Avon Maitland System Principal of Leading Learning says she was quite surprised that enrolment for summer school this year was up considerably over previous years.
Emma Watts says she had expected a significant drop because she thought students would have had enough of online learning and she felt that was understandable after this year. In fact, they had just over 700 students enrol for summer courses. She does point out that one of the benefits of the summer school course is the shortened time period where the student only has to focus on one course.
“With the compressed timelines during the school year, being in quadmester classes, the students again had a reduced amount of work, but it was really tight in terms of timeline. So if students didn't feel they achieved the level they wanted to, they had a chance to take summer school online and have a chance to upgrade their courses.”
Watts also said the highest increase in summer enrolment was by grade eight students.
“This year again, students are opting in grade eight to reach ahead and take that grade nine course. Because of the new requirement to have two e-line courses to obtain your high school diploma, I think many of our grade eight students and families want to get that opportunity and get that under their belt and finish that before they enter grade nine.”
Watts says, over time, they've also added a number of dual credit courses with Conestoga and Lambton Colleges and there's been a lot of interest from students wanting to jump into those courses.