Editorial: In today's summer school, learning can advance in multitude of ways

Summer school, as The New York Times described it 60 years ago, had a universally bad rap:

"To most teenagers it meant giving up vacation for about six weeks to repeat a subject they had flunked. It was sort of a summer Siberia to which they were banished."

Some of us remember those days, sweating it out in non-air-conditioned high schools for what seemed like days on end. It was like a form of penance.

Notably with the addition of weighted grades and advanced placement courses in the intervening decades, however, summer school emerged just as much as a way to get ahead as a way to catch up.

And with a school year in which students on the whole missed out on the sort of structure and consistency school normally affords them, summer school could be the linchpin to getting many students back on track.

The other side of the coin, however, is that it's been a tremendously stressful school year - both for students and their parents. Fatigue has set in. As has a need to simply get away after more than a year of being cooped up.

The Daily Herald surveyed parents on Facebook about the choices they would make to provide some enrichment for their children over the summer.

Many respondents said kids need to step away from their computer screens and depressurize - in person with friends and family members. And they yearned for family vacations after so much time at home.

Others said the pandemic and the advent of remote learning were tough on their kids, robbing them not only of the socialization one needs to grow but also the rigors of maintaining a full class schedule.

Some are cut out for learning through a computer screen. Others are decidedly not.

Craig and Melissa Peters of West Chicago told our Madhu Krishnamurthy their two teen daughters need to take a break from schooling for the summer and enjoy getting back into life with their friends.

Crystal Lake parent Amy Rath told Krishnamurthy one of her children has fallen behind and needs the summer to catch up.

"I wanted some place that is going to reinforce basic math and reading skills," she said. "I'm grateful to have the option. If we took the summer off, I'd have serious concerns."

Indeed, suburban parents have a plethora of options at hand, whether it be summer school, academic boot camps, enrichment programs, traveling sports or park district activities.

So if you've opted not to take that summer vacation, but not take the step of sending the kids to summer school, odds are good there are plenty of ways for them to catch up - both with their friends and with learning.