It's summertime, and for hundreds of city students that means it's time to get a head start on school.
More than a thousand St. Albert-area students celebrated the end of school this week by hopping right into summer school courses. It's part of an ongoing trend by today's students to speed up their high-school careers.
"The new term is fast-tracking," says Randy Kozak, principal of the Paul Kane summer school.
Today's students want to take options, second languages and advance-placement courses and can't fit them all into their regular schedules, he explains. While there are still some that enrol for remedial lessons, most summer school students now enrol to get ahead.
Incoming Grade 10 student Henry Bordian was enrolled in the Camp HeLa class, for example – an option that combines Career and Life Management (CALM), phys-ed, and a weeklong adventure camp in Rocky Mountain House.
"It's so much faster," he says of the course – instead of taking phys-ed and CALM over one semester, he wraps up both in a week.
"I'm going to be done a tenth of high school in 10 days."
More than just study hall
About 700 students are enrolled in Paul Kane's program alone, with another 590 signed up for the one offered by Greater St. Albert Catholic Regional District (GSACRD). Bellerose and the Sturgeon School Division are also running summer schools this year.
Junior high and elementary students can enrol in the Super Cool Summer School at Richard S. Fowler, which offers kids a chance to make skateboards and cook snacks in addition to learning about math and science.
Catholic district summer school principal David Feist says his enrolment grew about 10 per cent this year, and he suspects it will keep growing for a few more years yet.
"The competitive averages have really gone up for post-secondary," he says, when asked about the popularity of summer school, and many students are re-taking courses to boost their grades. Others take remedial classes over the summer to keep up with their peers in school.
Students take classes for either a full or a half-day at Paul Kane, Kozak says. With Camp HeLa, students spend one week doing CALM in the morning and phys-ed in the afternoon, followed by another week at Rocky Mountain House climbing, hiking and canoeing.
These courses are very compressed, lasting just 80 hours compared to the typical 125.
"One day is like one week," Kozak notes, so it's critical that students don't miss a class.
"Summer school isn't for the reluctant learner. You need to put in your time."
The all-day format lets teachers do special activities they wouldn't usually get to do in a typical schedule block, Kozak says. Phys-ed students will do field trips to play golf, for example, while CALM students will walk to the local Safeway to learn about the cost of groceries.
Many students actually do better in summer school since they're not "distracted" by other courses, says physics teacher Dave Regimbald.
"Most of them are really gung-ho and trying to get ahead, and they're a pleasure to teach."
Summer school classes are often much smaller than regular term ones. Regimbald had just six students in his, giving him plenty of chances to coach each one-on-one.
One of those students, Grade 11 student Michelle Koekemoer, says she signed up for summer school this year so she could take advanced placement and second language courses in the fall.
"Knowledge is power, and if you know things and go through life, you're able to take part in more things and help more people."
The fast pace and single-subject focus also help by cutting out distractions and chances to doze off, she continues.
Summer school wraps up at the end of July, with diploma exams held in early August.
