Camelot KAPS – Extending the Year for Special Kids

Jeremiah and Legend Johnson and Nyjae Daniely, Antoine Walker and Tayhj Washington in the background

Most students are busy enjoying their summer vacations right about now, but 36 K-6 students at Camelot KAPS in Philadelphia are enjoying their summer in the classroom.

“The extended school year program ensures that these kids don’t lose ground on the gains they made in their learning over the past year,” said Brian Bienkowski, the school’s executive director.  “You might be surprised at how many these students are happy to be in school in summer. We keep it a little more relaxed, and it’s just for four hours a day, but the bottom line is they are keeping their skills sharp.”

Special ed students need more supports than regular ed students and they need ongoing remediation.

“They get a more concentrated learning effort delivered to them during the school year, so to go from all that attention to zero learning aids or efforts throughout the summer tends to cause they students to fall back,” Bienkowski said.

Students work together in groups of two or three.

Special ed is a very broad category, but the kids at Camelot KAPS are emotional support students.

For summer session, there are three classrooms of 12 students each, with a teacher and classroom counselor for each group. The School District of Philadelphia provides transportation.

Reading gets the biggest share of instruction time.

“Frankly, there are a lot of regular ed students who could benefit from an extended school year as well but they don’t lose as much ground as these students, and districts traditionally have not expended resources on that,”  according to Bienkowski. “Our kids are having a good time and they’re learning, and that’s what the ESY program is all about.”