After a pandemic learning year, Kansas City needs summer school more than ever before

Making up for the learning losses suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic is about to become a wild ride — likely lasting multiple summers, extending school years and even school hours.

Though Kansas Commissioner of Education Randy Watson cautions that we can’t make up all the lost ground in one summer of enhanced learning opportunities, this summer should be a return to normalcy and the beginning of an important catch-up period.

“I think that will begin in earnest this summer,” Watson said. “But I also think you’ll continue to see it in the summer of ‘22 and the summer of ‘23 — and possibly the summer of ‘24. It’s not about trying to just make up all this loss this summer. It’s about starting to reengage students and families in a really robust learning, fun environment. And teachers too.”

Just how much learning has been lost won’t be known until after the state assessments this month, the results of which will come back in mid-May. Early signs in some of the state’s 286 public school districts indicate significant losses in math, and to a lesser degree reading.

Watson also is interested in seeing the differences among learning models during the pandemic — noting, for instance, the varying approaches in Kansas City, Kansas (mostly remote), DeSoto (hybrid) and Louisburg (mostly in-person).

While trying to jump-start learning — perhaps with enhanced summer school — we need to go easy on ourselves and our kids. That means having some summer fun as usual, albeit with more of an eye toward the learning that goes on during a vacation.

“It’s going to be important for families to get back to a sense of normalcy,” Watson warned. “So, I don’t think we should say, go cancel all your summer vacation plans. But work with the schools on your plans, and on their plans, so that we can craft a summer that’s meaningful for families and for kids.

“There’s a lot of learning that can go on in Disneyworld, for example. There’s a lot of learning that can go on, you know, on a backpack trip in Colorado. I don’t think we should negate those, because a lot of those have been postponed or canceled over the last year.”

Likewise, Watson said, any expanded summer school opportunities need to be built around enrichment and social/emotional development, not necessarily just core academics: “I don’t think anyone says let’s just go put a kid on a computer this summer and drill them on math. That’s not what we’re looking to do.”

For those parents who do want to stress catching up on the basics, area tutoring companies are geared up to help. Iman Younis, center director at Kumon of Olathe and Overland Park-West, said typically the demand for tutoring services spikes in mid-summer — after families take a good long breath following the school year. But she expects the spike to be both heavier and earlier this year due to the pandemic.

The challenge is intimidating and long-term, but requires small steps forward.

“We’ve got to put together a learning environment that fosters this connection again with each other, from social/emotional loss,” Watson said, “and then make it engaging academically.”

Parents, teachers, administrators and students have always needed to be on the same page.

That’s never been more important than now.