Summertime this year isn’t just for vacation.
For many students, it’s also about catching up after remote learning most of the last year. Summer school is now in session in San Francisco and students are being brought together in person for their classes.
"Because of COVID-19 it was really difficult for me to learn and to do my assignments," said 16-year-old Samantha. "Because I had to take care of my little siblings and just do stuff in the house."
Samantha signed up for San Francisco’s Summer Together program to make up for the credits from the past year before she begins her junior year at Burton Academic School in Visitacion Valley in the fall.
Summer Together is run by the San Francisco Department of Children, Youth and Their Families (DCYF) and is partnered with San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD). Sessions just started last week.
The South of Market offices of financial services company, Stripe, are serving as Samantha and her classmates’ learning area and cafeteria. San Francisco Mayor London Breed said that in addition to free classes the students are being fed too, at a recent visit to the site.
"There are cooks every day, there are snacks on every floor," said Breed.
The space has been made to feel welcoming to each student, she added. "And what some of them have said is that ‘I feel like I’m at work,’ and they’re able to decorate their stations any way they want and make it home."
On-site academic coaches help with morning classes and afternoons classes are more focused on teaching life skills.
Stripe is just one of the Summer Together sites that are hosting San Francisco Unified students participating in the program this summer.
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