ATLANTA — More than 135 hours: That’s how much time thousands of Atlanta Public Schools students are giving up of their hard earned summer.
Instead, they're spending that time in the classroom to help deal with learning loss from the pandemic.
Soon-to-be sixth grader Destiny is one of the students back to the books, working hard at Cascade Elementary polishing the math skills she'll need for middle school.
“I want her to get stuff that she missed when the pandemic hit,” Renita Hall, Destiny’s mom, told 11Alive. “I want her to engage her mind, to go to another milestone in her life, which is middle school."
Destiny is one of more than 11,000 students participating in the APS summer Academic Recovery Academy. The four-week summer session focuses on math and literacy in the morning, while afternoons are spent on STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) programming.
“Students, our teachers, our parents, our community understood the sense of urgency,” Cascade Elementary Principal Tiffany Momon said. ”Everyone was able to see how the students were impacted from the pandemic.”
“At the end of the year we have not seen the expected achievement levels as we've seen in years past, and we know that that is due to the learning loss from the pandemic,” Momon added. “Most of our students began the year in a virtual setting, and this remained until January, and some students in Atlanta Public Schools did thrive with the virtual setting, but the majority of our students needed that face-to-face instructor in front of them.”
Meanwhile at Jackson Elementary, the Taylor family also opted in to the summer program.
“My initial gut reaction was that my kids need a break,” Ruth Taylor said. “This past school year has been anything but traditional and you know, I wanted them have a break. I want them to have fun. But when you look at it, there really wasn't any reason not to do the summer school program."
"They weren't handwriting as much and you know even writing and spelling words, some of that got a little lost in the shuffle,” Taylor added. “And I totally feel like my kids survived fine but I don't think they thrived.”
This year’s recovery academy marks the start of a three-year summer school plan to get students back on track. A recent Georgia State study found Atlanta-area students likely lost the equivalent of months of progress due to the pandemic.
Both Hall and Taylor are confident students will persevere
“She tried to teach me the math that she's learning now, so I feel very confident with her understanding,” Hall said of her daughter’s progress thus far.
“I think our kids are really resilient,” Taylor said. “I think we're all on the same page that we want what's best for our kids. And how can we support them and support their academic needs and I think that this summer program comes into play with that.”