Federal money in the latest COVID stimulus bill is allowing Blue Ridge Schools the opportunity to host summer school and bring students that need extra attention in line with where they should be after a great deal of lost instruction time in the last 12-plus months.

Superintendent Dr. Hilary Stanifer indicates they are working on which students they will target, which content areas they will focus on, and getting dates set up. She also points out they will use the recently issued funding from the COVID stimulus package to fund this program.

Like many districts, Blue Ridge schools are seeing mixed results from students in remote learning. Dr. Stanifer explains for students struggling, the struggles are in students having to keep themselves accountable.

The State Board of Education is requiring every student to have the opportunity to attend summer school, however, Dr. Stanifer emphasizes this is not going to be an opportunity for students to leap ahead, it will simply focus on reinforcing or solidifying those essential lessons for each grade level.

Blue Ridge schools last month went from four days of in-person to five days. Dr. Stanifer notes while in the second semester, they have not seen a desire of remote learners to return to in-person learning at the level of the first semester. She points out they made some exceptions to allow students back to in-person learning despite the policy they put in place before the start of the year.

Dr. Stanifer is planning for a multi-year summer program but believes things could change in the next year or two as students perhaps make bigger gains during a full year of in-person instruction.

She also adds they are adding a transportation component to their summer school because she believes that would make it more accessible to their families.