Great Falls Public Schools officials gave the summer school report to the school board during their Oct. 9 meeting.

At the elementary school level, Jackie Mainwaring said that of those who registered, 76 percent attended one of the camps.

Mainwaring is one of the district’s executive directors for student achievement.

She said elementary summer school had been cut with past budget cuts but with a grant and federal COVID relief dollars, they were able to bring it back this year.

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Once that funding runs out, Mainwaring said they’ll have to find an alternate funding source to continue elementary summer camps.

This year, the district used $186,627.42 in COVID relief funds for elementary summer school.

Before it was eliminated with budget cuts, it typically cost about $165,000 annually, according to Lance Boyd, an executive director for student achievement.

Of the camps, some were specific to math. There were five elementary and two middle school math camps.

Those were specific to increasing student confidence and achievement in math.

Teachers also received training during those camps.

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Of the elementary and middle school students who attended a math camp, they showed more growth from the fall of 2022 to the start of this school year in six out of eight grades than students who didn’t attend.

For K-8, there were 107 students who regularly attended their summer camps and 47 had less individual learning loss over the summer than the previous year.

Mainwaring said in surveys, their attitudes toward math also improved.

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Heather Hoyer, an executive director for student achievement, said that at the high school level, student attended for credit recovery or to advance.

She said that 186 students participated, earning 366 half credits, up 88 half credits from last summer.

Hoyer that that typically, summer school was on a single site and families had to pay a fee, with a sliding scale for students on free and reduced lunch program, prior to COVID.

This year, the district used $31,904.89 of COVID relief funds for high school summer school, Boyd said.

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Hoyer said they’ve been using the federal relief and grant funds to offset the cost to students as much as possible in recent year.

When those funds run out, Hoyer said students and families will return to the historic practice of paying a fee to recover credits during the summer.

This year, GFPS held summer school at all three high schools.

She said that district officials did 79 home visits, made hundreds of phone calls, mailed postcards and letters, among other avenues to help students who had left the district return to school.

They’ve also started Saturday school at the middle and high schools and night school at the high schools, Hoyer told the board.

Boyd said the district extended the school year for special education programs. He said the 183 students were offered services, up from last year, and 106 students attended 90 percent or more of the 20-day program in June.