Fresno Unified continues distance learning through the summer

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Fresno Unified is kicking off their summer learning virtually.

When the school district decided to keep classes online for the summer, they knew it would mean added challenges for some students.

"Summer programs and summer learning have played a large historical role in helping kids to be able to close learning gaps, and we knew that there would be gaps that would maybe be more pronounced and significant now than ever before," said FUSD Executive Officer of College and Career Readiness, Jeremy Ward.

Georgina Reyes is an incoming senior at Duncan Polytechnical. She made the difficult transition to online learning this past spring.

"It was really weird because I couldn't get the idea of being home learning new things instead of being at school," Reyes said.

But now, she says she feels more comfortable starting a summer session thanks to the district's resources.

Summer classes play a vital role in student credit recovery and helping to bridge any learning gaps. Both challenges are that can be tough for teachers to tackle virtually.

"We knew that the students that often times are the most impacted at learning regularly would be even more impacted with social distancing and distant learning format," Ward added.

Every student is given a laptop or tablet to help combat the digital gap. The district is also helping to make sure they have access to wifi, and teachers are stepping up to help students stick to a schedule.

"The way that we meet up with our teacher is using team Microsoft and he'll give us a schedule on what time to check-in answer questions and say anything we need to say about our classes," Reyes said.

Nearly 20,000 Fresno Unified students are enrolled in classes this summer.