James Tang ’17: This June the EA campus will be almost as busy during the summer as it is during the school year. With a large interest in Summer at EA programs, beginning this June the Episcopal Academy campus will be almost as busy as during the normal school year. Summer classes are especially popular amongst students trying to gain an additional credit for a religion course or take a bridge course into an honors level track.
Photo courtesy of Episcopal Academy
Dr. Delvin Dinkins, Head of Upper School, noted that the “two courses that filled up almost immediately were our religion courses. Typically, it is these courses, People of the Book and Ethics, that fill up the fastest.” Dr. Catherine Hall, Assistant Head of School, added that she believes “the reason for the religions filling up so quickly this year can be attributed to the fact that we only have two classes versus the three we had last year. We only have a total of thirty six spots, eighteen per class.”
Despite the large amount of interest in religion courses, other courses offered at Episcopal don’t see nearly as much interest, if any at all. “Popularity varies,” said V Form Dean Michael Letts. “Usually, most of our courses are well enrolled, or else we wouldn’t offer them. There are a lot of different factors for different kids.”
The type of courses that Episcopal offers ranges from math and science, to religion, to computer programming and other specialized topics. Dinkins added, “We offer both credit bearing and interest based courses, some being extremely oversubscribed like the religions, and others being slightly undersubscribed.”
Other courses include art classes and visual design, bridge courses and for new students, there are also several programs that can help make the transition into EA easier.
“The reason why we started offering these courses in the summer was to allow for students to double up in language, have music commitments, or for those who wanted, to take additional science or mathematics courses,” said Letts. “We know it is very difficult for them to get these classes or electives in during the actual academic year.”
Photo courtesy of Episcopal Academy
Some students in the Upper School see summer options as a great way to get ahead before the coming school year. Cole Kemmerer ’18 explained, “Honestly, I’m only taking my religion over the summer so I can get it out of the way. I took a computer programming course last summer which was fun, and we’ll see about this year.”
There are however, students who are looking to get more than just credits out of the summer classes they signed up for.
Lindiwe Mayinja ’15 comments, “I’m glad I took both Peoples of the Book and Ethics over the summer because I feel like I got more out of them than I would have during the academic year.” She believes students should seriosuly consider taking summer classes because, “I felt like they were both productive and enjoyable, while classes during the school year are more just about academic focus and less about actually enjoying and learning from the class. I felt more prepared for tests, quizzes, and exams because we had longer class periods to learn the material.”
EA summer classes run from June 8th to August 21st and allow students to get ahead academically and spend time pursuing their interests.