CHARLOTTE, N.C. — To combat the learning loss students may have suffered during this challenging school year, school districts across North Carolina are offering educational summer camps to get students caught back up.
Monday was the first day of camp for students in Union, Gaston, and Mecklenburg counties.
Union County Public Schools' superintendent Andrew Houlihan said in a typical summer they’d only offer a 3rd grade reading camp, but for the first time ever an educational camp is being offered to K-12. He said he believes this was necessary.
"This is day one of our summer school camp, and I’ll say keyword camp," Houlihan said. "This is not the traditional summer school setting.”
Houlihan said this camp would not just focus on math science and reading but give kids experiences outside of the classroom.
"Trying to get out of the school and doing things in the community like playing sports, running, science experiments, a lot of fun things," Houlihan said.
Houlihan said he hopes providing a fun experience for the almost 4000 Union County kids who signed up for the camp will help catch them up from the learning loss many students experienced over the pandemic.
"We ran our numbers at the end of the first semester, we had a pretty good amount comparatively speaking," Houlihan said. "Specifically in our middle schools, about 30% had failed at least one or more grade.”
Houlihan said they’re still running end-of-year numbers to determine the true amount of learning loss.
"We probably have more children that need to have this opportunity than actually signed up for," Houlihan said.
Houlihan said the district will work to make sure they’re on track too.
"We’ll be working with families throughout the summer whether you’re here or whether you’re not, and into the fall to try to catch kids up from where they are," Houlihan said.
The camp is optional, and superintendent Houlihan said he hopes students will continue to show up so they’re ready for the next school year.
In Mecklenburg County, parents dropping their kids off at the Barringer Academic Center said they were excited about this opportunity.
"After a long time they're going to do this kind of face-to-face meeting with the kids and teachers, definitely it’s going to be very good,” one CMS parent said.
The CMS camps hope to combat learning loss and help those at risk of falling behind in classes too, focusing on catching students up in reading, math, science, social studies, and providing physical activities.
Some parents said they signed their children up because education wasn't all they missed out on.
"They were not able to socialize properly, they were missing their friends," one CMS parent said.
Tia Boyd, another parent, said for some students a year of social distancing meant a year of no peers.
"It’ll be fun for them to get around kids their age,” Boyd said.
Boyd said it’ll also give kids something productive to do over the summer.
"It’ll get the kids away from the tv and the video games, it’ll definitely keep them engaged and be around their peers rather than being home all the time,” Boyd said.
Over 2000 teachers were needed to accommodate the students, and CMS said they have offered teachers bonuses on top of their salaries to come back for the summer.
Wake Up Charlotte To Go is a daily news and weather podcast you can listen to so you can start your day with the team at Wake Up Charlotte.
SUBSCRIBE: Apple Podcasts || Spotify || Stitcher || TuneIn || Google Podcasts
All of WCNC Charlotte's podcasts are free and available for both streaming and download. You can listen now on Android, iPhone, Amazon, and other internet-connected devices. Join us from North Carolina, South Carolina, or on the go anywhere.