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Students excel at math, reading during online summer drop-ins

Dozens of Calvert’s boys and girls met virtually this summer as part of a series of “drop-in” classes aimed at helping students hone their reading and math skills ahead of the school year.
Conducted virtually through synchronous video calls and online slides, these drop-in sessions allowed students to review past lessons, ask questions, and revisit challenging topics they may have struggled with in the spring, as well as explore new concepts and reconnect with their friends and teachers.
 
Starting in mid-June, when drop-in sessions began, Middle School students could choose to attend twice-weekly math and reading drop-ins led by math teacher Skip Howe and English teacher Liz Hazen, respectively. 
 
In the Writer’s Room drop-ins, conducted by Ms. Hazen, students mixed creative writing exercises with group discussions and opportunities for students to share their work. These sessions focused on the elements of short stories, poems, and the steps involved in the writing process – and after Ms. Hazen had reviewed each day’s lesson, students were encouraged to write for a few minutes and share their progress.
 
They worked on list poems, dramatic scenes, and fractured fairy tales, among other forms of writing – and in many cases, the students were excited to read their work aloud and share with their peers.
 
In Mr. Howe’s math drop-ins, the boys and girls focused on reviewing foundational math concepts, playing educational games, and solving challenging puzzles in addition to exploring new concepts. One of the highlights, he says, was seeing so much enthusiasm about math during the middle of the summer.
 
“We have learned from each other and grown closer as a group of co-learners as the summer has progressed,” Mr. Howe said. “I will miss meeting with the group and look forward to meeting them in person when we are back in school and eventually able to venture out of our grade-level groups.”
 
Lower School families were also given the option to attend math drop-ins, which were conducted by teachers Kelly Whitman, Jason Till, or Melissa Libertini depending on age group. These sessions focused on playing educational math games and reviewing skills submitted by parents.
 
Across both divisions, all drop-in classes met for 30 minutes twice per week from mid-June to July 30. We look forward to resuming such engaging lessons when classes begin in the fall.
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Calvert School is a coed independent lower and middle school.

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