As Stevenson’s population increases with each year, enrollment in summer school classes grows as well. Forty-seven percent of this school year’s population, the highest percentage recorded, was enrolled in a summer school class, whether that meant traveling overseas on a school trip, filling a graduation requirement, or taking a class just for fun.

The most popular classes this year were World History and the College Essay Workshop. More than 500 incoming freshmen took World History, and 387 incoming seniors attended the College Essay Workshop.

Summer school is optional for students at Stevenson. It serves as a choice for those deciding amongst many different opportunities for their summer vacation, and it is most popular for incoming freshmen as it introduces them to a high school environment.

“We know students might want to do other things, [such as] spending time with family and traveling with others,” said Assistant Principal of Teaching and Learning, and summer school coordinator Dr. Gwendolyn Zimmermann. “However, we know that our families and students are very interested in opportunities to try different things.”

Zimmermann expects the summer school attendance to increase as Stevenson’s enrollment does in future years. She believes that students will always show an interest in summer enrichment.

“The reasons that students are taking [summer school] is for enrichment,”Zimmermann said.“They want to explore different things, and to take some coursework during the summer so they can free up their schedule. I think that these reasons will continue to apply even as our school population increases.”

Although the number of students taking World History remains relatively the same as previous years, the College Essay workshop, now entering its fourth year at Stevenson, continues to increase in attendance. Its popularity has even brought faculty to consider offering it during the school year.

“Almost all of our seniors are applying to college, so this gives them summertime to be thinking about their essays,” Zimmermann said.  “It also may be the fact that the class is five days, it gives you the opportunity to pursue other things.”