The end of the school year doesn't necessarily mean the end of studies for many area high school students.

Summer school registration with Foothills School Division opened April 10 with a wide variety of course offerings for students.

Foothills School Division summer school principal Sarah Clark says they've found students are using summer school to upgrade marks for post-secondary studies or to free up time for an elective in the next school year.

"We've actually surveyed our students in the past and what we're finding is that students are taking summer school as a third semester in their high school plan," she says. "They're doing it mostly to get ahead."

Clark says they've seen enrolment grow from about 260 students five years ago to over 400 last year.

She credits the growth to the non-traditional approach to summer school classes, which seems to be appealing to students.

"We are noticing the increase in registration, partly due to the fact that it is a non-traditional school environment, and students are responding quite positively to it," Clark says. "But also we are noticing that students like the idea of having flexibility over their own time table in their own high school career."

Courses normally include an online content component as well as classroom instruction time and group work with access to small group tutorials.

"It is quite varied," Clark says. "We find that it really supports our students who are taking a high school course in a short period of time. It is a four week program and it's quite condensed, so those extra layers of support are absolutely required for student success."

She says students have achieved a 96 per cent success rate through the division's summer school program. But due to the condensed nature of summer school courses, it's important that students come prepared to work hard.

"They need to know that it isn't easy, but we will support them through it," Clark says. "It's a little bit like the Amazing Race sometimes in summer school. The month flies by quite quickly but the sense of completion and success at the end is worth the perseverance that our students put in."

More information can be found on the FSD summer school website at summerschool.fsd38.ab.ca. Registration for summer school closes June 26.

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