Roanoke schools kick off new, summer enrichment program

Quickly glance inside Fallon Park Elementary School this week and it may appear like class time as usual. It’s not.

Look more closely.

A class of 17 students have laptops in front of them as they key in essays about what their day would be like if they were crabs.

A schedule printed on a whiteboard shows two math lessons and another devoted to Science Technology Engineering Math, or STEM. There’s also enrichment and technology time.

Fallon Park is one of nine sites hosting Roanoke’s new summer program RCPS+, which started Monday. The ambitious initiative more than triples the amount of learning time students have spent in traditional summer school and represents a focus on enrichment, not remediation.

“It’s supposed to be different,” Superintendent Rita Bishop said Wednesday.

Three days into the summer program Bishop said it’s off to a smooth start and feedback has been positive. She continued to emphasize the need for the program, something she’s stressed since first pitching the concept of extended learning in January.

“There is no way that we can do what needs to be done in this district without an intense summer enrichment program,” she said.

Bishop said she asked who would learn more during the summer, a student who travels to Europe or one who spends the entire break poolside.

“I can take you to Europe if you’re in here,” she said, explaining that RCPS+ provides a rich learning experience some students might not otherwise have.

About 2,600 students are enrolled for the inaugural year. It is open to all students in kindergarten through eighth grade on an opt-in basis, free of charge, though some students have been encouraged to attend.

Bishop said the at-risk students who could benefit from the program are participating, but she didn’t have a specific breakdown of what percentage of the student body they represent.

With a focus on reading and math, where changes to the state’s Standards of Learning have made assessments difficult for students, the idea of RCPS+ is to bolster learning and prevent the summer slide, in which students lose the knowledge they’ve gained during the school year. Through small classes and hands-on learning, educators are working to build a strong foundation.

Even before RCPS+ started this week, that idea and the program’s emphasis on enrichment have enjoyed community support from officials who don’t deny the need for it . But the program’s cost has been an issue, specifically how it will be paid for in the future .

Bishop said Wednesday she’s pursuing grants as a way of funding the program . She said two foundations have agreed to talk with her, but declined to name them.

She said when she meets with the groups she plans to show them the RCPS+ curriculum and offer to track students’ progress next year. She said she is confident the program’s curriculum will translate to success.

Teacher Sally Heller also was optimistic about how the program could bolster student learning. Heller, who teaches at Fallon Park during the regular school year, is working with rising fourth-graders in RCPS+ at the school this summer.

“It’s actually going to make my job easier in fall,” she said.

Heller said students will come back to class better prepared when classes begin.

“A lot of time there’s such a long period of time between spring and fall,” she said. “Sometimes students lose a lot of this information.”

She said so far this week she’s been reviewing math skills with students and doing plenty of reading.

Students also got a taste of what they are in store for when they take the fifth-grade Standards of Learning writing tests. They used a website that mimics the test to learn the laptops’ different tools, such as how to turn on spell check and capitalize letters. They wrote about life as crabs using the site Wednesday.

Heller’s students got some enrichment time in the afternoon. They had read the book “Diary of Worm” earlier in the week, and made Jell-O worms to go along with the lesson. They planned to devour the edible critters Wednesday afternoon.

One of Heller’s students, Kateleigh Dillon, 9, was looking forward to eating the worms. She said RCPS+ was “a lot different” from class during the school year.

“It’s not boring,” she said. “It’s not pencil and paper.”

Dillon said it was her idea, not a parent’s, to attend RCPS+.

“It would give me something to do,” she said.

When asked what she would do during the summer months without the program, Dillon thought about it for a moment.

“Probably swim in the pool every day,” she said.

Weather Journal

2 days ago

1. One person injured in Friday night shooting in Roanoke

2. 'Best defense in nation,' Tech player says about victory over ECU 

3. Britney Spears spotted at Lynchburg restaurant

4. East Carolina poses new challenge for Virginia Tech football 

5. Lowe's tapes may hold clues to Roanoke woman's death

6. William Byrd stuns Salem in football win

7. Concert review: Timeless Willie Nelson plays to appreciative crowd

8. Blacksburg lawyer Painter’s bond revoked

9. History says this one will matter for Virginia Tech

10. Roanoke County electrical short quiets 5 Wheeler radio stations