HISD planning changes to summer school
Houston ISD plans to make multiple changes to its upcoming summer school session, which thousands of students who need to meet promotion standards are expected to attend this year.
The district will be expanding the number of students who will be eligible to attend summer school this year and extending the length of the summer school session by seven days.
The changes come as HISD also plans to have a shortened summer break this year due to its new District of Innovation status, which allows the district to start the upcoming school year earlier.
“Summer school offers a valuable opportunity for students providing targeted support to enhance their academic skills and ensure a sturdier foundation for future success,” the district wrote in a message to families in early March. “By participating in summer school, your child can gain confidence, bridge learning gaps, and thrive academically, setting them on a path towards achievement.”
Here’s what you need to know about summer school this year in HISD: How long is summer break this year?
HISD students and employees will lose several weeks of summer this year because the district is moving up the start date of the 2024-25 school year by about two weeks.
The new District of Innovation designation means HISD, like nearly all school districts, is now exempt from a state law requiring it to start no earlier than the fourth Monday August.
The 2023-2024 school year ends on June 5 and the new school year starts on Aug. 12. The previous academic year ended on June 1 and regular session classes resumed on Aug. 28.
When is summer school?
HISD’s free summer school session will occur on Monday through Friday from June 17 through July 19, which is a total of 22 days. The district will have students and staff holidays on June 19 for Juneteenth and July 4 and 5 for the Fourth of July.
The district held summer school last year for kindergarten through 11th grade students from June 6 to June 30. Students did not have class on Fridays, except for on June 30, and they had a holiday on June 19, so they were in class for 15 days over the summer. Who is required to attend? Who can opt in?
HISD requires students to attend summer school if they don’t meet promotion standards for attendance or fail to earn a 70 or above in core subject area courses, such as reading and math.
The district also offers summer school to emergent bilingual students pre-K and kindergarten students to “strengthen their foundational content knowledge and language skills.”
What changes are HISD making?
HISD’s academic office wrote in a message to families that it is revising who is eligible for summer school to “significantly narrow achievement gaps and prepare all students for Year 2035 workplace and world.”
In addition to other eligible students, the district will offer summer school to students who score significantly below grade level or do not meet expected academic achievement growth on the Northwest Evaluation Association’s Measures of Academic Progress Growth exam.
Students will be eligible for summer school if they score under the 30th percentile and achieve less than .35 growth under the Rasch Unit scale on the reading or math exam, according to HISD school board documents.
To monitor student proficiency and performance, the district required students to take the NWEA MAP Growth exams in math, reading and science for the first time this year. Students are scheduled to take the adaptive exam at the beginning, middle and end of the year.
HISD will also allow parents of elementary school students to opt-in to summer school if there is space available.
What will students learn?
HISD wrote to the Board of Managers that classes will focus on math, reading and Language Arts, science and enrichment time. The district will also provide New Education System curriculum that is focused on “the most critical grade level standards to support students,” according to the message.
“High quality curriculum will be provided and will focus on the most important standards that need to be covered in the grade for pre-K through eighth grade attendees,” the district wrote in a message to the board. “High school summer programming is tailored towards credit recovery for attending students.”
How will families know eligibility?
District administrators will tell parents in early April which students are required or recommended to attend summer school.