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July 7, 2009

Some students study during summer, too

summer school, sharon

By Courtney L. Anderson

SHARON — Unfortunately, not all kids pass every class in high school.

And when that happens, they have the chance to make up the credits during the summer through classes offered by Sharon City School District.

It’s the only program in the county and students attend from all over the area — including 10 Mercer County districts, two in Trumbull County and one in Lawrence, said Sharon middle school Principal Raymond Omer.

Summer school is also a chance for some students to get ahead or fit in classes they can’t schedule in their regular school year, Omer said. He mentioned one student getting in a class that conflicts with attending the Mercer County Career Center in the fall.

Eighty-five students in grades seven through 12 are taking courses at Sharon High this summer, down from about 120 last year, Omer said. They do a year’s worth of work in 20 days to earn credits for everything from physical education to science.

It’s the same coursework and the same amount of minutes, but it’s condensed into a smaller timeframe, Omer said.

Students in Crystal Buntman’s geometry class recently were working independently on Apple laptops the district bought through a state Classrooms for the Future grant.

Like many of the classrooms, it’s a “light atmosphere,” Omer said. Kids who’re meeting benchmarks can even listen to music on their headphones.

Omer noted that learning can happen in different ways for different people.

Emily Royer, who is going into 11th grade at Sharon, said taking the math in the summer is a “lot easier” than it was during the year when it “was not something I focused on as much as I should’ve.”

The class is several hours a day instead of 45 minutes or so every day. The extra time is helpful, she said. Emily last week had a 99 percent.

For the first time, Sharon added an afternoon session to summer school.

All but one of the teachers in the accredited program works at Sharon and it’s up to the students’ home district to decide if they’ll accept the course credits a student earns at the summer school, Omer said.

Omer said the district is looking to offer blended courses with online components so they don’t have to charge as much. Sharon students pay $135 per course and non-residents are charged $200.

While some students take summer classes for credit, others in Sharon’s halls are getting tutored through the district’s Extra Assistance Program. The computer-based program is targeted to help students score as “proficient” on state exams.

“We want the kids to grow so when they come back (to school) they’re not further behind,” Omer said.

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