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Friday, March 29, 2024
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District Kicks Off Summer Series for Students

From its annual enrichment programs to the first-ever “Kinder Camp,” the St. Thomas-St. John District kicked off a series of initiatives Monday meant to boost student achievement during the summer months. The “Kinder Camp” officially kicked off on St. Thomas Monday, and is part of the district’s ongoing kindergarten initiative, which is meant to prepare students for success in the classroom.
“Over several years, the data has shown that when children enter kindergarten, there are areas, such as language, in which they are performing at a developmentally lower level,” Monroe-Phillips explained. “With this program we are doing things a little differently, and using a project-based learning approach that makes sure each child continues to be actively engaged investigating things that have meaning to them in the real world. Their sessions are hands on, guided by adults, and are designed to really make them school ready and prepared for success.”
The approximately 75 students participating this year will be broken up into groups of 15. Each group will be supervised by two teachers in sessions that will be held over the next five weeks at Lockhart Elementary School.
On Monday, the District also kicked off another summer of Junior University – another successful five-week program that targets young males in the seventh grade who are at that critical “transition point” between middle and high school. Junior University classes are conducted at the University of the Virgin Islands and hosted by the organization “Brothers with Cause,” a similar all-male program designed by UVI President Dr. David Hall in an effort to give participating students the tools and guidance needed in order to graduate.
Junior University focuses on helping its students to succeed in the eighth grade and beyond, and provides counseling and mentoring services, motivational sessions, lessons in life management and workshops in skill development.
Students in the first-through-eighth grades looking for a boost in reading in math were also given the opportunity to participate in the District’s annual Summer Enrichment Program, which also kicked off Monday and will run until the end of July. Like the “Kinder Camp,” students will be learning, and sharing what they’ve learned, through creative exhibits, hands-on demonstrations and interactive presentations. Summer enrichment sessions are being held at Ulla F. Muller, Lockhart and E. Benjamin Oliver elementary schools, along with the Julius Sprauve School on St. John and both the Bertha C. Boschulte Middle and Addelita Cancryn Junior High schools on St. Thomas.

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