Published June 30, 2021

Students at Allendale Elementary got a special visit from the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) Commissioner June 29.

Penny Schwinn is touring schools across the state to see their summer learning camps in action.

"Here at Allendale, we saw small groups and really targeted instruction for the individual learners," Schwinn said. "We saw a lot of joy from students and a lot of energy from teachers. I'm not surprised, but I'm tickled pink. I'm so happy about what I'm seeing."

While visiting classrooms, Schwinn, WCS Superintendent Jason Golden and others joined rising first and rising third grade students as they learned reading and math.

"Our teachers and students have been working so hard at summer school these past four weeks," said WCS Academic Dean for AES Summer School Amanda Knipp. "It was great to have the commissioner and Mr. Golden come visit and see the program in action. The students loved having them learn all about the fun activities that are happening here."

Schwinn said the goal of the summer camps is to provide additional learning time for students. The camps are the response to the Tennessee Learning Loss Remediation and Student Acceleration Act, which requires districts to offer optional, in-person summer opportunities for priority students.

"We've had a year with the pandemic that's been very disruptive," said Schwinn. "Let's make sure that these summer camps are fun and engaging and academically rigorous. That's what we saw here. You can do both at the same time, and I think we see that love of learning, that joy of teaching in classrooms. Students love coming to school, and they're going to be even more ready for next year."