ISSH Summer School 2016 draws a young crowd
110 kindergarten and junior school students attend
When ISSH opened its annual Summer School on June 13, the school campus welcomed many young kids. Just one summer ago, the ISSH summer school had a total enrolment of 90 kindergarteners and junior schoolers, but this summer, 110 kindergarten and junior school students registered, a 22 percent increase.
From kindergarten to high school, a total of 149 students enrolled in this year’s summer school; 110 were kindergarteners and junior schoolers. “I see a trend,” said Mr. Nicholson, the Summer School Co-ordinator, “which is that the younger grades are fuller than they were last year.”
Advertising this year’s summer school to kindergarteners and junior schoolers was a success. According to the two Summer School Co-ordinators, Mr. Nicholson and Ms. Spentzos, many families from nearby daycare centers chose to enrol their children in ISSH’s summer school because they had heard from other families that the program allows kids to have fun and enjoy many different activities. Additionally, this year’s summer school had a bigger online presence than last year, which successfully increased the registration of the younger students.
“On the application, we asked how they had heard about the school, and not one person mentioned any of the print advertisements that we had done,” said Ms. Spentzos. “Instead, about 15 to 20 applicants told us that the families had seen [our summer school] online.”
Many kindergarten and junior school students from other schools and countries joined ISSH for this summer. Approximately 40 percent of the students attending summer school were non-Sacred Heart students, and in that percentage, 43 kindergarteners were from other schools or countries. For junior schoolers, 13 were not from ISSH.
“It’s a positive sign,” Mr. Nicholson said. “I think it’s like a building phase; we’re building our reputation, we’re building our numbers. Younger students will tend to come back, and over the course of the next three to five years, the overall numbers will grow.”
Ms. Eden Daz, who has taught kindergarten in ISSH for three years, said that summer school is a great place for kindergarteners to socialize. “We allow them to engage in many social activities.”
Some activities that were popular within the kindergarteners and junior schoolers included playing with figures of sea creatures and splashing each other in the pools.
“I think summer school is really fun,” said Kiana from grade four. “I might come back next year.”