There’s one month until school starts — have your children done their homework?

Some Waco students are tackling tough assignments this summer to get a jump on their higher-level classes.

Elihu Centeno, 10, hovered over the keyboard Monday at the Tennyson Middle School library. He said he’d rather be on vacation in the Bahamas.

Wilbert London III (right) and Jered Fuller II get help on summer projects from teacher Betsy Karnes Monday at Tennyson Middle School.
Jerry Larson/Tribune-Herald

Instead, the incoming fifth-grader was at work on his summer project, to “examine the social, legal and political policy issues concerning the outlawing of the use of animals in medical or product experimentation.”

Elihu isn’t the only student writing a persuasive paper instead of riding his bike around the block.

Incoming sixth- through eighth-graders across Waco Independent School District who plan to be in a pre-Advanced Placement class next year are supposed to complete a multifaceted project by the start of school.

Incoming fifth-graders at Lake Air Intermediate School who are signed up for pre-AP, such as Elihu, also must tackle a project.

The projects aren’t new to this summer, but they have gotten harder.

Students in each grade have three research topics from which to choose.

Each project includes components of English, math, science and social studies.

One eighth-grade topic asks students to examine the use of DNA databases and how they may impact the privacy of U.S. residents.

Incoming eighth-graders Wilbert London III and Jered Fuller II were wading through screens of DNA information at a summer project help session Monday at Tennyson.

“It sounded like the hardest one, but it helps us out in the long run,” Jered said about their topic.

Lake Air Intermediate School teacher Betsy Karnes will be at Cesar Chavez Middle School today to help students with their projects.

“They are very tough to tackle. That was one of the requirements of our advisory committee,” said Michael Watkins, WISD’s director of advanced academics.

Increasingly, parents are pulling their kids from Waco ISD schools and putting them in private school when they reach middle school age, Watkins said.

One of the reasons parents give is that the middle school program for advanced students is not rigorous enough. This spurred the rigorous summer assignment topics.

A change this year means students will not be taken out of a pre-AP class if they don’t complete a project.

Incoming fifth-grader Elihu Centeno eats his lunch while researching his summer project Monday at Tennyson Middle School. Students needing help on their projects can go to the Cesar Chavez Middle School library today.
Jerry Larson/Waco Tribune-Herald

Last fall, middle school pre-AP classes shrunk dramatically the first couple of weeks when students had to leave the program if they didn’t have a project to turn in.

“That’s something I had to put my foot down about,” Watkins said.

This year, he said, students may be given some extra time to complete their projects.

They will be counted as a major test grade, but not completing the assignment won’t get a student tossed from the class.

“I think if you take students out of the pre-AP class, it’s really hindering their education,” Watkins said.

There will be a reward for students who finish the assignment, Watkins said. The students who do the assignment will be identified by officials as possible future National Merit Scholars.

High school students signed up for AP classes next year are expected to do some summer reading but don’t have to complete assignments.

“High school students a lot of times have to work during the summer, whether to help their families or save for college,” Watkins said.

At Waco-area charter school Rapoport Academy, the whole student population is in the same boat.

Students in pre-kindergarten through high school are given work packets to complete during the summer. Rapoport assistant superintendent Matthew Polk said the summer work reduces the need to review skills at the beginning of the year.

Polk said the summer assignments also reflect the high expectations Rapoport officials have for the students. Parents are supportive of the summer work, he said, because often they have sought enrollment at Rapoport because of the school’s rigorous academics.

Like Waco ISD high school students, those at Midway High School have summer reading they’re expected to do, but that is mostly the extent of summer homework in the district, said David Young, MISD assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction.

Watkins said he heard from some parents who were happy for their children to have something academic to do this summer. But he also took calls from parents who said they are pulling their kids from Waco schools to send them to Midway, where they won’t have summer projects.

“It’s very hard to satisfy your whole student population,” Watkins said.

wgragg@wacotrib.com

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