Summer School

Summer School refers to a collection of summer programs that behave similarly. Each summer generally has 2 sessions, each of which corresponds to a semester of content, and has roughly the same number of instructional minutes.

Unlike school during the school year, a single school is used for all high schools, alternating between Gunn and Paly.

Credit Recovery

Students who do not pass a course (and took the course with the intention of getting credit) will automatically be placed in a queue for Credit Recovery by the counselors. Students with a closer graduation year and larger number of deficient credits are prioritized. Students may take 2 classes per session (1 in the morning, 1 in the afternoon), recovering up to 10 credits per session, 20 credits per summer.

Kick-Start

Kick-Start allows students to take a course during the summer to free up a period during the following school year. Unlike Credit Recovery, only one Kick-Start course may be taken each session, and it is taken in the morning, with an async afternoon. Students may also take a Credit Recovery course in the afternoon.

Students must explicitly register for Kick-Start slightly after normal course registration finishes, and with certain exceptions, may not use the freed up period for anything besides a Prep.

Kick-Start does not exist in 2022 due to COVID-19 and fewer staff members.

Special courses

While Living Skills and Economics technically fall under Kick-Start, their popularity has led them to be registered for separately. Both of these are limited to rising seniors, and may not meet at the same time as the rest of summer school.

Non-credit

Finally, PAUSD offers a number of non-credit courses during the summer, registered for the same way Kick-Start courses are registered for. Instead of focusing on academics, they cover summer camp-like content, providing access to families who cannot afford private summer camps.