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San Francisco To Offer Voluntary In-Person Summer School Classes

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- In the wake of hammering out a school reopening timetable, San Francisco city officials unveiled a plan Wednesday for privately-funded, in-person summer classes to help students catch-up on their academics after nearly a year of remote learning.

The program called the Summer Together Initiative comes as a result of a newly formed coalition of city leaders, San Francisco community organizations, nonprofits, businesses and the San Francisco Unified School District. In addition to public resources, the initiative was being backed by a $25 million philanthropic gift from Crankstart.

The in-person classes will be held in public school buildings and private commercial spaces throughout San Francisco.

For students who do not want in-person instruction, there will also be a remote component to the program.

"Our children have truly suffered during this pandemic, and we need to do everything we can to make up for lost time," said Mayor London Breed. "Summer Together will support their mental health, their academic needs, and just get them to be back together with other children again."

"Our Community Hubs have shown what we can do to safely support our kids, and I'm so excited that this summer we will be able to expand not only that model, but offer our students other in-person and virtual opportunities to learn as well."

The city's summer offerings will focus on continuity of learning and will expand beyond traditional programs to include curriculum to combat learning loss, ensure credit recovery for high school students, and provide comprehensive support for families.

Official said that each individual family would be offered a range of supports for their children from free summer reading books easily picked up at any San Francisco Public Library to a full day of in-person learning at school sites, Community Hubs, or Recreation and Park Camps.

Last Friday night, the San Francisco Unified School District announced that "a select number" of public schools were on track to resume in-person learning for young students beginning April 12.

According to an e-mail statement from SFUSD superintendent Dr. Vincent Matthews and San Francisco Board of Education president Gabriela Lopez, additional students will be offered in-person learning by the end of April.

The district reached an agreement late Friday evening with the United Educators of San Francisco union to allow students to return for almost a full day, five days a week.

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