School District 204 staff touted the success of its summer school program at a recent meeting, officials acknowledge some courses do have enrollment and absentee problems.
Assistant Superintendent Doug Eccarius said the district needs to find ways to increase attendance for those programs that are beneficial but struggle to attract and retain students.
“The demographics for our summer school are very different than during the school year,” he said, speaking via email. “There are pockets of success and opportunities for improvement.”
The academic summer boost program offers help to elementary and middle school children who are falling behind on their grades. The district invited 940 students but only 600 opted to attend and of that number, only about 30% attended every day, according to the district.
Nearly 38% of elementary students and about 30% of middle school students are classified as low income, numbers show.
The district provides free transportation to the program and many of the courses are free of charge because they’re funded with grants, officials said.
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Other summer school programs, which are elective, have much higher enrollment. Among the most popular are the Club Hub Summer, Summer Expressive Arts Zoom, Summer Bridge, Credit Recovery and Online Summer Learning programs and the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) Camp, data shows.
The STEM Camp had 425 students and a waiting list of more than 30.
School Board member Mark Rising, speaking at the Dec. 19 meeting, praised the online summer program.
“These classes are so beneficial to our students because it allows them to take some of these requirements they must have for graduation,” he said. “I hope we can continue that for years to come.”
Victoria Vassell, a student board member, said a recent student survey shows that a summer bridge program focusing on the preparation for AP classes would encourage more students to take regular AP classes during the school year.
Eccarius said they can look into that but added that a similar program six years ago had low attendance. However, just because a program has fewer students than others doesn’t mean those who do participate don’t have a positive experience or benefit from it, he said.
“The kids really enjoy these programs,” Eccarius said. “Everyone is happy and it’s all smiles.”
Joseph Ruzich is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.