Greater Johnstown Elementary school combats pandemic learning loss with summer camp programs

Johnstown, Pa — While school campuses are typically quiet this time of year - that’s not the case for the Greater Johnstown Elementary school as students and staff are back on campus for summer camps!

6 News spoke with Courtney Simko, the Assistant Principal of the Greater Johnstown Elementary school who says these camps help with learning loss from the Coronavirus pandemic.

“So, we have, we have a couple different programs going on,” Simko said.

Simko tells Channel 6 this is the first week of camp for some Greater Johnstown Elementary school students.

“So, here in the building we have approximately 400 students between T.S.A Trojan Summer Academy and extended school year.”

6 News also learned the Greater Johnstown Elementary school offers a camp off campus for students called Summer In The City.

Simko says not every student was required to sign up for the Trojan Summer Academy.

“We opened it up to families and we had hundreds of families and students who just wanted to come and wanted to spend time with friends and socialize and you know fill in some of those gaps,” Simko added.

6 News was told, these camps will last 4 weeks and were created to help students academically and socially - especially after educators saw such a learning loss following the Coronavirus pandemic.

“The world changed during Covid so we need to be purposeful with our instruction, we need to be realistic. Not only the academic loss, but like I said before that social emotional learning," said Simko. "Students just lost a lot of skills or they were not in school during those years where those basic skills were taught. So, socially, academically, emotionally it just, it really opened all of our eyes.”

Camps on campus also reflect a classroom setting – just with a smaller group of students and a teacher.

Simko told 6 News getting staff together for camp wasn’t hard either, amid a nationwide teacher shortage.

“I was so just positively surprised and just so excited to see the number of teachers who signed up and wanted to be here in the summer,”Simko added.

Simko also said students took a pre-assessment for math and reading classes while they're at camp - which she says will not only help them with learning loss from the pandemic, but also keep their minds refreshed for next school year.

“We just want them to show up with a positive attitude, try their best for the half of day that they’re here, give it their all," said Simko. "Were just looking for growth. We’re looking for improvement, they’re not going to get a letter grade at the end of trojan summer academy. Were really just looking at did you grow, was their improvement from your pre-assessment to your post assessment and that to us, that’s what success looks like.”

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