The sound of school buses heard on streets in the community this week can be attributed to the start of summer school Monday at School Street Elementary School and Floyd C. Fretz Middle School.

The program, which is also defined as the extended school year, is for students in need of additional work on skills that include math and reading. The morning classes will be offered at both schools through the beginning of August. Bus transportation, as well as free lunches, are provided to participating children.

“There are six groups going on here with all different levels of students,” said School Street Principal Sarah Tingley on Thursday. “(Students) are working on things of interest to them and at the same time are getting some extra help in math or reading skills” that will help with the upcoming school year. She said each summer school teacher creates programs based on their students’ needs and interests.

Tingley said funding for the program is incorporated into the yearly school district budget, thanks to Superintendent Katharine Pude and Judy Bodamer, director of finance.

“It really is tight, but they were able to find some money in the budget” for the summer session, Tingley said of Pude and Bodamer.

“We are mandated to offer extended school year services for students with (individualized education programs), so they don’t show regression,” Tingley added.

She noted the summer program is a good stimulant for children, especially in reading, as research shows that students who don’t read over the summer regress in comparison to peers who have access to reading materials at home and in libraries.

Along those lines, Tingley said the School Street library, under the direction of librarian Missy Cornelius, is open to all children for reading, borrowing books and use of computers from 9 a.m. to noon Wednesdays during the summer. Stories are also read to the children.

During Larry Causer’s class, students were found working on math problems. Causer said the students, who will be entering fourth grade this school year, were allowed to grab a stuffed animal of their choice for good behavior or doing well with the lesson.

“Who are the three (students) who got the perfect papers really quick with multiplication,” Causer asked the students. “You may take your papers (to another table), get an animal and work over there,” he said to several students who raised their hands.

Students who commented on the summer school program included a boy named Kay’von, who likes all the “fun things” provided by Causer in class including Twizzlers candy and freeze pops.

Another girl named McKennah added, “I like reading because I get (reading at home) from my mom, too.”

School administrators said other summer programs offered in the district include the credit recovery program at the high school which helps students obtain credits needed to graduate or to be promoted to the next grade level. That program continues until the beginning of August.

In addition, George G. Blaisdell Elementary School will host pre-kindergarten and kindergarten transition programs in August.