Favorite summer stories of Chloe McCallum, 7, include tales of frogs and marine life. While peers are splashing at the pool or playing video games, she's in school getting ready for the next year.
The North Augusta Elementary School Jump Start program gives pupils such as Chloe intensive reading and math lessons during the summer so they don't fall behind during the break.
"We're keeping instruction alive," Nan Burns, an instructor, said. "Any child, regardless of ability level, can benefit from this."
The four-hour daily sessions range from acquainting rising kindergartners with sounds and letters to older students writing their own stories. Program length varies from seven days to 12 days.
In its fifth year, Jump Start has grown to accommodate about 100 pupils. With 13 instructors, smaller class sizes allow teachers to accomplish more in four hours than many of them could in a traditional school day.
"Those interruptions, like recess and related arts, aren't there," Debra Kurilla, said.
Teachers also aim to make the four hours unlike a traditional school day so pupils don't feel like they are repeating classes.
New books are presented to the pupils, giving them a fresh start, and many activities are turned into games so pupils aren't stuck in desks.
"You read a lot more here," Chloe said. "But I'm learning how to read."
Each night pupils take home at least two books. As an incentive, the summer reading goes toward their reading goals for the next school year.
When they start classes in August, many of them will already have credit for reading at least 20 books.
The free program is open to any pupil, but those with a greater need for intensive instruction are identified from testing scores throughout the year.
This year there was about a 90 percent participation rate of those identified, Principal Angela Burkhalter said.
In years past, Dr. Burkhalter said, tracking progress was something teachers could do only when working with the pupils. Now teachers can track pupils with daily computer testing.
"We pre- and post-test on their instruction level," Dr. Burkhalter said. "This will be the first time we'll have that measure instead of just observing, so I'm interested to see where we stand at the end of the summer."
Reach Julia Sellers at julia.sellers@ northaugustatoday.com.
