Approximately 128 students from three Santa Maria Joint Union High School District schools are attending Migrant Summer School to recover credits for graduation and to meet four-year university requirements.
The specialized program is earmarked for students who have relocated within the last three years because of family ties to employment within the agricultural and fishing industries. The federally funded classes began June 11 and will wrap up on July 9.
Peter Haws, director of migrant education programs, said the summer session is a great opportunity for students.
“The students often face difficult circumstances because they attend schools where the curriculum is different,” Haws said in a district press release. “Some classes are not offered where they move [from], and this really can make it tough for them to graduate on time.”
Around a dozen staff members are teaching morning and early afternoon sessions for ninth- through 12th-graders at the old Lincoln Prep Academy next to Santa Maria High School.
Students are attending a range of seven classes, which include biology, earth science, modern world history, English, English prep, and algebra. The program also includes a newly adopted English language development course designed to help students who don’t speak English at home.
This article appears in Jul 3-10, 2014.