A committee of teachers, students and parents led by Verona High School Assistant Principal David Galbierczyk met regularly this past semester to investigate modifications to summer assignments. The administration was responding to feedback from parents regarding the quality and quantity of summer work. Some felt the summer workload was unnecessarily burdensome for students in honors and Advanced Placement classes; others were concerned that, last summer, students who were not enrolled in honors or AP classes had no assigned summer work at all. Members of the committee cited studies showing that math skills, for instance, can slip quickly during the summer months.
The result is that “on-level’ students have both math and English assignments to complete this summer, while AP and honors students will have a slightly scaled-back workload. In addition, assignments, which now have to be approved by the administration, are to focus on “enduring questions” rather than rote lists that might be considered “busy work.”
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The assignments haven’t changed for honors & AP. . .the students who challenge themselves the most during the school year are inundated over the summer as well. It is an imposition on the whole family. It takes away from experiential learning. . .these high achieving kids are going to read, volunteer, travel, compose college essays and work summer jobs. . .curling up with Mrs. Dalloway isn’t going make or break them. Give them free time to read a book or two of their own choosing or explore a class or hobby they might not have time for during the rigorous academic year. “Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.”~Ovid