Students should have the choice of virtual summer school
Long commutes with the occasional traffic jams are commonplace during many students’ school year. Students should not have to endure the commute during the summer. Creative commons license.
March 23, 2022
Summer courses other than PE, have traditionally been in person. Students have had to come to school for popular courses such as summer Chemistry, summer CS, summer Math 5 and more. Many students already have long commutes to TJ, ranging from half an hour to several hours. Since there are no bus routes for the summer, having to drive or be driven to school during the summer would be inconvenient for most and outright painful for others. Taking these summer courses to the house would make taking summer credits a lot easier.
Currently, FCPS has no plans to make summer courses virtual. In fact, the only year they did so was 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since COVID infection rates are dropping, summer courses are undoubtedly going to be in-person.
Due to concerns about the effectiveness of virtual school, some students and parents are against any type of online school. However, if all summer courses had a virtual option, parents and students who want to stay in person would stay, while everyone else would be online. This would make summer courses more accessible to all who want to pursue further academic interests.
Personally, having to be driven to school with my 50 minute long commute would be inconvenient for both my parents and me. For students that live even further away from TJ, such as students from Prince William County, their commutes would be even more of a nightmare. This would all be avoided with virtual summer school. Without a commute, students can go to school struggle-free.
Summer credit courses should have the option to be virtual as a means to help students and parents with a long commute to school. As compelling as in-person summer school sounds, it is simply impractical for the vast majority of families. Students should not be forced into daily hour-long drives when taking summer school, and commuting should certainly not be the blocking factor when families decide whether to allow their child to earn credits during the summer.
