St. Francis French Immersion Vice-Principal Franca Spadafora and Kindergarten to Grade 6 Catholic Curriculum Co-Ordinator Rachel Beidermann answer questions about the Summer Learning and Summer Reach program after their presentation at Wednesday’s Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board meeting.

Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board trustees learned about the success of a couple of summer programs this past week. The Summer Learning and Summer Reach initiatives attracted several students during a brief three week period. Rachel Biedermann is the Catholic Curriculum Co-ordinator for Kindergarten to Grade 6. She talks about the encouraging news regarding the success rates of First Nation, Metis and Inuit students…

Most of those students had also achieved success in the Reading Recovery program, achieving Level 3 in Reading and the maximum Level 4 in Writing. It was also announced that 70 percent of Kindergarten students in Summer Learning had been successful in distinguishing upper and lower case letters and differentiating words from letters. The success rate for Grade 1 and 2 Literacy was more than 60 percent when it came to sustain and improving reading skills. The same level was achieved for numercy. St. Francis Vice-Principal Franca Spadafora worked with the Summer Reach program, which allows participants to acquire more hands-on or experiential learning that allows them to think independently…

Spadafora adds that when students made a mistake, they would go back over what they had learned and correct it. Reaction from students has been very positive — with 82 percent of survey participants saying they would take part again. Summer Learning Co-ordinator Rachel Biedermann is hopeful Summer Learning will expand to involve Grades 3 to 5 students and that both initiatives can be extended by another week or two next year.