STARKVILLE — As the first district in the Golden Triangle in recent years to adopt a modified calendar, Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District is learning and adjusting as the school year progresses.
Under the district’s modified calendar, students began school July 26 and will end the year June 1. There are two intersession periods around fall and spring breaks, respectively, in which students can attend additional days of school outside of regular instruction for accelerated learning for students needing reenforcement or enrichment opportunities for students wanting more classroom time.
SOCSD is already preparing for the second and final intersession of the year, which spans the week of March 20-24.
“Accelerated students are identified at each school based on data markers from their benchmarks assessments,” SOCSD intersession coordinator Lexi Taylor said. “… School administrators and teachers work together to identify students who would most benefit from our accelerated learning opportunities. For enrichment camps, we work with our staff and community partners to determine which age groups the camps and activities would best serve.”
During the eight-day fall intersession, Taylor said 600 students attended across those days, of which 20 to 25 percent attended enrichment opportunities. Of the students invited for accelerated learning, 65 percent attended.
In order to get accelerated learning attendance up during the spring intersession, Taylor said the district has reached out to businesses and stakeholders to incentivize student attendance.
“We are reaching out to community partners to provide incentives for students to commit to attending five days of intersession this spring,” Taylor said. “Incentives might include sports tickets, haircuts, manicures, give-away items or gift certificates.”
Efforts to reach out to families include communicating through district channels about attendance during intersession to improve grades and teachers reaching out to individual parents to talk directly about their students’ needs.
Along with accelerated learning, intersessions include enrichment camps to show students a different side of education than the standard English, math, science and social studies. During the spring semester, there will be enrichment opportunities such as gardening, veterinary science, coding, meteorology and sports. There will also be a new option for pre-kindergarten students.
“Based on survey results, we have added a pre-k camp,” Taylor said. “This spring, we are offering several full-day enrichment opportunities, and we are also centering our half-day experiences in the morning hours. … Many of the camps created with our community partners were a big hit during fall intersession. This spring, we want to continue working with our partners to enhance our enrichment learning opportunities.”
The pre-k enrichment camp includes learning activities and crafts based around a book each day.
In adding a pre-k enrichment camp and creating more full-day activities, Taylor said more teachers will be needed for the spring intersession than the roughly 70 who worked in the fall along with some assistants and contract personnel, though she did not give an exact number.
Enrichment camp registration opens Feb. 8 online, and some camps do cost money. Taylor said a student can be eligible for a fee waiver based on their free and reduced lunch status. Enrollment can be done at starkvillesd.com/jacketthrive/enrichment-camps.
Acceleration will be half-days, and enrichment camps will be offered as both half- and full-days.
The district is hosting a “Second Cup of Coffee” event 8:30 a.m. Friday at Sudduth Elementary Auditorium for parents and guardians of kindergarten through fifth grade students to ask questions and hear about spring intersession opportunities.
“We hope to share with parents how we have responded to their feedback from fall intersession,” Taylor said.
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