Summer Term 2020

Summer Term 2020 combines traditional in-person teaching with transformative technology to create a personalized summer academic experience for K-12 students anywhere. Whether you are in the classroom live with our teachers or participating via videoconference, you will experience the same high-quality instruction and learning experiences Waynflete is known for. To see Waynflete's real-time online platform in action, click here.

For families seeking a summer academic experience that will engage students, connect them with peers, bolster their academic foundation, and excite them in new ways, Summer 2020 has what you need.

Summer Term 2020 classes are designed to be taught to students who are on our campus in Portland, Maine, or joining remotely from anywhere. Check the listing to see if the class you are interested in is offered both ways. The ability to attend in-person will be dictated by the current state of the COVID-19 crisis in Maine and all applicable Waynflete health and safety protocols.

In-Person @ Waynflete	Connecting Remotely

To connect remotely, students must have a laptop, tablet, or desktop computer and a high-speed Internet connection. Computer devices must have a camera, microphone, and speakers for two-way communication. A headset with microphone is recommended. Students will be connecting to websites as well as using Internet-based videoconferencing technology similar to Zoom.

Waynflete Summer offers an array of camps and programs for children through ninth grade. If you are interested in combining a Summer Term class with a camp program contact them at summer@waynflete.org or 207.274.5209.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, we are off-campus working from home. We will get back to you quickly if you leave a message or send an email.

Reinforcement: These classes are designed to strengthen academic readiness and to provide students with an opportunity to practice previously learned skills.

Enrichment: These classes encourage students to explore areas of interest and provide new opportunities for learning.

Acceleration: These classes allow students to continue academic momentum and to accelerate into advanced classes. These classes are equivalent to semester- or year-long classes and provide high school credit upon successful completion. Students should expect to work 15-20 hours a week, including class time. Non-Waynflete students should confirm with their own school that transfer credit will be accepted.

Some Summer Term 2020 courses offer high school students the ability to earn semester- or year-long credit for courses. Students who successfully complete the course will receive a transcript indicating the course completed, grade, and applicable credit. Students are responsible for checking to see if their school will accept a transfer credit.

Summer Term classes have been developed by highly qualified teachers who are experts in their field and in the craft of teaching. Students can expect to experience the same high standards and authentic engagement in content that they would find in a traditional Waynflete class.

Can I take more than one class at a time? Yes! You can take up to two classes at the same time provided their meeting times differ.

Do you have to be a Waynflete student to take a Summer Term 2020 class? No! You can be a K-12 student anywhere in the world and take a class. If you are in Portland, Maine, you can even take most classes in-person.

Are these classes graded? Students will only receive formal grades on the Waynflete letter-grade scale for credit-bearing classes. Students will receive narrative comments for all classes.

What time zone are the classes? All times listed are for the Eastern (EDT) time zone for the United States.

Waynflete is located at 360 Spring Street in Portland, Maine. You can contact us at 207-774-7863, ext. 1201, or at summerterm@waynflete.org. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, we are off-campus working from home. We will get back to you quickly if you leave a message or send an email.

NEW for Summer 2020, students rising to Grade 1 in Fall 2020 may join Waynflete’s Summer Term for Rising Grade 1, which will run in conjunction with the school's K-1 Camp program. Summer Term for Rising Grade 1 will combine the fun outdoor activities of K-1 Camp with a strong academic component to help campers prepare for the transition to First Grade. Summer Term students will focus on personalized reading, phonics, and word-analysis skills so that children learn to decode words, as well as hands on math lessons focused on number sense and basic math skills. Summer Term for Rising Grade 1 is $450 per week.

Students will bolster decoding and fluency skills while strengthening comprehension strategies. Daily “mini lessons” guide the work for the day, allowing students to increase their collection of reading strategies. After exploring a variety of genres, participants choose a high–interest book to use for structured activities focused on their own individual skill development. Students will also have the opportunity to select "right fit" books to apply their strengthened reading skills, and enjoy extension opportunities for reflection and response. Whether you’re looking to encourage your child’s existing passion or spark a new love for reading, the Summer Term 2020 experience is a good place to start!

For most children, solidifying their number sense allows them to feel more comfortable and confident in the math classroom. For those students who are passionate about math and enjoy playing with numbers, using their number sense for problem-solving is exciting. This summer course will grow conceptual understanding as well as computational fluency for all students through exploratory activities and daily practice. The activities are well suited for a wide range of math thinkers. Join some math enthusiasts for Summer Term 2020 who aim to make playing with numbers fun and engaging.

In this course students will act as musicologists as they explore music in the world around them. Topics will include music history, music composition, DIY instruments, music technology, and music from around the world. Throughout the course we will be guided by the question, “Why do we make music?”

