School students are always excited about summer fun and playing outside.  But after returning from COVID-19 separation where their learning suffered, many are excited about staying in their classrooms for summer school.

According to Melanie Miller, a Supervisor of Elementary Content for Erie's Public Schools, student academic performance has almost returned to pre-pandemic levels and that's something they hope to build on with this year's summer school plan.  "It's been tremendous having our children back in the classroom.  They really respond really, really well when they're in front of their teachers and they have an opportunity to collaborate with their peers and have that face to face live instruction." Miller said.

The summer school plan called for 6-weeks of live instruction from June 20 to July 29 at all 10 Erie elementary schools.

The day which will run from 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. includes breakfast and lunch and according to another Supervisor of Elementary Content, Holly Northrup, will focus on those important basics: Reading and Math.  "Each day when the kids come in they'll have breakfast, they're going to work through one hour of reading they're going to work through an hour of math -- a lot of that is going to be center based, it's going to be playing games, and practicing and working on those skills that they're going to need for next year."

They'll keep class size to 15 students per teacher to optimize progress.  "With that small number we're really able to provide some academic support and move children academically, which is exciting," Miller said.

The school district sent home a flyer with a QR code. Parents can just click on that and it takes them to the Erie's Public Schools website to sign up for the summer school program.  You can click here to connect to the site. Already more than 800 kids are signed up for summer school in grades K-5.  The deadline to apply is this Friday, May 13.

There will be incentives for family fun around the community for students who sign up and attend.  The district doesn't want students to miss any more than three classes at most.

The last week of summer school for elementary students will be all about enrichment.  "So that entire week we'll be doing field trips every single day and one day will be a showcase event where all of the different things that the kids created during summer school will be displayed, their parents are welcome to come and see what they're kids have been doing and have a picnic lunch."

Summer school for middle school students will be more focused, aiming to help students who are falling behind in their academics with credit recovery.