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This week marks the beginning of summer school for many of Hawaii’s students in grades K-12. The state’s public school students lost up to 17 days of instruction this year due to budget cuts, but because summer school programs sustain themselves through tuition, they will not be directly affected by the cuts. Summer school tuition has not increased since last year’s price of $160 for 120-hour sessions, with prorated shorter sessions.

Summer school is a chance for students to take enrichment courses, catch up on regular courses or retake ones they failed. This year and the Hawaii Department of Education‘s are offering summer school classes, available to all interested students — not just those in public school. Last year’s summer school programs attracted 12,366 students at 46 schools.

Although registration for summer school has already closed at all but Washington Middle School, this year’s enrollment numbers are not in yet, said communications director Sandy Goya.

Another 9,000 students at about 90 schools last year participated in extended learning opportunities, which are tutoring sessions schools hold for their own students who need help in reading and math. Extended learning opportunities are often offered at and are therefore funded through federal grants. Because these tutoring sessions are not open to the public, they are not published in the department’s summer school listing. Parents should ask their school administrators about summer tutoring opportunities for their students.

If you have questions or thoughts about the public education system, join our discussion.