This middle school enrichment activity will teach students problem-solving and engineering skills. As we face challenges such as designing a bottle rocket that stays in the air for the longest time, coding a circuit to flash in a specific sequence, or hitting a target by reflecting a laser from a series of mirrors, students will learn the fundamentals of problem-solving: understanding the problem, brainstorming possible solutions, choosing a solution to attempt, and then testing, troubleshooting, and redesigning their solution. No prior experience with any engineering or coding is necessary!

Students will learn about the basics of music theory and how it can be used in their own music making. We will learn about intervals, key, melody, harmony, form, and rhythm through studying a wide variety of music. We will explore composition, practice, ear-training, improvising, and other musical skills as we gain a deeper appreciation for how and why music works. Basic ability on a musical instrument or voice is required for this course.

This course is for middle or high school students who would like to apply their passions towards helping others. Individuals may design their own project or collaborate with others in order to share their talents. Students may choose to germinate seeds for healthcare workers, share cards or poems with community members, check in with the elderly, play a virtual game of cards (depending on technology) with another student, or share a read aloud, song, or magic trick with a neighbor. The possibilities are endless! In addition, students will develop leadership skills through reflecting on their experiences and brainstorming ways to navigate challenges. This course will meet 2–3 times a week in addition to individual sessions 1–2 times a week, project dependent, with opportunities to engage with others outside of the meeting time.

This course will focus on building students' engagement with and appreciation for literature with an emphasis on close reading, comprehension, and analysis. Students will strengthen their ability to read and annotate a range of texts, to discuss literature critically, and to write analytically about what they read. Attention to detail, organization, and study skills will permeate the course. Authors read may include Edgar Allan Poe, John Updike, Jacqueline Woodson, Ernest Hemingway, Maya Angelou, among others.

This workshop will provide motivation, strategies, and support for each student’s summer reading experience. With guidance from the teacher, each student will plan and execute a reading schedule, practice active reading strategies, and improve their comprehension and retention of their assigned or chosen summer reading book(s). Students will annotate their books to activate and document their interaction with the text, making it easy to remember and refer back to their ideas in September. Students will begin the next school year with confidence, ready to engage actively in discussion or writing about their reading; they will also have improved reading habits and strategies that can be applied to any future reading experience. With the developmental needs of middle school students in mind, this course will include both synchronous and asynchronous components; we will spend time reading, focusing, and learning, but we will also play, move, and take breaks from the screen.

This workshop will help middle school students gain fluency, practice strategies, and build confidence as they discover their emerging writer’s voice. The course features daily writing exercises that are playful and engaging, allowing students to explore the modes of description, narration, and persuasion. The course will also include sharing, peer review, reflection, and grammar instruction. Each student will take one or more pieces through the entire writing process (planning, drafting, revising, and editing), ending with a final, polished essay draft. With the developmental needs of middle school students in mind, this course will include both synchronous and asynchronous components. We will spend time writing, focusing, and learning, but we will also play, move, and take breaks from the screen.

In this summer term course, Middle School students will practice the basics of reading and writing for history class. Together we will work on crafting excellent analytical paragraphs by reinforcing the process of composing powerful topic sentences and identifying compelling evidence. We will work with primary and secondary sources as we learn to read critically and to identify the central claim of a given document. Students will have the opportunity to practice their research skills as they locate, read, and write about sources pertaining to a historical topic or question of their choosing.

This course deepens students’ understanding of the current financial and economic climate. With a focus on the global economy, students will explore the stock market and investing, forms of business, business financing, entrepreneurship, and economics. The role of the Federal Reserve will be examined, along with fiscal and monetary policy. By the end of the course, students will be able to articulate the reasoning behind the current economic and financial situation, as well as future financial challenges that the economy may face. This is a valuable course for those interested in business, finance, stock investing, and economics.

This course deepens students’ understanding of how the decisions that we make impact our financial welfare and prosperity. Students will explore the importance of budgeting, college affordability and loans, the role of taxes in our economy, investing for retirement, how credit affects our lives, and types of insurance. By the end of the course, students will have a strong understanding of their money flow and steps they can take to improve their current and future financial well-being. 

Writing about yourself can be challenging, especially when it is the only opportunity for an admissions officer to get to know the real you. This course helps students compose their college admission essay and provides them with a springboard to get ahead of the busy (and sometimes stressful) college application process. Each week, students will cultivate the tools necessary to develop and finish an essay that will wow any college.

This course will focus on strengthening students' analytical writing skills particularly as they pertain to work in English classes. Students will work on building the skills of thesis development, supporting arguments with textual evidence, understanding paragraph construction and essay organization, and developing overall syntactical fluidity. Classes will incorporate writing labs, peer editing, and individual writing conferences.

