With summer right around the corner, students prepare for a break free of schoolwork and stress. However, for some, that is not quite the case. 

   “I have taken summer school at the beginning of my sophomore and junior year, and I will take it at the beginning of my senior year,” junior Sophia Kettelkamp said. 

   Summer school at NHS provides students with the opportunity to retake or get a head start on some credits before their next year. 

   “It also helps open up schedules for students wanting to participate in additional coursework to get ahead of their academics and open up their schedules to take more career or college focused classes during the school year,” Sophomore Counselor Jenny Myler said.  

   Kettelkamp agrees that taking summer school can provide many benefits. 

   “I did not have to take PE for a whole year, which is not my thing, and learned how to drive a car,” Kettlekamp said.

     “I also took it to take as many classes as I can, to get those ‘useless’ classes that you need to graduate out of the way, so then I can take and enjoy the classes I want to take,” Kettelkamp said.

       Although summer school seems to offer a wide variety of positives, there are still many students who decide not to join.

   “I think students don’t take summer school either because they don’t need to, vacations, school activities, or sports sometimes interfere with the timing,” said Myler. “Summer school isn’t required but it’s still a nice option for students that either want to stay active in their academics during the summer or it helps for students to recover credits they need for graduation.”

   Kettelkamp also adds that it’s worth the effort. 

   “You get a semester credit for a class for only taking it for 4 weeks which is not a bad deal at all.” 

   Alexander agrees saying how the opportunity to take a class in a shorter amount of time and leave more room in his schedule to do more electives that he enjoys is the way to go.

    Unfortunately, due to the spread of the Covid-19 and to protect the health of the students the district has decided summer school in June will be virtual. You will automatically be put in the virtual class you registered.

   However, even with classes online, summer school still offers up to 20 classes with some of the favorites being drivers ed, health, personal finance, and PE, since each of these are semester courses. 

  Although there is a shift in how summer school is normally operated, it still provides the benefits of getting a head start in high school.

   With Myler, Kettelkamp, and Alexander all recommending summer school, checking it out might be worthwhile.     

Link to the Nixa High School website for details about summer school.