Summer school serves English Language Learner students for Carson City School District students

The Carson City School District hosted a summer school program that was available for more than 400 English Language Learner students.

The program was for kindergarten through third grade students and available at every elementary school site for their own students. It focused on reading and language arts in order to give students, who are working at acquiring language in addition to meeting grade level standards, extra time to develop and master grade level content.

“The goal was to help English Language Learners avoid the “summer slide” so that they will return to school in August ready to learn new academic standards, while retaining what was learned the previous school year,” said Assistant Superintendent Susan Keema.

There were 38 Teachers of English as a Second Language who taught the summer school courses. In order for these teachers to be qualified to teach ESL, they must complete 12 college credit hours and receive training in how to teach the National Geographic Reach Curriculum and on the 15 WIDA Essential Elements, which outlines the best instructional strategies for teaching English Language Learners. The National Geographic Reach curriculum is used in the summer school and is designed specifically for students who are working at acquiring English. The program focuses on reading, phonics and writing with a computer component where students are able to work on improving their comprehension and fluency skills.

The program was funded by a $400,000 Read by Grade Three Grant the district received from the Nevada State Department of Education. The Read by Grade Three legislation requires all students are reading on grade level by third grade, and the summer school program is important to help students achieve this goal.

For more information on the Carson City Summer School program, contact Cheryl Richette at 775-450-2925.