Atlanta Public Schools is considering a plan to require students in all grade levels to attend three years of summer school classes to make up for “unfinished and lost learning,” according to Superintendent Lisa Herring.

Herring said during the Feb. 1 Atlanta Board of Education meeting the APS Academic Recovery and School Based Intervention Plan would be a multi-year plan to address learning loss during  the COVID-19 pandemic.

Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Lisa Herring.

Herring said the Summer Academic Recovery Academy would focus on literacy and math for 15,000 elementary students, 5,000 middle school students, and 8,000 high school students. Classes would be offered in-person or virtually at home.

“This would be a full five-day schedule over several weeks,” Herring said. “In addition, there would be social, emotional, behavioral and wellness support, as well as transportation.”

Herring said an extended school year for students with disabilities is also under consideration along with additional school-based learning during the academic year to address literacy, math, and to conduct comprehensive assessments of each student’s education.

APS students have begun a phased return to in-person learning with kindergarten through second-graders returning to the classrooms on Jan. 25 and the rest of the grades returning Feb. 8 through Feb. 16.

Collin Kelley has been the editor of Atlanta Intown for two decades and has been a journalist and freelance writer for 35 years. He’s also an award-winning poet and novelist.