On the first day of winter break, Los Angeles Unified School District expected more than 68,000 students to show up for three voluntary days of learning, a slight decline from 2022.
The district’s “winter academy” provides child care, meals, and an opportunity for students to catch up academically. Most students who fell behind during the pandemic have not yet caught up.
If this sounds familiar: To help make up for learning issues from the COVID-19 pandemic last school year, LAUSD rolled out “acceleration days” for the first two days of winter and spring breaks, though a little more than half who signed up actually attended.
Then this summer, the district and its unions reached an agreement to add a third voluntary day to the school calendar during the winter break.
Chloe Campbell, a third-grader at Carson Street Elementary, returned for her second year and told me, “I love doing work and seeing different people and making new friends and learning different things.”
Sandra Alvarez signed her two youngest children up for Carson Street Elementary’s Winter Academy.
“Any academic support is important,” Alvarez said.
She said after last year’s acceleration days, her fifth grade son Fabian felt more confident asking questions about math, a subject that’s been challenging in the past. The district will assess students at the beginning and end of the winter academy to measure how much they’ve learned.
Registration is still available. The district says students can expect a mix of activities. Here are the details, and here is the application site.
Pandemic recovery funding that ends next September has helped pay for the additional school days.
Superintendent Albert Carvalho said Monday the district plans to offer extra learning days again during spring break.
“We will continue to look at opportunities to expand these sessions,” Carvalho said. “We have to establish a balance between the availability of the workforce, teachers, with the needs of parents and students.”
