Summer School CANCELLED!!

[disneychrista]

For the past few years my DD's have attended summer school the first six weeks of summer. Well today an article in the local paper confirmed my fears, no summer school this year (well excpet for migrant ed).

With this I am in a pickle. I simply can not afford summer child care for the entire summer. Day Camp will cost $2500 or so and even the cheap alternative is close to $1000. I can not afford it. But I have to work. I am not sure what I am going to do.

 

[mamajoan]

Sorry to hear that you will have no summer school! Down here they have made cut backs to the program. I know at the H.S. they still expect over 1700 kids for the Summer program. That is approx 65% of the total enrollment. They had cut back the Jr. Hi program to only take kids who had FAILED classes. The same goes with the Elementary program.

You may want to check with your local H.S. or Jr. College, many have students looking for summer work. Also Jr. Colleges have
some programs with theather and science, some have 'scholarships' and help with fees.

Hope you find something that will suit them!
Best of luck!

 

[DNSDisney]

You might also check with a YMCA or YWCA if you have one near. They usually have really reasonable summer camps some that are like 9-5.
Also if you have a local county recreation dept. they may also have cheap summer camps. ours does.

 

[AlreadyexcitedGrammy]

I was wondering if the school would be getting response/reaction and just maybe they will have some resources for you to check out. (and if they don't they should have...) I would think that you are not the only one who is a panic.

Our church has a week or two of fun daycamps might check out churchs as source and just ask, ask, ask for other source references for you to contact - your children are important and hooray for you that you are at least trying to face this now and make arrangements.

Keep us informed.

 

[Mskanga]

Our schools don't have a summer program , never did at least for the 8 years that I have been here.
If they had anything , the parents pay for it , last year DD went for a week to the Physical Education program and it cost me $50 for 3 hours a day. I'm lucky though that I work on weekends and dh works during the week.

 

[Talking Hands]

Welcome to the real world. Summer school was never meant for childcare. With the budget crunch in many areas school districts are dropping summer school and getting out of what at least at the elementary level was free daycare.
If summer school is available it is only for those who fail, or chidlren in special ed. Around here even the chidlren of teachers cannot go to summer school unless they fit the criteria. We end up with a lot of middle and high school volunteers over the summer since they come with their teacher parents and do their service hours by volunteering in the classrooms.

 

[whtyger97]

have you checked out girl scout day camps/over night camps, they aren't too expensive, a great organization and experience.

 

[sha_lyn]

Welcome to the real world. Summer school was never meant for childcare.

Amen to that. I feel sorry for any child that is forced into summer school just because their parents don't want to pay for childcare.

 

[dandave]

The only kind of summer school that I have ever heard of was for students who had failed classes and had to repeat them.
Is the summer school you all are talking about actually like regular school in a classroom setting?

 

[TeensMom]

I've never heard of summer school as day care. Around here it is just for kids who have failed a class.

I used to piece together various camps, many have already been mentioned - YMCA, parks & rec, sports camps. When all else failed, I paid a neighbor.

 

[Talking Hands]

Up to a few years ago just about any child could attend summer school here. Many families used it as free daycare instead of finding local programs, camps and activities.
This summer only high students who need a class for graduation will be allowed to attend.

 

[becka]

Originally posted by sha_lyn
Amen to that. I feel sorry for any child that is forced into summer school just because their parents don't want to pay for childcare.

Well in some areas (like mine) summer school is not forced (well unless the kids fail). Don't assume that every summer school program is the same.

Here the summer school programs are enrichment programs where the kids take "classes" in areas of their interest. Cooking, bugs, geology, weather, etc. There is no homework and the kids do lots of hands-on activities and go on little field trips. Some of the classes require small fees but others don't cost anything. You shouldn't feel too bad for these kids "forced" into summer school. Because of budget problems they are cutting out a few weeks of the summer school program here but they are still having it. I do feel for the parents who now are scrambling to arrange for childcare that they did not anticipate needing it.

 

[disneychrista]

So is it better for those children who were at summer school to stay home all alone for 9 - 10 hours a day? Because this is the alternative many will be (are) left with.

 

[christinou]

Summer school has been cancelled her also, and I feel really bad for the kids who needed it. Summer school was always for students who were weak, and needed, more help to pass to the next grade, I guess now they will automatically fell.
I also agree that Summer School should not be used as daycare.

 

[minniecarousel]

As another Northern Californian, I can attest that our school district had the BEST summer programs! ('course mine are college students now! - so I'm not sure what it evolved into) There was the rocket-building & other science classes. Mine would hear about it and ask to go, but we already had swimming lessons, vacation & other organized sports going on. Since I work in a HS, I know that they have had to cut back to just "repeat" classes. It used to be used as a way for the advanced kids to get requiremnets out of the way - but no more.

We are going through a huge budget crunch here in California (as I imagine other states are) and school districts are just realizing that they can't afford to have summer classes.

DC - I'm sure you'll find something through parks & rec or the "Y". Or see if you can post a baby-sitting job at your near-by HS - conduct job interviews with students to find one to watch your kids at your home. It may not be as expensice as you think. Good luck.

 

[disneychrista]

Originally posted by dandave

Is the summer school you all are talking about actually like regular school in a classroom setting?

Yes regular summer school, in a class room, teaching reading, spelling, math etc. Classes were open to all, but priority was given to those who were falling behind.

And to those opposed, don't forget no summer school means, many teachers are also going to be left w/o income this summer, income they were counting on, just as many parents were counting on classes. Some 800+ students attending the summer school program this means 30+ teachers, 10 - 15 caffeteria workers and other school employees are now jobless for the summer.

 

[suzannen]

The YWCA or YMCA probably will have some of the most reasonable programs money-wise. But, you could also check out the private schools. My DD's private school runs its own summer camp, open to non-attending school-year students. It is certainly not daycare, it includes programs in theatre and dance, the fine arts, athletics, and investigative science as well as the usual arts and crafts, swimming lessons (it has an outdoor pool), field games and field trips. It also offers an academic program for those students who either need it for extra tutoring or for those who want a "leg up" to try and excel the next year. It's a godsend to us and she loves it and it's not as costly as you would think and you can enroll for 2 weeks or up to 8 weeks. There may be something like that in your area also.

 

[Evil Princess]

Wow, my summer school is only for those who failed. We'd be threatened with it by our parents

Surely a camp like the Y or at a church would be for free or for a minimum fee.

Then again, I live on Long Island, home to the many daycamps that cost thousands of dollars, so I'm not the best in this area. I know that my camp took around 100 kids who couldn't afford camp and sent them for free. This might only be for families on welfare though, but you might want to check into that.

 

[gepetto]

That still has to be a huge cost savings for your school district. Are they cutting it for all students or just the ones that didn't fail a subject? I'd rather see an optional summer program cut than things during the regular school year that benefit a lot more students.

Yes regular summer school, in a class room, teaching reading, spelling, math etc. Classes were open to all, but priority was given to those who were falling behind.

This dosen't sound like a pleasant summer vacation, IMHO.

 

[vickyBaby]

Originally posted by gepetto
This dosen't sound like a pleasant summer vacation, IMHO.

Sounds like a pretty sucky summer vacation to me. These poor children are being penalized because their parents don't want to cough up the cash for summer camp.

I have wonderful memories of my summer vacations, and they did not include "forced" attendance at summer school classes.