Dear OPRF Students and Families,
Last evening the Board of Education approved the 2019 Summer School calendar and budget. There are two significant changes from recent years, so we want to make sure you are aware of them as soon as possible.
Full-session classes only
Summer school classes will be held Monday through Thursday, June 10-July 18 (with a possible grading/make-up day on July 19 if needed) and no classes on Thursday, July 4. We will offer only 23-day classes; there will not be any 12-day classes. We originally began offering shorter sessions to accommodate the summer construction schedule a few years ago. While the shorter sessions proved to be popular, we have found that full-session courses provide better quality instruction and therefore are in the best interest of students.
The daily class schedule will be as follows:
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Period 1: 8:00 – 10:30 a.m., one semester credit
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Period 2: 10:40 a.m. – 1:10 p.m., one semester credit
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Period 3: 1:20 – 3:50 p.m., one semester credit
Programs such as Driver Ed, the summer musical, and 8/9 Connections will continue to schedule activities outside the times allocated for the regular summer school schedule.
Course fee changes
The rate for summer school courses has remained the same since 2013. This year, the fee per course will increase to $250 per class, up from $210 per class, with some courses having additional lab fees as in the past. Even with this increase, when compared to other districts in the area, Oak Park and River Forest High School will still have one of lowest costs per summer school class.
Additionally, we have received guidance from the Illinois State Board that it is best practice to support students who qualify for free and reduced lunch during the school year in similar ways during our summer programming. As a result, consistent with the recommendation from our program evaluation to help make summer school more accessible to all of our students, we will waive all summer school fees for all students who qualify for free and reduced lunch.
More details about summer school will be available in the coming weeks. The catalog of course offerings will be available and posted on our website in early February, with registration taking place online in early March. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact either one of us.
Sincerely,
Jason Lee (jlee@oprfhs.org) & Jonathan Weintraub (jweintraub@oprfhs.org)
Summer School Coordinators