Parents in Arizona can now register their children for summer βcampsβ set up by the state to help schoolchildren who have had educational delays due to the pandemic catch up.
The free summer school camps range between two to eight weeks long, and can be structured for students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. Focus areas at each camp range from math, literacy, credit recovery, civics and school readiness.
Parents can go to AZOnTrack.com to review the available options and sign their child up for a camp.
The camps are required to include one core academic offering and a second enrichment course, says Lisa Graham Keegan, a former state schools superintendent appointed by Gov. Doug Ducey to to run the summer program.
βEverybody needs to make up something. We donβt have students who arenβt challenged by the past two years, and so the most important thing we want is for kids to be reengaged in learning,β Keegan said.
She added that parents can register their kids for more than one camp, as long as the timing aligns.
As of Monday, there were about 50 camp options available throughout Pima County, but according to the AZ OnTrack website, the page may be updated with additional options through the beginning of May.
Earlier this year, Ducey budgeted $100 million for the summer camp program to address the past two years of disrupted learning caused by the pandemic. That money was allocated to public schools and nonprofit organizations that requested funding to host their own summer programs and met the list of requirements.
