The one thing that everyone hopes that they don’t have is summer school, but for some OPS students, they will. Summer school lasts for three weeks and is from 9:00 a.m until 12:00 p.m. The purpose of summer school is to work on skills that were not mastered during the school year. OPS identified certain students going into seventh and eighth grade who are going to summer school.
This summer a new computer management program called ANGEL will be used for upcoming eighth graders. They will be learning skills in math, language arts, science, and social studies. The classes taught will focus on improving skills of students to get them ready for next year. Although summer school is not what most people want to spend their time doing, it will help prepare them for the next school year. “I am teaching summer school this summer because we are piloting a new teaching program called ANGEL, and I helped to create a lot of the Language Arts curriculum. I am excited to see how the kids work with all online curriculum, and if it goes well this summer. I hope to start incorporating some of this into my classes next year,” said Mrs. Smith, seventh grade language arts teacher.
Upcoming seventh graders will take part in the Jump Start program. Students will not only become acquainted with their new school, they also get a chance to meet their new teachers and new classmates. At least 80 students will be involved. They will follow a regular A/B day block schedule with three classes daily. The class offerings include math, science, writing, reading, and a game session. Lion's Pride will also be working with the program and offer different clubs for the students to participate in. "I am excited about having the students in my club do dot painting," said eighth grade language arts teacher, Ms. Balentine. "It's fun, colorful, and easy! Anyone can do it!"