Summer School for Sunnyvale Students (2010)

Sunnyvale School District was again able to offer students summer school opportunities at Columbia Middle School and Bishop Elementary School. 

In partnership with Silicon Valley Education Foundation,we offered Step Up to Algebra (SUTA) program to four classes of pre-algebra for7^th and 8^th grade students.  SSD provided facilities and augmented teacher salaries while SVEF paid basic salary, professional training and curriculum for four classrooms. 

In addition to teaching math, SUTA program helped students make connections between math and real-life work (engineering and other high-tech fields).  Students also went on a college tour.  This year, they went to visit Stanford University.  Students and their parents attended a college information presentation which further encouraged students to plan for a college education after high school graduation. 

SUTA focused on algebra in order to better prepare students for careers in high-tech fields.  Studies showed that the greatest predictor of college success is student becoming proficient in Algebra II.  For students to enroll in Algebra II in high school, they need to have passed Algebra I by 8^thgrade.  The SUTA program helped prepare students for Algebra I in 8^th Grade and Algebra II in high school.

Sunnyvale School District also collaborated with Stanford Teacher Education Program (STEP) where Stanford University provided student teachers to serve as teacher's assistants and teacher training for the credentialed teachers in the classrooms. This afforded the opportunity for very low teacher-student ratio and teachers to assess and meet learning needs of individual students.   

About 200 students entering Grades 1-5 attended Sunnyvale School District's Extended Learning Program at Bishop Elementary School.  Among other goals, students would develop confidence inthemselves as learners, and improve writing and problem-solving skills.  The curriculum helped prepare students to meet district and state standards. With the help of STEP teacher's assistants, students receive ample individual attention as they learned and practiced their newly acquired skills in language arts and math.

Among the 81% summer school students who completed a survey at the end of the summer session, 95% gave positive feedback of their experience. Over 38% wrote that summer school was fun and 24% provided positive comments about their teachers and teachers' assistants. About 4% reported the summer school was boring or they did not like the experience.