Balto. Co. summer school goes in new directions

Summer school is changing its image.

Come July in Baltimore County, what used to be considered a horrible fate will start looking more like day camp for elementary school youngsters.

With a full day of enrichment courses such as creative writing, art and computer technology, elementary summer school also will give working parents another -- and a reasonably priced -- option.

And that will make the county's summer programs the most ambitious in the Baltimore area.

The programs include elementary enrichment courses, original credit high school classes and the more traditional remedial subjects. And for the first time, county school buses will run in July and August, taking elementary, middle and high school students from their home schools to summer school centers.

Other metropolitan counties offer some enrichment courses for elementary youngsters and original credit courses for older students. But none operates a full-day program and none provides transportation.

It's beginning to look a little like year-round school, said Morris C. Hoffman, a supervisor in the alternative programs office who is in charge of summer school programs. But, there's one important exception: This program is voluntary.

Elementary school students also must pay tuition -- $150 for a half-day session and $300 for the full-day, including transportation for 24 school days, beginning July 5. Budget cuts forced the school system to set tuition higher than planned, but the full-day program still represents a substantial savings over child care or camp costs, Mr. Hoffman said.

Day care costs vary, depending on location and type, but most camps charge more than $100 a week.

When parents were told of the budget constraints, they preferred boosting tuition to cutting programs, Mr. Hoffman said. "They love the idea of what we're trying to do."

The county plan emerged from a committee of 30 parents, teachers and administrators who incorporated the board's goals, student needs and Superintendent Stuart Berger's interest in early enrichment.

Besides remedial courses, elementary students can choose from foreign languages, computer technology, creative writing, art, music, physical education and math challenges. The morning session runs from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and the afternoon session runs from 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m., with two classes in each session.

The middle school program will remain largely remedial, but the high school summer school program will expand its original credit courses. For the first time, high school students will be able to lighten their school-year load by taking required courses during the summer.

Last summer about 4,000 students, including more than 1,260 elementary youngsters, attended county summer school programs. Mr. Hoffman said students would be admitted on a first-come, first-served basis, and classes could be added if enough students were interested.

Middle school tuition is $150 a session and high school fees are $100 a credit for review courses and $200 for original credit. Tuition is doubled for noncounty residents.

All students whose family income qualifies them for free lunch during the year can take summer courses without paying. Students who qualify for reduced-price lunch will pay partial tuition.

Elementary and middle schools will serve lunch in their cafeterias, but that is not included in tuition. Elementary centers also will have a nurse, librarian and special education resource center.

Parents must get children to their home schools, where buses will pick them up for the eight elementary, five middle school and five high school centers. The elementary buses will not operate at midday, so if children are not in the daylong program, they must get home on their own. The eight elementary centers are: Relay, Cedarmere, Cromwell Valley, Lutherville, Middlesex, Pine Grove, Sandalwood and Sandy Plains.

Each of the school system's five areas will have one high school and one middle school program.