ANTIOCH, Tenn. - It's summer vacation, but for the last three weeks 90 students have continued to attend J.E. Moss Elementary. Each of the students speak English as their first language. Tests earlier this year showed their proficiency was in the developmental stages.
“Students speaking Burmese, Spanish , Arabic,” site coordinator Kayleigh Wettstein said. “Over the summer they don't have the opportunity to speak or read in the English language which is what we're teaching in school.”
English learners have been the fastest growing population in Metro Schools. For the first time the district has been targeting those students and giving them extra help over the summer. J.E. Moss was one of a handful of South Nashville schools hosting the first summer school for English learners.
“There's a huge summer slide where our students finish the year, they're on track (and) they're doing great,” Wettstein said. “Then they come back eight weeks later and they've lost a lot of the reading growth they've made the year before.”
This school day was supposed to feel more like camp. That's why they have been bringing in partners from the Nashville Public Library to specifically focus on helping students expand their vocabulary and improve their reading and writing skills.
“All of the action songs are teaching the kids a lot of vocabulary and also the music is helping them with the sounds,” Pat Bashir said.
The goal has been to make sure their summer vacation does not become another barrier to their progress.
“We're really excited so far it seems like the growth has been fantastic in just a couple of weeks," Wettstein said.
More than 200 students have been involved in the English Learners summer school. Food and transportation have been provided.
