ST. ALBERT - St. Albert students are hitting the books in droves this summer, with area summer school programs reporting record attendance.
About 2,300 high school students headed back to the classroom July 4 for the start of summer school in St. Albert. Greater St. Albert Catholic’s summer school is being held online and in person at St. Albert Catholic High. St. Albert Public’s school is hosted this year at Bellerose. Another 260 Grade 1 to 8 students have enroled in the Super Cool Summer School at W.D. Cuts, which offers various non-credit educational activities from July 3 to 14.
St. Albert Public summer school co-principal Lori Olson-Johns said some 1,085 students have enroled in her summer school this month.
“That’s the most we’ve ever had,” she said, and more students than Bellerose had during the 2022-23 school year.
GSACRD spokesperson Shanlyn Cunningham said a record 1,217 students enrolled in GSACRD’s Grade 9 to 12 summer school program this year, up 27 per cent from last summer.
GSACRD assistant superintendent Cathy Giesbrecht said summer school attendance has been on the rise for the last six years, with this year’s spike being particularly pronounced. Many students sign up to lighten their course-loads or free up time for option classes during the school year. Others enrol to improve their grades for post-secondary programs.
This year’s summer schools offered the usual array of core high-school courses, such as math, chemistry, and Career and Life Management (CALM).
New to the St. Albert Public summer school this year was a series of Career and Lifestyle Camps which aimed to offer students unique “pop-up” experiences such as first-aid training, cycling, and outdoor pizza making, said off-campus co-ordinator Bill Turnham. Due to a lack of enrolment, just one of those camps actually happened — an online driver’s training program held July 8 in partnership with the Alberta Motor Association. Turner said he hoped to offer more camps next summer.
Incoming Bellerose Grade 11 students Cali Rolheiser and Jordyn Pariseau said they were taking Biology 20 at Bellerose this summer to make space in their schedules for other science courses.
“There’s a lot of kids going into high school this year,” Rolheiser said, when asked why she thought there were so many students enroled in summer school this year, adding some might have signed up to hang out with their friends.
Blake Jewers, who will be attending Grade 10 at Paul Kane this fall, said he is taking CALM this month at Bellerose so he will have more time for phys-ed this fall. Many of his friends had signed up for summer school as well, either to help them get jobs or out of boredom.
“It’s definitely harder, as they’re cramming all the work in at one time,” Jewers said of the summer school classes, but he enjoys the resulting challenge.
Summer school courses typically last either a half or a full day, allowing students to fit a whole semester’s worth of work into one month. Rolheiser said she finds this compressed schedule easier, as it boils down classes to just the essentials.
Parise said anyone who wants to lighten their fall schedules should try summer school.
“The day’s don’t go that long,” Rolheiser noted, and you still have four hours of afternoon after class to use as you like.
Summer school courses run until late July, with diploma exams for 30-level courses following in early August. Call Bellerose Composite at 780-460-8490 or St. Albert Catholic High at 780-459-7781 for details.
