Offering new options, SPS doubles summer school enrollment

Near Oliver Watts' elbow on the desk sat a makeshift structure constructed with graham crackers, marshmallows and the hazelnut spread called Nutella, which is widely popular in Europe.

"I don't have a name for it yet," he said, pointing to his creation.

The soon-to-be fifth-grader was studying Europe, and what Europeans like to eat, as part of the "Around the world in 20 days" summer school class. On Wednesday, his task was to come up with a recipe involving Nutella.

Watts described it as the "best kind" of assignment because he was able to be creative, work with a new friend — they had to share "cooking" tools — and, best of all, eat the final product.

"This class sounded so interesting. You get to do a lot of fun things," said Watts, 10, of signing up for summer school. "This is only my third day to do it, so there is a lot more to come."

The Springfield school district was able to more than double summer school enrollment this year by offering inventive classes that teach reading and math in sneaky ways, like having students come up with an elaborate plan for how to survive a zombie apocalypse.

"The curriculum has been revised to be more hands-on. It looks less like school," said Bret Range, who oversees summer school. "We want it to be fun because we want kids to come back.

Offering summer school classes with names such as Shipwrecked, Superhero Camp, Diagnosis Detectives and Theme-Park Takeover was enough to intrigue Watts, who doesn't usually go to summer school. "I am very glad I went," he said.

Last year, there were less than 3,900 enrolled and this summer is already over 8,000 and growing. Nearly all classes run weekdays through June 26.

Revamping the classes was just one step. Other steps included offering busing for the first time in recent memory, doubling the number of locations, recruiting more principals to work during summer school and expanding the school day. In recent years, summer school was only half a day in the youngest grades.

At Disney Elementary, there were 27 students, including Watts, in Courtney Horr's "Around the world in 20 days class." Each week will be spent studying the important places, people and customs of a region.

"Right now we are visiting Europe. We are visiting different landmarks, finding pictures and studying the history," Horr said.

Other weeks will be devoted to Africa, Asia and Australia. Each one will include project-based, hands-on activities, like coming up with recipes and constructing structures using Nutella. "It is really fun to see the trial and error, the things that work or don't," Horr said.

Mia Njoroge, 10, said the best part of Horr's class is getting to be "crafty."

"I signed up for this class because it sounded interesting," she said. "It's different because it's more interesting than all my other classes. It has all kinds of fun things you can learn and use."

The school year ended May 20 and Njoroge cited another reason for enrolling in the June class. "You get to see your friends that you haven't seen for a while," she said.

In another part of Disney, soon-to-be second-graders are taking Amy Woodward's "Into the Wild" class. During the summer, students will direct an animated movie, go on virtual field trips and learn how to help animals.

Picking that class wasn't complicated for Xandra Chew. "It's been really good so far," said Chew, 6. "I like that we get to make crafts."

On Wednesday, she "used a lot of colors" to create paper butterflies and is looking forward to an upcoming lesson where students use rubber bands to make bracelets and necklaces.

Delwon Wings Jr. said this is the first year he has taken summer school. He wants to know more about deserts and what animals live there.

Using Play-Doh, Joshua Gritzo made models of different animals he was studying in class. But it wasn't his favorite part of summer school.

"I get to be in her class," said Gritzo, 8, pointing to Woodward. "She is the sweetest teacher. She teaches us amazing stuff, like math."