Nashua superintendent’s budget proposal adds summer school

NASHUA – In the years since the district’s summer school program for middle schoolers was eliminated due to budget cuts, Elm Street Middle School principal Colette Valade has noticed a marked change in student motivation. Some students need an outside push to work their hardest and perform well in their classes, she said. And for many, that push came from summer school. “Now, they feel like, ‘well, there’s not any summer school,’ so there’s no recourse if they don’t pass their class, which is pretty much true,” Valade said. “Students don’t want to end up in summer school, so they would do what it takes to do well – stay after school with a teacher, or go when they offer a make-up session and pay more attention in class.” The city’s middle schools have created new programs that target those students who need a boost of motivation to succeed, and the schools have been seeing the benefits.