Press Release: BOE Extended School Year Program Helps Academic Skills

The Westfield Public School District's Extended School Year Program is coming to a close.  The five-week program, mandated by law, was designed for targeted students with special needs.  It focused on maintaining and strengthening students' academic skills to prepare them for the new school year. 

According to Business Administrator Robert Berman, "The in-district program continues to save us hundreds of thousands of dollars, since we would otherwise be required to find out-of-district facilities for these students."

This summer the program enrolled 95 students.  Ten classrooms were utilized at Franklin Elementary School for children in pre-school through fifth grades.  Westfield High School was the location for two classes of students in grades six through twelve. 

"Students were selected to the program based on a regression recoupment model," stated Andrea Lo, Supervisor of Special Services PreK-12 for the Westfield Public Schools.  She explained that without the program, the targeted students would have difficulty recovering what they learned in the 2009-2010 school year within a reasonable time. 

"If we can stop the regression, they are in such a better place in September," noted Lo.  "During the summer, we can help these children maintain and even strengthen their skills to the point where teachers often notice the students' academic growth when they return in the fall."

"I am also pleased to see growth from one summer to the next, which is wonderful." added Lo.

The program, which is in its eighth year in Westfield, ran Monday through Friday from 9 AM to 1 PM, with specialists available in Speech, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, as well as a Teacher of the Deaf, special education teachers, and paraprofessionals.