Summer School Planning: 5 EdOptions Academy Implementation Models

With only a few short months of the school year left (time flies when you're having fun, right?), it's important to start thinking about which summer programs your students may need. Summer school is a great opportunity for students to make up any missing credits, but it can also be a chance to take specialized courses or get a head start on prerequisites for postsecondary programs.

Edmentum's EdOptions Academy offers award-winning middle school and high school virtual courses for schools and districts looking to provide students with a convenient, affordable, engaging, and fun summer school experience. Our flexible approach to education allows learners to study when, where, and at what pace they want. 

So, where do you begin when evaluating your options for a summer school program? Here are five different models to consider:

Credit Recovery – School-Based

School-based credit recovery is the most common summer school model, and it allows schools to provide the greatest level of guidance and oversight to students. In this format, students are enrolled in EdOptions virtual courses but are still required to spend time in a supervised lab completing them. Generally, the expectation is that students will work in the lab between three to seven hours a day, as well as put in additional time at home. Schools will choose to run these programs for anywhere from two to six weeks, and students are expected to finish all of their coursework within the set timeframe. If students complete their course(s) early, they no longer need to attend the lab time.

Credit Recovery – Independent

This summer school model is generally used by districts who do not plan on hosting a summer program on-site but want to be able to monitor progress and have control over the courses students are enrolled in. Students are given a start date and an end date to complete all of their summer courses. Generally, the timeframe for this kind of model is the beginning of summer to the day before school begins.

Credit Advancement – Independent

This summer school model allows students to take original credit courses they need for graduation or to enter a special program (an IB® school, engineering program, etc.). This can be a great option for students who are encountering scheduling difficulties with mandatory courses during the school year or ones who simply want to get ahead to be better prepared for postsecondary opportunities. The timeframe for this summer school model is typically similar to that for the independent credit recovery model described above, but the deadline for completing courses may be earlier than the day before school begins because students generally need these courses as prerequisites for regular school-year courses.

Credit Recovery or Credit Advancement—Parent Pay

This model allows parents to pay for summer courses instead of the school or district. Students are enrolled as EdOptions Academy students and follow the guidelines for EdOptions’ nine-week-long courses, which are very similar to the independent summer school format. The differences are that the school does not have access to the courses to view student progress and EdOptions Academy will send a transcript to the school for the official grade to be entered as transfer credit.

Extended School Year

This summer school model allows students who need more time to complete school-year courses to stay on track with their cohort for graduation in the four-year timeframe. Some of these students may need to work on completing multiple courses simultaneously. Students will start working on courses they already began as soon as the summer starts, and they typically are required to finish by August to be ready to take the next set of courses they need to complete for the school year.

Interested in learning more about how Edmentum’s EdOptions Academy can help your school or district keep your students engaged in learning throughout the summer? Check out our course catalog, and get started today!