Staten Island Advance/Irving SilversteinFancy meeting you here! Christina Coppola, 15, and John Pellegrino, also 15, wait outside Susan E. Wagner High School for the start of summer school classes. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- School is back in session for thousands of Staten Island students, who will make up missed credits or work toward passing state exams that they...
Fancy meeting you here! Christina Coppola, 15, and John Pellegrino, also 15, wait outside Susan E. Wagner High School for the start of summer school classes.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- School is back in session for thousands of Staten Island students, who will make up missed credits or work toward passing state exams that they previously failed. And for high schoolers, the stakes will be higher than usual when it comes to the August Regents, because no longer will the exams be given in January.
"It's going to be a real challenge for kids who sometimes need to take their Regents more than once, and who might have taken the summer off knowing that they would get all the preparation for January," Curtis High School Principal Dr. Aurelia Curtis said.
For most, summer school began yesterday -- and many of the public school students were none too happy to be hitting the books instead of the beach.
"It's horrible," said Keyana Washington, 16, of West Brighton, outside Susan E. Wagner High School in Sea View. "I planned to go to South Carolina. Not anymore."
In grades three through eight, 1,602 Island students are slated to attend summer school, up 53.9 percent from the 1,041 who attended last year. Those students were sent to summer school because they are expected to fail either the math or English-language arts citywide exams. They can take them again in August after summer school ends.
At the high school level, about 1,200 students from McKee High School, Concord High School and Curtis High School are expected to attend summer school at Curtis this year, Dr. Curtis said. Another 670 students, from New Dorp High School and Staten Island Technical High School, are enrolled for New Dorp's summer school, which starts today.
Wagner is hosting students from its own school, Tottenville High School and Port Richmond High School. Administrators did not return a message seeking information about how many students are slated to attend Wagner this summer.
Outside the school yesterday, Rolanda Nesbitt, 16, sat with friends after her first summer algebra class.
"It's fun outside, when you're here with your friends," she said. "But then when you go inside ... " she shook her head.
Her classmate Nyeema Pierce, 14, agreed.
"It's disappointing that we still have to wake up early," Nyeema said.
But some said the shorter school hours make coming to class in the summer easier to stomach. Many students said the experience of a summer vacation cut short by school would push them to work harder come September.
"You ruin your summer," said David Oistacher, 16, of Woodrow. "But it's not as bad as I thought it would be."
In addition to making up credits, many students at Wagner said they also have to take a Regents exam in August. With January Regents eliminated by budget cuts, students who fail the tests again in August won't get another shot to pass until next June.
New Dorp High School Principal Deirdre DeAngelis said she emphasized to students how important the summer Regents are this year. She wants students not only to pass but to excel.
"It's about achieving that higher level, a 75 in [English-language arts] and 80 in math," she said, referring to levels needed to be considered college-ready and avoid remedial classes.
"For college, not taking remedial courses is going to be important for them, financially and timewise," she said. "It's an understanding that we don't have a minimum of 65 anymore."
She said the culture of summer school at New Dorp has changed, and it is treated more like a third trimester of school.
"This is an extension of the regular school year," she said. "They have to meet the standards of what they might have missed."
At Curtis, Dr. Curtis said things got off to a smooth start yesterday -- and she said administrators there, too, worked to notify students as soon as the elimination of the January Regents was announced, so they could register for the summer exam.
"We expect to have many more Regents to grade this summer," Dr. Curtis said. "We'll do the best we can."
Summer school at most Catholic high schools starts later this month.