Students Catch Up Or Get Ahead In District 219's Summer School

The six weeks of summer school have become a “third semester” in Niles Township High School District 219, with more than 1,800 of the district’s roughly 6,000 students taking classes over the summer.

The 1,854 students enrolled in summer school are taking 2,836 classes, said Ed Murphy, the district’s summer school principal. There are about 350 or 400 more students this summer than last summer, he said.

District 219 Superintendent Nanciann Gatta said she is pleased with the growth in summer school, but she wants even more students to take advantage of education in the months when the weather is warm.

“The board has made a lot of effort over the last two years to have a robust summer school. We’re making progress,” Gatta said at the June 27 school board meeting. “But we’re not there yet.”

The students are there for a variety of reasons, Murphy said. Some are making up credits for classes they failed or did not complete – perhaps the reason most of their parents are familiar with for taking summer school. Some are getting required courses such as consumer education out of their way, to free up time in their regular schedules. Some are working to get ahead by, for example, taking algebra before freshman year so they can start with geometry, putting them on track to reach calculus by the time they are seniors. There about 100 doing that, Murphy said.

Some are taking classes designed to help them step up a level, from regular classes to honors or to Advanced Placement. And some are taking classes for enrichment, such as art.

Lois Wisniewski, the science department chair, said classes such as Preparation for Honors Biology – offered to incoming freshmen – and Preparation for AP Chemistry allow students to become familiar with the level of work that will be required and get comfortable with a new topic.

The preparatory classes are what is known as “hybrid” classes, in which students only report to school on designated days, with the rest of the work completed online. Most summer school classes have a stringent attendance policy, allowing only one or two absences, depending on how they are scheduled.

Wisniewski said that teachers also must change the way they teach, imparting the most information they can in a limited amount of time to cover a whole course’s work of curriculum in the abbreviated summer session.

All classes except driver education take place at Niles North High School.

“If you go there, it’s like school is in session,” Gatta said.

For students who are looking to get ahead, step up or even make up a credit needed to progress in their high school careers, counselors know what classes students are taking and will make adjustments to student schedules for the fall based on the results of their classes this summer, Gatta said, acknowledging that changing student status can create schedule complications.