Penn Hills School District’s summer program, designed to help students recover from learning loss during the pandemic and mingle with successful alumni, has begun.

About 500 students in K-12 registered for the opportunity to improve their skills both in-person and online through the district’s cyber academy.

“It was like the first day of school,” Superintendent Nancy Hines said Monday afternoon. “Everybody trying to get organized and get a routine established.”

Grades six through 12 are at the high school while the other grades are at the elementary school.

It is open the last two weeks of June and two weeks in August with a break in July.

Middle and high schoolers have an opportunity to redo up to two courses and recover credits.

Elementary learners work on targeted skills and have more hands-on activities to improve their knowledge as part of the overall theme of community healing and recovery.

The three building principals had focus groups and gave out surveys as part of the preparation of the summer program.

Hines said Penn Hills is fortunate to have teachers willing to work over the summer and help students so there can be an in-person option, something that has not been available for years prior to covid.

“It’s hard to get staff to work the summer, and the Allegheny Intermediate Unit helps with cyber academy,” Hines said.

Doctors, lawyers, nurses and other professionals are expected to stop by the schools throughout the program to discuss their careers and help inspire the students.

“We’re looking for relationships to be built and maybe some mentoring or job shadowing down the road,” Hines said. “He have a lot of really successful (graduates).”

Teacher Matthew Herdman serves as the middle school coordinator for the program.

“I think it was a success,” Herdman said of day one. “This is the first time that we’ve done anything like this. We’ve had a lot of cooperation. We could not have done it without transportation, technology, administration and staff. We came together. I feel like we did a really good job for our kids.

Previous summer programs were online.

Yoga was on the opening day’s itinerary and students were able to use the cafeterias for meals, the first time since the pandemic due to covid protocols.

Seats all faced the same way and were spaced out for social distancing.

Students ate meals in their classrooms during the regular school year.

Herdman said there are various protocols in place to ensure all summer program participants are as safe as possible.

The program continues weekdays through July 2 and resumes Aug. 2-13.

The first day of the next school year is Aug. 30.

More information about district activities is available at phsd.k12.pa.us.

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