Summer program gives students a boost | Lexington Dispatch

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Julia Hudgins, Education and Religion reporter summarizes, "The Lexington City school system started conducting a two-week-long academic session Monday called Boost Academy."

Teacher Dwayne Tate goes over math concepts to high school students attending a Boost Academy session at Lexington Senior High School on Tuesday. Julia Hudgins/The Dispatch

Boost Academy allows students who may have performed poorly on their EOGs and EOCs to attend smaller sessions with teachers, going over the specific areas in the content with which they may have struggled. At the end of the two weeks, the students will have a second opportunity to take the tests and improve their scores.

The city school system has a Boost Academy targeted for students in elementary, middle and high school. The one for elementary students is at Pickett, and there are programs in the middle and high schools as well. Bus transportation is provided for these sessions.

“The objective of Boost Academy is based upon the philosophy that not all students learn at the same rate,” said superintendent Rick Kriesky of Lexington City Schools. “And for some students it might just take an extra week or two to master these critical objectives.”

This is the second year that the system has had this program in place. Boost Academy was originally approved by the state in April of last school year, and system administrators rushed to make sure that the academy was ready for the students during the summer.

This year, administrators were able to better inform parents and students about Boost Academy and how it could help anyone who may be on the cusp of a better academic standing. As a result of this, each school is seeing higher amounts of students attending Boost Academy sessions.

Students who attend the Boost Academy are there voluntarily, and attendance is not enforced by the school. It is simply open for any student who believes he or she needs a bit of guidance and help before retaking the EOCs or EOGs.

So far, the high school Boost Academy has had around 16 students attend the sessions pertaining to math and around seven for the English classes. Principal Monique Curry stated that this was not uncommon for the beginning of the academy and remains hopeful about future attendance.
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Source: Lexington Dispatch