VIRGNIA BEACH, Va. – As summer approaches, Virginia Beach City Public Schools is announcing more information about their academic options for the summer months.
The district plans to spend about $3.5 million on the programming. It’s a significant amount more than in past years.
According to Dr. Kipp Rogers, the Chief Academic Officer for Virginia Beach City Public Schools, they anticipate spending $1.7 million on summer learning for the elementary school level. They spent $270,000 last year and $200,000 in 2019.
For the secondary level, they expect to spend $350,000 to $400,000 more this summer than last.
“It comes as no surprise that the pandemic has presented some challenges for students as well as families, and we’re operating not necessarily from a deficit model of thinking about learning loss, but how can we accelerate the learning of our students to better prepare students them for whatever they’re being scheduled for next school year – whether it’s the next grade; whether it’s the next course; whether it’s work or whether it’s college,” said Dr. Rogers.
VBCPS will be offering a what they call a “Summer Learning Boost” for any student who wants it. All students, elementary through high school, will have the opportunity to take part in that, virtually, over the summer break. It is optional. The boost is primarily asynchronous, with synchronous support from teachers who would check-in with students.
More traditional summer school will be offered in what they’re calling "Summer Learning Camps." That will be at 39 of the district’s 55 elementary locations. A list of those can be found at the end of this article.
Face-to-face sessions for secondary students will be consolidated into two middle schools: Brandon Middle School and Corporate Landing Middle School. Two high schools will also host sessions: Frank W. Cox High and Kellam High School.
Dr. Rogers said it’s not just for students who haven’t performed well academically - it’s also to get ahead, and it could be a good opportunity for students wanting to lighten their fall workload or allow options for other classes.
“For example, a student may want to take health and physical education as a student in the summer to free up their schedule in the following fall to take an AP course or a course that they have a great interest in – an additional art course or an additional music course,” Dr. Rogers explained.
“The thought process was to provide an opportunity for all of our students, whether they want or need to participate in the summer for remediation or for acceleration, and give them a couple of options,” added Dr. Rogers. “And in doing so, that meant we had to be creative in addition to what we normally do: To provide opportunities that best fit the needs of the family – in person or/and virtually.”
The following information was sent from VBCPS.
Elementary schools offering Summer Learning Camps in 2021:
- Alanton ES
- Arrowhead ES
- Bayside ES
- Birdneck ES
- Brookwood ES
- College Park ES
- Cooke ES
- Corporate Landing ES
- Diamond Springs ES
- Fairfield ES
- Glenwood ES
- Green Run ES
- Hermitage ES
- Holland ES
- Indian Lakes ES
- Kempsville Meadows ES
- King's Grant ES
- Landstown ES
- Linkhorn Park ES
- Luxford ES
- Lynnhaven ES
- Malibu ES
- Newtown ES
- Parkway ES
- Pembroke ES
- Pembroke Meadows ES
- Point O View ES
- Providence ES
- Rosemont ES
- Rosemont Forest ES
- Seatack ES
- Shelton Park ES
- Tallwood ES
- Thalia ES
- White Oaks ES
- Williams ES
- Windsor Oaks ES
- Windsor Woods ES
- Woodstock ES
Middle school sites and clusters for 2021:
- Host site: Brandon Middle School
- Clusters:
- Bayside 6
- Bayside MS
- Independence MS
- Salem MS
- Larkspur MS
- Kempsville MS
- Host site: Corporate Landing Middle School
- Clusters:
- Lynnhaven MS
- Great Neck MS
- Plaza MS
- Landstown MS
- Virginia Beach MS
- Princess Anne MS
High school sites for 2021:
- Host site: Frank W. Cox High School
- Clusters:
- First Colonial HS
- Green Run HS
- Ocean Lakes HS
- Princess Anne HS
- Host site: Kellam High School
- Clusters:
- Bayside HS
- Kempsville HS
- Landstown HS
- Salem HS
- Tallwood HS
