According to WRIC 8 News, Saturday classes officially started for students of Hopewell City Public Schools on February 3, 2024, and will end on May 11, 2024. The new program offers 13 sessions for students who are struggling academically and for those who need to make up for classes missed.
Saturday classes
The program is being funded through the Virginia Department of Education’s All-in Plan, a $418 million investment dedicated to “high dosage academic tutoring, accelerating the expansion of the Virginia Literacy Act (VLA), and combatting chronic absenteeism.”
The program is now added to the after-school tutoring and intersession courses offered by the school system which runs on a year-round system.
Byron Davis, Hopewell City Public Schools Director of Balance Calendar and Coordinator of Tutoring said the optional program will give students who are in need a better chance of moving forward into the next grade level and avoid being retained.
Davis said:
“When someone isn’t ready, they’re not always promoted. Students are retained, and when students are retained, they’re retained because they’re not ready and we don’t want to put them in a situation that’s a lose-lose where they’re already destined to fail.”