Merced schools will offer hands-on learning over summer

The Merced City School District will offer a five-week Summer Academy that will include hands-on learning in the fields of science, technology, engineering, the arts and math.

The academy, which will run from June 12 to July 14, is available for Merced City Schools students in transitional kindergarten through seventh grade.

Summer Academy is designed to help students extend their learning through fun and enriching experiences, avoiding what school officials call the “summer slide.”

The California Department of Education says that research shows children lose knowledge when they don’t engage in educational activities over the summer. Programs also have other beneficial effects, such as helping English learners, supporting good attendance and providing a smoother transition from elementary to middle school.

In this year’s academy, each grade level will have its own theme and project. For example, younger students will learn about energy and forces through a marshmallow catapult project, and fourth-grade students will make their own instruments in lessons on sound waves.

New to the academy this year will be an online foreign-language program in which fourth- through seventh-grade students can learn a variety of languages. The program will be available on a first come, first-served basis. Online math lessons will continue to be available for sixth- and seventh- grade students.

This year’s sixth- and seventh-graders will be the first to attend lessons in the district’s new STEAM Center under construction at Ada Givens Elementary.

Summer Academy classes will be at Alicia Reyes and Ada Givens campuses for elementary students.

Families can enroll their children at the school they attend through May 12. Registration forms also are available at the district website, www.mcsd.k12.ca.us.

School staff members and administrators also will be available to answer questions.

This story was originally published January 12, 2017 at 4:21 PM with the headline "Merced schools will offer hands-on learning over summer."