Catch up during intersession

Financial+Independence+is+just+one+of+the+many+courses+offered+at+intersession.

Financial Independence is just one of the many courses offered at intersession.

Jacob Simon, Writer

With one week left in this grading cycle, students across the district are encouraged to sign up for the Garland ISD Spring Intersession, March 8-12 .

“The district does the Intersessional calendar to to be effective and engaging learning opportunities for students to address the traditional summer slide,” GISD Director Intervention Lea Ann Schkade said, “Which represents the typical decline in student achievement observed during summer breaks and responding to the anticipated long term impact of Covid-19.”

Intersession dates are strategically scheduled to provide intervention, enrichment and acceleration following a grading cycle. 

“The purpose of intersession is to help students with closing gaps, accelerating learning or participating in enrichment courses,” Schkade said.

Each campus determines the Intersession offerings.  The SHS offerings include college admissions process, financial independence training, EOC prep, grade recovery, counselor corner, and STEM. 

“This is the Perfect time to attend tutoring to help you better understand the content you need help with,” Sarah Thrash said. “The small groups mean more one on one attention.”

Counselor corner is a new class geared to help students learn professional communication skills and tips that should help students navigate college or career life after high school.

The STEM offering is for students who are interested in taking a more in-depth look at science research and problem-solving skills. 

 All students will attend for four hours each day with breakfast and lunch provided.  Two “brain breaks” are also scheduled each day.

“Brain breaks are a chance for students to take a ‘mental timeout’ from the learning they will be doing during Intersession,” assistant principal Dr. Amber Holomshek said. “These will be anywhere from 5-15 minutes.”

Some of the brain breaks will include meditation activities, dancing and “brain teaser” type games.

“Spring Intersession is a great time to test for DC (dual credit), for the summer and next school year and to also finish getting your check marks so you qualify for senior release,” Thrash said.

TSI testing is also available during Intersession.

By attending Intersession, “students will be more successful in learning and mastering on-grade level material, preparing for college and career readiness, PSAT and SAT support,” Schkade said.