‘This is our biggest school’

The Port Washington-Saukville School District’s summer school program, long a leader in providing academic and enrichment courses over the break, was retooled this year and is as popular as ever, the School Board was told Monday.

This summer’s program, which ran over three, eight-day sessions in June and July, had an enrollment of 1,155 students in first through 12th grades, an increase of 18 students over last summer.

“This is our biggest school,” Supt. Michael McMahon said. “It’s 1,155 students. That’s bigger than our high school.”

By comparison, Port Washington High School has an enrollment of 784 students this school year. Thomas Jefferson Middle School’s enrollment is 655.

In addition to illustrating the popularity of the program, summer enrollment is important to the district’s bottom line.

The 1,155 students who took summer courses equal the equivalent of 81 full-time students for the purpose of determining the district’s state levy limit — a number that is particularly important for a school system that, like many throughout the state, is experiencing a continuing decline in students.

The district has been able to maintain the popularity of summer school while remaining true to its mission of providing both academic and enrichment courses with a renewed focus on providing support for children who struggle in the areas of reading and math.

Last year, it rolled out Jump Start classes for students who need additional support  in literacy and math to comply with Act 20, the state law that requires districts to provide summer instruction for students who don’t meet certain academic standards. Because of the district’s long-running summer program, it was able to comply with that requirement seamlessly, McMahon noted. 

“We were able to do this with ease, and a year earlier than we had to,” he said. “I would say we have built a really strong summer program.”

As an incentive for students to take those academic courses, the district gives them the opportunity to enroll early for enrichment classes, many of which fill up quickly.

Those classes are intended to keep students engaged in learning over the summer, teach them life skills and expose them to lessons they don’t receive during the school year. They range from longtime favorites such as fishing, Whimsical Painted Furniture and Kitchen Kapers to new offerings that this year included Budding Botanists, Creative Constructors, Korean Culture and Language, scrapbooking and an advanced sign language class. McMahon noted his son learned how to play the harmonica in summer school this year.

“We know that summer slide is real,” he said “If kids haven’t picked up a book or engaged in any sort of learning over the summer, we see the impact of that when they return to school.”

Summer school, which for students in first through eighth grades is taught at the middle school in Port Washington, which is home to the District Aquatic Center, has also offered free swimming lessons for decades.

“Talk about an essential life skill,” McMahon said. 

Zachary Moeller, the district’s community and summer school coordinator, told the board that changes made to this year’s program only improved it. 

“It was a big year of change for us,” he said. 

Previously, summer classes for the district’s youngest students were taught at Lincoln Elementary School, but because of construction there this summer, all classes for students in first through eighth grade were taught at the nearby middle school.

“We were jam packed,” Moeller said. “We used every single classroom at TJ.

“The centralized model was a huge success. It really simplified operations being at one school.”

One of the biggest fears — that young students who previously attended Lincoln Elementary School would be lost at the much larger middle school — was unfounded, he said, thanks in part to so-called Blue Shirts, middle school students who served as guides for younger children.

“We could not be more proud of those little ones and the ability they showed within one or two days to figure out their schedules and their willingness to ask one of our Blue Shirts, administrators or teachers for help,” Moeller said. “This is definitely not something we’re worried about going forward.”

School Board member Stephanie Trigsted agreed.

“My kids both attended summer school. This was actually the first year my son was old enough and the building did not intimidate him,” she said. “The classes are incredible. Students have so much fun learning.”

The centralized location also streamlined bus transportation because a shuttle was not required to take students from Lincoln Elementary School to the middle school, where they used to have to transfer to other buses.

McMahon noted that the Port Washington-Saukville School District is one of only a few in the state that provide summer school bus transportation, something it believes is important to ensure children from Saukville have access to the program.

Also this year, summer school switched from two, 12-day sessions to three, eight-day sessions, a move that gave students more course options, kept them more engaged in their classes and streamlined staffing, Moeller said. 

“Historically, most of the behavioral concerns were in that third week of the session,” he said. “Bringing sessions down from 12 to eight days, we had fewer requests to change classes and had fewer behavioral issues. Overall, I think our student engagement was higher and they enjoyed what they got out of those eight days rather than thinking about having to go to a class for another four days when they were ready to try something new.”

In terms of staffing summer school, the change, along with a new incentive, made a world of difference, Moeller said. 

Teachers were more willing to commit to an eight-day session than they were one that spanned 12 days, and this year the district offered an attendance bonus of $100 to teachers who taught all the days they committed to, which Moeller credited for cutting the number of substitute teachers needed this year by half.

“This was one of the easiest summer school years to staff in recent memory,” he said. “Having a different schedule, having that attendance bonus, was absolutely huge, and a lot of teachers took advantage of it.”

The district will continue with the three-session schedule next year and tentatively plans to again hold all classes for first through eighth-grades at the middle school, Moeller said. 

“I really appreciate these new things and the flexibility they’ve given staff and families and kids,” School Board President Sara McCutcheon said. “It’s like, ‘Why didn’t we do this before?’ It makes perfect sense.”

Next year, the first session of summer school will run from June 14 through June 24. There will be a full week off from June 28 to July 1 ahead of the July 4 holiday weekend before the second session, which will run from July 5 through July 15, and the final session from July 19 through July 29.