The following article was selected from the Internet Edition of the Chicago Tribune. To visit the site, point your browser to http://chicagotribune.com/. ----------- Chicago Tribune Article Forwarding---------------- Article forwarded by: Cayata Dixon Return e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Article URL: http://chicagotribune.com/news/metro/chicago/article/0,2669,ART-52409,FF.html ---Forwarded article---------------- School's out � and back in By Ray Quintanilla<BR> and Michael Martinez As the Chicago Public Schools marked the end of another academic year Tuesday, the festive atmosphere that accompanies thoughts of summer break has given way to a sobering reality: Summer school begins June 19, just seven days later. "I'm going to the beach, to work and then to summer school," 16-year-old Crane High School senior Karel Hammonds lamented as she waited for a bus on the last day of classes. "I'm going to miss my friends but not my teachers." As many as 41,754 pupils in the 3rd, 6th and 8th grades can be accommodated in this year's ambitious summer school program, officials said—a big increase over the 25,072 who attended last year. But the program could have handled even more were it not for several last-minute changes, school officials said Tuesday. In February, schools chief Paul Vallas said this year's summer school would be expanded to include all 3rd, 6th, 8th and 9th graders whose test scores this spring were not at national averages. That initiative marked a major expansion of official policy, which requires summer school only for 3rd, 6th and 8th graders who do not meet promotions standards—about a year or more below national averages. There are 29,054 of those pupils this year. The board, however, decided to wait a year before enlarging summer school to include 9th graders, 14,377 of whom did not meet the national averages on reading this year. They also budgeted only 12,700 summer seats for 3rd, 6th and 8th graders who did not meet national averages—8,060 fewer than would be needed to serve all of them, officials said. The system then made summer school voluntary for the new group of 3rd, 6th and 8th graders, said Blondean Davis, chief of schools and regions. If Vallas' plan had been followed, as many as 22,437 more seats would have been needed this summer—and as many as 64,191 children could have been in summer school. Outside Moos Elementary, some parents and guardians said this year was among the best ever, considering the school is one of the most crowded on the Northwest Side. "The school handled it pretty good," said Omar Marcha, pausing for a moment while picking up his sister Marlen, a 6th grader who won't have to attend summer school this year. "The important thing was Marlen learned." Still, he added, this is her last year at Moos, in the 1700 block of North California Avenue. A slot opened in their neighborhood school, Hanson Park Elementary, and Marlen plans to enroll there. "I'll meet a whole new group of friends," she said, smiling. Tribune reporter John-John Williams IV contributed to this report. ---------------------------------------------------- This is the CPS Mathematics Teacher Discussion List. To unsubscribe, send a message to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For more information: <http://home.sprintmail.com/~mikelach/subscribe.html>. To search the archives: <http://www.mail-archive.com/science%40lists.csi.cps.k12.il.us/>
