Students who sign up for summer school in New Westminster this year will be offered a blend of in-class and online instruction.
Registration is underway for the New Westminster school district’s summer programs, which run from July 6 to Aug. 7.
Maryam Naser, the district’s associate superintendent, said New West’s blend of in-person and virtual learning will likely include a minimum of two days of face-to-face instruction, with the balance being remote.
“This does distinguish us from other school districts, many of whom are offering entirely remote learning opportunities in the summer programs,” she told trustees at the school board’s June 9 operations committee meeting.
Naser noted the district is offering a wide range of English, math and science classes for secondary school students.
It’s also offering Foundations of Numeracy and Literacy courses for students in grades 7 to 9, which are designed to solidify the core concepts students need in math and English classes before continuing on to higher levels.
Naser told trustees registration had started off somewhat slowly, with numbers sitting at only about half of the district’s regular summer enrolment. But she said that was to be expected since, given the uncertainty about how classes would be offered, courses weren’t advertised as early as usual.
She also noted registrations had been picking up in the days leading up to the meeting.
School counsellors and administration at the city’s middle schools have been reaching out to families of students who have not been participating in remote learning to see if summer courses will be of interest, she said.
“We do see this as a summer where we may have some students who may not previously have been interested in a summer learning opportunity who may be engaged with us this year,” she said. “We’re excited to have that balance, a real blended learning model, this year in our summer programs.”
Summer programs operate out of New Westminster Secondary School, and the school district website notes classes will be offered with new safe entry protocols, social distancing guidelines and continued increased cleaning and disinfection.
For full details, and to see all the course offerings, check out https://newwestschools.ca/programs-services/summer-learning/
