Summer school programs can play an essential role in supporting students academically—and the needs are especially great for many special education students.
EdWeek recently visited a summer program at Bell Graham in St. Charles, Illinois to get a window how teachers try to support students with disabilities.
The program is available to students who have Individualized Education Programs. It offers support in the form of speech and language services, occupational therapy, and social services.
The program is funded by tuition paid by member districts for services—and as such they are reliant on federal funding for special education.
One of the core goals—as with summer academic programs everywhere—is to try to ensure that students don’t regress from the academic progress they made during the traditional school year.
“There is a gap when you’re a student with a learning disability,” one educators featured in the video explains. “This is a way to help close that gap.”
Video filmed by Dominic Di Palermo, and edited by Shweta Gulati.
