Fort Worth ISD hopes summer school helps students get back on track after virtual learning

Fort Worth ISD’s "Summer Launch" plan hopes to get thousands of students back on track after learning losses due to virtual classes.

FORT WORTH, Texas - Fort Worth ISD’s "Summer Launch" plan hopes to get thousands of students back on track after learning losses due to virtual classes.

The district says an unprecedented number of students will be in the classroom for the next month to get beyond the pandemic slide.

"We want to make sure it’s engaging. It has to be both academic but also experiential," said FWISD Superintendent Kent Scribner.

There are students on 50 campuses across the district this summer.

"I’m thinking about learning more about math and reading, to be a lot more smarter. And it’s great meeting some new friends," said Alexander Padilla, fourth grader.

15,000 students are signed up—three times more than summer 2019.

"Our focus is not remediation, it’s not catch-up. Our focus is on acceleration, teaching to the standard very, very purposefully," Scribner said.

Community programs and corporate partners will help manage the unprecedented number of learners on more than just weekdays.

"Across the district at regional sites we have 14 Saturday school days. So will have an additional 14 days of school with academics in the morning and enrichment in the afternoon," Scribner said.

A mobile STEM lab will travel each of the 50 campus sites that were selected based on steepest decline and hardship. Even Wi-Fi connectivity is considered.

"We are rolling out Wi-Fi towers in for specific communities, Stop Six, Eastern Hills, Rosemont and Morningside. Those are communities we’ve seen a great deal of learning loss as a result of the pandemic," Scribner said.

STAAR results showed steep declines statewide in math proficiency and a smaller but troubling drop in reading development. As for a measuring stick on student progress in Fort Worth, they’ll look at data and dialogue along the way.

"So that we don’t just put a plan in place and say, hope it works. We actually make adjustments as time goes on," said Jerry Moore, Chief Academic Instructor.