LORAIN — Two fledgling programs to help academically struggling students will be tweaked for the 2010-11 school year, officials announced Wednesday at a school board meeting.

Superintendent Cheryl Atkinson said parents will soon get letters explaining what students must achieve at the end of each school year in order to advance.

“We need to catch them before they fall too far behind where it becomes much more difficult to catch up,” Atkinson said.

While the credits students need each year remain the same, the district is changing the number of grade-level core credits to be passed before advancement to the next grade.

Students need to have earned 22 credits to graduate, Atkinson said, adding a junior who’s lacking only three credits is too far behind to catch up.

Two programs designed to catch students before they fall too far behind put in place this school year pull students out of their regular school buildings.

The Academic Enrichment program is for elementary and middle school students who’ve been identified as being behind — perhaps for failing the Ohio Achievement Assessment exam — who didn’t attend a 20-day early start summer school program.

The Credit Recovery program is for high school students who are behind academically and don’t have the credits they need for promotion to the next grade, Atkinson said.

Financially difficult times almost nixed the programs when federal funding was cut, but an unexpected utility bill rebate allowed the district to pay the $100,000 for both locations on Idaho Avenue for the enrichment program and for the recovery program at the Boys and Girls Club in St. Stanislaus Church on East 28th Street.

The $100,000 included rent, utility bills, snow removal and anything else associated with the building, Atkinson said.

The district plans to bring both programs onto an existing school campus in order to save that money, she said.

Promotion Criteria

By the end of a student’s freshman year, he or she must have earned five credits and passed all but one ninth-grade core credit.

By sophomore year, he or she must have earned 11 credits, passed all ninth-grade core credits and passed all but one 10th-grade core credit.

By junior year, he or she must have earned 16 credits, passed all ninth- and 10th-grade core credits and passed all but one 11th-grade core credit.

Students failing only one core course will have the opportunity to make up the credit after regular school hours at their home schools.

No repeat courses will be offered at the high school during the regular school day.

Credit Recovery Academy

Will be attended by freshmen who earned 3.5 credits or fewer and/or failed two or more core subject classes and by sophomores who earned seven credits or fewer and/or have not passed all the ninth-grade core credits and/or failed two or more 10th-grade core credits.

Contact Alicia Castelli at 329-7144 or acastelli@chroniclet.com.

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