4 Benefits of Summer School That Highlight Its Importance for Student Success

For some students, the school year came to an abrupt and unexpected end when their school closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Other students transitioned into a different kind of learning that may not have been as comprehensive. Either way, learning during the summer may be even more helpful to students this year.

Summer school can keep students interested and engaged all summer long. Whether your student wants to learn more about a new subject or strengthen skills in a familiar area, summer school offers ample opportunities for young minds.

Here are just some of the many benefits of enrolling your child in summer school.

Avoid the Summer Slide

Research indicates that students typically experience a summer learning loss every year. A study published in the Review of Educational Research  journal indicated that summer learning loss is equivalent to about a one-month loss of knowledge. This figure equates to students’ test scores going down by about one-tenth when they return to campus in the fall.

This year, students must also contend with what is being called the “coronavirus slide,” which researchers from Yale University and University of Connecticut estimate might result in as much as a 30 percent loss in learning!

Summer school can help combat this disturbing loss in learning. Even just one course during the summer months can keep students engaged and receptive to learning. Here are just four reasons summer school can benefit today’s students:

Get Ahead or Catch Up

Every student learns at a different pace. Unfortunately, many classrooms aren’t equipped to offer truly customized instruction for students. As a result, high-achieving students may learn quickly and feel bored in the classroom. Other students may struggle with concepts and have trouble keeping up with the rest of the class.

Summer school helps to ease these challenges. High achievers can use summer school to get ahead. They may study advanced concepts or even take a class that is focused on topics they’ll learn in the upcoming school year. On the other hand, some students can use summer school to brush up on topics that troubled them last year. Doing so helps students enter the upcoming school year prepared and ready to learn.

Learn New Skills and Subjects

Summer school also allows students to think beyond traditional courses and dive into new subject matter. Many summer school programs introduce students to new subject areas. They can develop their computer, coding, or graphic design skills in technology classes, for example. Exposing high school students to a new subject doesn’t just increase their knowledge; it also keeps them engaged throughout the summer. Plus, they just might find a skill or subject that becomes a new passion. This summer, your student can learn video game design and programming with tuition-free summer coding programs at Destinations Career Academy, powered by K12. They can take the following two-week summer online coding bootcamps to learn basics of coding:

• Video Game Design and Programming (June 15–June 25, 2020)
• Virtual Reality (July 6–July 16, 2020)

Prepare for College or Career

On a similar note, branching out during summer school to take new classes helps high schoolers prepare for college. If your high schooler isn’t quite sure what to major in, summer school can be a practical way to research different subjects and career paths. And this summer, Destinations Career Academy is offer rising 9th–11th graders the opportunity to explore high-demand careers in business, healthcare, and information technology with tuition-free career-focused online summer school courses. These career exploration courses begin on June 24, 2020. Sampling a few of these classes over the summer allows students to gauge their interest in the subject. With real classroom experience in different subjects, your high schooler will be better equipped to make a thoughtful decision about college, including choosing what school and program to attend, what subject to major in, and even what type of education will be best.

Summer school isn’t just for playing catch-up. It can aid students at all ability levels, helping prepare them for the next school year and beyond. Plus, creative course offerings expose students to engaging, interactive topics that will keep them learning—and wanting to learn—throughout the summer. Explore the summer school offerings available for your child. And if your student is entering grades 9–11 in the fall of 2020 and is interested in taking Destinations Career Academy’s tuition-free career-exploration summer school courses or one of the online summer coding camps, be sure to enroll early!