For most students, starting high school means new responsibilities: remembering the combination to a locker, getting themselves to and from school and tackling more advanced classes.
This year, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District is hoping to ease the transition to high school with a three-day summer bridge program. The program, which will run from Aug. 10 to 13, will help incoming 9th graders adjust to new routines, build study habits and get to know their future teachers and classmates.
Families have until July 21 to register their students. The program will run each day from 9 a.m. to noon, and lunch will be served daily.
Students will attend workshops that will teach them how to navigate public transportation and introduce them to math and English lessons. They will also hear from teachers, guidance counselors and student leaders about the unique classes, clubs and athletics offered at their school.
“You would be surprised how many students do not know how to open up a locker when they’re coming to high school,” Cleveland schools CEO Warren Morgan said at a recent board meeting. “It seems small, but it’s really important they get that strong start.”
In the past, CMSD has held summer bridge programs at some schools, but this is the first time the district is hosting the sessions across every district high school. That’s partly because CMSD hopes the program will help to boost attendance, a big goal of the district.
“I’m also thinking about other positive impacts that could happen from the summer bridge program,” Midori Lebrón, a CMSD school board member, said at a recent meeting. “Like, hopefully, a decrease in chronic absenteeism because [students] are going to create a sense of stickiness to their high school.”
The program is only for rising 9th graders and will be offered at every CMSD high school except the Remote High School and Natividad Pagan International Newcomers Academy, which is a K-12 school.
