Clark County schools to offer new summer school ‘acceleration’ option

A new summer school option with five full days of free instruction each week will be offered to all Clark County School District students this June.

A survey sent to teachers Thursday to gauge their availability and interest to teach over the summer revealed details about the new program, known as Summer Acceleration.

It will offer six-hour instructional days, five days a week from June 1 to 30 at all district schools, according to the message to teachers, which also said that summer opportunities would be provided for free.

“Students are the center of our work and student achievement is the ultimate goal of the district; therefore, summer opportunities will be provided at no cost for our students to accelerate their learning, support their social-emotional well-being, and promote their engagement with peers and adult educators,” the survey said.

It was not immediately clear what formats — virtual, in person or both — the program would be offered in or when registration would begin.

A district representative told the Review-Journal more details would be shared soon.

The email to educators asked them to indicate their availability to work through all or a portion of June for the program. It offered their contracted hourly pay rate to do so, rather than the often lower standard rate for summer school — $22 an hour — outlined in the district’s contract with its teachers union.

Teachers were asked to complete the surveys by April 22.

The new program will be offered in addition to the district’s traditional summer programs: the Extended School Year program for students with disabilities, and two sessions of Secondary Summer School for high school students. More information about the hiring process for those programs is forthcoming, according to the survey.

Both traditional summer options were offered virtually in 2020, with secondary summer school credit recovery offered at a reduced per-credit cost.

Some parents of CCSD students have called for expanded summer school options this year to help students catch up on learning lost during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Superintendent Jesus Jara has said he hoped to announce both plans for summer school and for the next school year in April or May.

The district also has not yet announced its instructional plans for the next year, but officials have said they expect to continue to offer a distance learning option and hope to offer full-time in-person instruction as long as public health measures permit it.

Contact Aleksandra Appleton at 702-383-0218 or aappleton@reviewjournal.com. Follow @aleksappleton on Twitter.