Summer Learning in the Eyes of an Assistant Principal: Reflections on the READy Scholars program at Kernersville Elementary School, Winston-Salem, NC
By Jonathan Hegedus
Assistant Principal at Kernersville Elementary School
READy Scholars Program Manager for BELL (Building Educated Leaders for Life)
Before becoming Assistant Principal at Kernersville Elementary School, I taught for 10 years, including a few years years teaching fifth graders here in Winston-Salem. I became interested in leading a school, and applied to the Piedmont Triad Leadership Academy at UNC – Greensboro. The program, funded by a Race to the Top grant, placed me in a school for a year training to become a school administrator. In 2013, I began to serve Assistant Principal at my school.
On Preparations for Summer Learning
Winson-Salem/ Forsyth County Schools selected Kernersville Elementary School as one of several school sites that would host summer learning programs this past summer. I learned about how the school district was partnering with BELL to improve the quality and outcomes of summer learning opportunities for students, and I saw an opportunity to lead the effort at my school.
Leading the READy Scholars program was also an opportunity for my school. A many of my fellow school leaders can relate, sometimes the thought of “external” programs operating in your school can get in the way of things – we’re trying to get the school cleaned, to make repairs, and so on. For my principal, having me in charge during the summer would help all summer programming – we also hosted two other summer programs – run smoothly.
Now, planning for a great summer learning program really has to start in January – and that’s a big part of the value of partnering with BELL. The leadership team at Kernersville Elementary is focused on our primary task at hand: delivering an amazing school year. BELL focuses on its main goal: planning and executing an amazing summer learning experience. The nonprofit develops training, hires teaching assistants and enrichment teachers from the school community, organizes curricula and educational supplies, manages assessment activities – all key to a great summer program, but challenging for my colleagues to carve out the time that goes into such diligent planning and preparation.
In May, I increased the time and energy I directed to summer preparations. I participated in training activities with program leaders from eleven other schools in Winston-Salem who would also be hosting the READy Scholars program or the BELL Summer program for middle school students. We learned about the program’s core values – quality, respect, empowerment, sacrifice, courage – and set high expectations of ourselves, our staff, scholars, and parents.
On the READy Scholars curriculum
It’s important to keep in mind that the READy Scholars program is a summer learning program – it’s not “more of the same” school, and it’s not what some may view as punitive summer school. It’s a specially designed program that is part rigorous classroom-based learning and part summer camp.
The READY Scholars program included breakfast & community time, three and one-half hours of literacy activities, lunch and recess, and enrichment activities. Each day, scholars participated in ninety minutes of classroom instruction, an hour of small-group activities, and an hour of independent and/or blended learning.
The customized reading curricula that BELL provides – which is produced by Scholastic and which is aligned to Common Core standards – includes great books and workbooks, a pacing guide, and lesson resources that make it easy for teachers to target instruction on Day 1. We were even able to send books home with scholars – not just workbooks, but nonfiction and fiction books that are matched up with the general interests of third (such as animals) and fourth graders (sports, etc). My staff appreciated that the curriculum included a broad range of content, and they could put it to use however it made the most sense for them and for scholars.
My team also had flexibility when it came to planning and executing enrichment activities every day after lunch. We were able to select topics that would be fun and engageing for scholars, and to hire enrichment teachers and supplies. We could leverage existing relationships and partnerships within the community to deliver music, yoga, drama, and sports activities that kids really loved.
I can’t emphasize this enough: one thing people don’t realize about summer learning is that it can be fun and engaging and effective all at the same time. The program model engaged scholars at their level, organized activities that interested them, and really brought out the best in them as learners and leaders. READy scholars ended the summer wanting to learn more, to do well in school, and to continue succeeding.
