More than 1,300 students took part in summer school offerings at Oak Park and River Forest High School this year, which resulted in more than 1,700 completed academic and enrichment opportunities, officials said.
According to school officials, OPRF’s 2017 summer school year consisted of a full 28-day program, offered over a six-week period in June and July.
World languages division head Claudia Sahagun said OPRF saw a slight increase this year in summer school participants, with enrollment increasing by 12 students from 2016.
“We also had an increase in course completion, and we’re up by 24 more completed courses in comparison to summer 2015,” Sahagun said. “In total, 1,304 students completed academic courses and enrichment opportunities.”
According to OPRF staff, the most popular offerings were courses in financial literacy, art foundations and health, with 12, eight and six sections running, respectively.
New in 2017 were courses in pre-AP strategies and digital literacy. Exit surveys conducted by the school showed students found the classes “valuable” and that the courses “satisfied their goals,” officials said.
“We’re going to follow up [with those students] this year and have more specific information on the outcomes of their AP tests and their opinions on how it prepared them for their classes,” history division head Jason Spoor-Harvey said.
According to staff, summer school’s 14-day offerings continued to be a favorite of parents and students, with nearly all 14-day course offerings reaching capacity within one hour of online registration going live.
During the summer, a total of 112 students earned 195 credits during the six-week in-school credit recovery program, or ISCR. According to staff, the credit recovery program included a program coordinator, a counselor, four adult tutors/mentors, five teachers and eight student tutors.
“We gave students opportunities to meet with tutors in the afternoon after classes ceased,” Spoor-Harvey said. “The summer ended with no students earning F’s, and no incoming freshman earned a D or an F. The number of A’s and B’s remained consistent from 2016.”
Administrators said they would continue to look at 2017 data before making personnel recommendations for the 2018 summer school program.
“We are going to take a look at how we are staffing the ISCR model to make sure as many students have access to a teacher that need it as they move through the program,” Assistant Superintendent Gregory Johnson said.
While exit interviews showed students appreciated lunch and the opportunity to move at their own pace, officials said students struggled with arriving on time.
According to OPRF, 184 of the 1,192 students enrolled in general summer programming received disciplinary consequences as a result of accumulated tardies. Of the 112 students in ISCR, 66 were disciplined for tardies.
Officials said the summer school program experienced a budget surplus of $18,643, and school staff intends study possible changes to the summer school schedule and registration program for 2018.
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