‘I’m glad I got this opportunity to make up my wrongs.’ Summer school offers a second chance for Camden students to catch up

Many of them had a rough year, skipping school and falling behind their peers in classes.

After racking up 70 absences and arriving late 30 times, Joel Suazo-Cruz, 17, accepted his summer school fate. He said he primarily missed school because he overslept after staying up late. He said he failed science, English, and math.

”I need a better work ethic,” he said, adding that graduating from high school is “probably the most important thing I do in my life.”

In Camden, its credit recovery program offers a second chance for students to make up work in four core classes and get back on track for the 2022-23 school year with an abbreviated summer schedule. Younger students are attending enrichment programs. Suazo-Cruz is making up three classes to stay on schedule as a senior at Big Picture Learning Academy.

”This just gives them a chance to be able to get caught up,” said Kandace Butler, who runs an alternative program at Eastside High School in Camden known as SOAR, or Students on Academic Rise.

Faced with the possibility of being held back, students say they are highly motivated. They credit a more relaxed environment, too, and classes that run about an hour. The program also has tough discipline: no more than three absences. Middle-school students can also make up classes in order to get promoted.

“I just think it suits me. It’s better for me than regular school,” said Trinity Gray, 16, a rising sophomore at Camden High School who is taking three courses. “I know I need this to get to my next grade.”

This year, nearly 1,000 students enrolled in summer school, which began July 5 at four sites across the city and ends Thursday.

Under state takeover since 2013, the Camden district, with about 5,800 students in its traditional public schools, has struggled to improve its four-year graduation rate. The pandemic disrupted learning in 2020-21, when the rate dropped 11.4 percentage points to 58.5%, the lowest in the region. The state average is 91%.

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Butler said there are various reasons why some students fall behind academically, including difficult home situations and personal challenges. Some students suffered learning losses when schools were closed during the pandemic. Camden schools were among the last in the region to fully reopen.

During a science class last week, veteran teacher Tracy Freeman covered biology, chemistry, and physics lessons with about two dozen students scattered around her lab at Camden High. They used 3-D microscopes to examine insects eaten by ”Lizzy,” a lizard. Another day they learned how to measure liquids and solids and how to use a graphic calculator.

”I’m pulling a lot of hat tricks to keep them interested,” said Freeman.

She said some of her students failed classes during the school year after being tardy because they had to ready younger siblings for school. Freeman said others who spent two years learning remotely had difficulty transitioning to in-person.

”I blame COVID,” Freeman said. “Hopefully, we’re getting past that.”

According to the district, 271 students are taking credit recovery classes at Camden High and Eastside High, including almost two dozen seniors from the 2021-22 school year who need a few credits to get their diploma. Summer school was also open to students from the city’s charter and Renaissance schools.

Mahaaj Jones, 17, a senior at the Camden Big Picture Learning Academy, said he was not surprised when he received a notice that he had failed three classes. He had to pick up his siblings after school and then head to a part-time job to help support the family.

”I don’t think about school when I leave school,” Jones said. “I am thinking about life.”

Jones, who hopes to attend trade school and become a carpenter, said he is back on track. He wants to be a role model for his siblings, especially his 6-month-old brother, Muzik.

”I have to pave the way for them,” said Jones. “I feel like I’m going to be great.“

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Across the hall in Tiffany Smith’s math class, students were studying algebra and geometry. After reviewing formulas on a screen, she walked around the room to give personal attention.

Graciela Martinez, 14, a rising sophomore at Charles Brimm Medical Arts High School, said she “slacked off” during the last school year, and she failed algebra.

”I put in less effort, and now I’m here,” she said.

Martinez, who is also making up a health class, said she was learning a lot and was happy “to have a fresh start.” She said she plans to be more focused in the fall.

”I’m glad I got this opportunity to make up my wrongs,” Martinez said.

Gray, an aspiring fashion designer, said she learned important lessons, too, about not succumbing to peer pressure. She said her freshman year “was just crazy.”

”I know what I have to do in order to accomplish my goals. I have to be focused,” she said.

In another wing of the sprawling campus, incoming freshmen at Brimm were getting help with the transition from eighth grade from teacher Greg Gasparovic. They were given a QR code with symptoms to diagnose a disease or disorder.

”I’m learning a lot of new stuff,” said Katelyn Garcia, 14. “It will just give me a good head start with school.”