Summer school in Ripon Unified was held last June.

During that time, 261 students completed the four-week program, consisting of five different academic programs, enrichment programs, and enrichment weekly assemblies, according to Nate Baroni.

He’s the principal at Ripona Elementary School. Baroni along with Ripon High Vice Principal Victor Ramirez provided overviews of the program at Monday’s RUSD board meeting.

“The assemblies were very popular with both students and staff,” Baroni said.

The elementary programs included Spanish Language, which was transferrable to his first-year Ripona Language Academy – otherwise known as Dual Language Immersion, a pathway for students to ultimately earn their State Seal of Biliteracy upon graduating high school.

“We have a waiting list,” said Baroni on his Language Academy.

The summer school for the younger students was held at Ripon Elementary School. The programs also featured Title I & Title III Summer Academy, and the Extended School Year.

“Parents had a choice of half-day academic programs for language and math or full-day programs adding enrichment and STEAM (Science Technology Engineering Art Math),” Baroni said.

A school psychologist was available on-site.

Ripon High hosted summer school for the older students.

For 29 current freshmen, the “Step Up to High School” gave them a jump on the new school year.

Ramirez said that these students were recommended to the program by their elementary school principal as eighth graders.

“Students improved their writing skills tremendously,” he added. “Many students were not able to cite evidence to support an answer when class started.

“By the end of the program, they were able to use evidence effectively to support their answers when responding to a question.”

These same students, in addition, worked on their organizational and study skills while learning useful note-taking strategies.

The other high school programs were English I, II, III; U.S. History; and Credit Recovery / Gradpoint.

Ramirez pointed out that students found the summer programs beneficial with smaller class settings. “They were able to focus on one thing at a time – that makes a huge impact on students,” he said.