MACON, Ga. — Over the last year, schools have been concerned about students falling behind while taking classes at home.
That concern has led Bibb County Schools to come up with a summer plan to make sure their students are right where they need to be.
"It's been really difficult since the pandemic began," said Tera Edwards.
Edwards has fifth and seventh graders enrolled in the school district. The biggest struggle she faced as a parent while her children were learning online was trying to teach them math the way it's taught in school.
"They missed being in the classroom, they missed seeing their friends, and certainly the quality of instruction here at home was much different than the fine teachers we have in our Bibb County School District," she said.
Douglas Stewart is a teacher at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School.
Stewart says he noticed a lot from parents and students while learning online, and feels that even though many students are back face-to-face, he can still see that some are falling behind.
"Because of the adjustment, some of the trauma they may have experienced with loss of family members due to COVID and also being isolated, not being able to mingle with their friends," said Stewart.
At Thursday's board meeting, Bibb County Schools announced that they will hold a summer school program to address learning loss that students have dealt with due to the pandemic.
Floyd Jolley, the district's executive director of teaching and learning, says this will be a four-week-long program and that they will be inviting students who need the most help.
"We're really hoping that we're going to make this program exciting. It's going to be way different from any other summer program we've held in the past because we're going to try to have an enrichment component with it, so those students will have a chance to participate in STEM activities and fine arts activities," he said.
Stewart says allowing students and teachers to work face-to-face this summer is important.
"I think this will be an essential way to start fresh in a way...and make up for the time that we lost," he said.
Jolley says that the district is currently identifying students who need this summer program the most -- they are students in the bottom 25th percentile of reading and math. He says they will notify those students in April.
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