SMYRNA, Tenn. (WTVF) — Around the area, thousands of third graders who didn't expect to be in summer school are in summer school.
Many were required to go because of the new third grade retention law. The tough law requires that third grade students pass the TCAP reading exam to be promoted to fourth grade.
Students from three Smyrna elementary schools are spending June at John Coleman Elementary School. At 10 schools, Rutherford County Schools offers free summer learning camps for rising 1st through 8th graders. At John Coleman, there are 330 kids attending summer school. 102 were in third grade this past school year.
Across the district, there are significantly more teachers staffed for third grade. At John Coleman, there are 10 teachers in those classrooms. That's compared to just 2 for fourth grade.
In most classrooms, there are between nine and 12 students. Smaller class sizes give students lots of one-on-one time with their summer school teachers.
Dr. Alexandria Wilson is the site director, which is essentially the summer school principal. During the year, she is an ELA instructional coach.
Teachers recognize there was a lot of pressure on third graders at the end of the year, and they're trying to make summer school a welcoming place.
"So if a kid comes in grumpy and not wanting to be here, we're going to smile at that kid, we're going to give that kid some fun and engaging activities to do. We're going to love on that kid, we're going to show that kid that school is not really a bad place," said Wilson.
Around 1,000 third graders are enrolled in summer school in Rutherford County.
Most other summer schools also started Monday and go through the last week of the month.
Across the state, 60% of all Tennessee third graders failed the TCAP reading exam. Nearly half of those kids had to go to summer school because they didn't have the option to appeal or just be tutored next year.