The goal of this course is to strengthen each student’s process of writing as a means of discovery and expression. Students will write daily to gain practice and authority in response writing. They will keep journals as a means of free writing, practice, and as a source for drafted essays. Students are required to do extensive drafting of multiple essays in various modes, such as description, narration, and persuasion, ending with final edited drafts. Students will share their writing, engage in peer review protocols, and reflect on their own process and growth. The course will also include assigned reading and discussion of model essays as well as grammar instruction. This course is a semester course redesigned for 6-weeks.

This class will engage each student in a conversation with their world, themselves, and those around them in a quest to discover what their inner lives really mean. Through daily writing exercises, which will include brainstorms, free writes, and formal poetic compositions, students will explore their creative instincts and intuitions along with ways to raise their voices. The class helps students engage with their writing with honesty and courage, develop a comfort and facility with language, and explore their own voice and find those places that intrigue them and excite their hearts. These goals will be accomplished through a variety of means, including beginning each class by reading and discussing published poems; writing exercises; writing (composing, polishing, and sharing) two new poems each week; contributing three finished poems to a student anthology from the course; and finishing the course with five to six fully-developed poems (at least three revisions each). Sign up and set your mind free!

"I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down

into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,

how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,

which is what I have been doing all day.

Tell me, what else should I have done?"

– Mary Oliver, "The Summer Day."

There are few things better than being outside in Maine during the summer. During this cross-genre nature-themed enrichment, students will engage rigorously with the literature and the outdoors, exploring the natural world through the eyes of a writer. This is a class for poets, essayists, storytellers, and journalers who want to get out there and "pay attention," as Mary Oliver once wrote. By the end of this session, students will have a portfolio of nature-based writing pieces, and perhaps a newfound appreciation of the environment around them.

This immersive literature course—structured around a diverse set of engaging, complex texts both canonical and contemporary—emphasizes critical thinking, dialogue, close reading, and written reflection. Students will read poetry, fiction, and literary non–fiction, practicing annotation techniques and engaging in group discussion much like one might find in a liberal arts college classroom. Throughout the course, students will write informally in response to what they read, and the course will culminate in formal analytical writing through which students will synthesize what they have learned. Formal writing will involve brainstorming, drafting, teacher and peer feedback, revision, and editing, allowing students the opportunity to experience the academic writing process from start to finish. Given the for–credit nature of this course, students can expect a rigorous classroom environment and approximately 6 - 8 hours of homework per week, to be completed outside of class. This course is perfect for students with a passion for literature and/or a willingness to engage deeply in reading and writing. This course is a semester course redesigned for 6 weeks.

This course offers high school students the opportunity to strengthen their reading, writing, and research skills in the context of learning about the history of World War II. Students will engage with a variety of primary and secondary sources ranging from scholarly essays to popular films to archival footage and photographs as they practice critical reading, analytical writing, annotation, and discussion. The content of the course is flexible by design: we will follow the specific interests of the class as we study this fascinating and complex historical conflict.

This accelerated summer course is a full year of Human Anatomy & Physiology designed into an intensive 6-week program. High School students will be studying two to three body systems per week and will also get a chance to investigate a system of their choice that they would like to explore with greater detail. Systems of study will include; cells, tissues, and membranes, integumentary, skeletal, muscular, nervous, sensory, endocrine, respiratory, cardiovascular, immune, digestive, and reproductive. This is a great option for students who may be interested in the medical field and would like a basic introduction into the world of how the human body is structured and functions. (Note: This does not count towards the lab science requirement at Waynflete)

Students in the accelerated Chinese I course will develop proficiency in the four linguistic skill areas: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. This course will emphasize the importance of communicative competence through activities such as role-playing, rhyming, storytelling, and pair and group dialogues. Writing exercises will include short-answer responses and descriptive pieces in the present tense. These activities will keep in mind the World Language “5 Cs”—Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities—and students will have many opportunities to “churn and play” with the language. Active collaboration on the class Schoology site and frequent use of online tools such as Quizlet, VoiceThread, Edpuzzle, FlipGrid, and Extempore will help improve student proficiency and understanding. Classes will be taught online and in person, if possible.

Students will develop proficiency in the four linguistic skill areas: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. This course will emphasize the importance of communicative competence through activities such as role-playing, rhyming, storytelling, and pair and group dialogues. Writing exercises will include short-answer responses and descriptive pieces in the present tense. These activities will keep in mind the World Language “5 Cs”—Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities—and students will have many opportunities to “churn and play” with the language. Active collaboration on the class Schoology site and frequent use of online tools such as Quizlet, VoiceThread, Edpuzzle, FlipGrid, and Extempore will help improve student proficiency and understanding. Classes will be taught on–line and in person, if possible.

Students in the accelerated French I course will develop proficiency in the four linguistic skill areas: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. This course will emphasize the importance of communicative competence through activities such as role-playing, rhyming, storytelling, and pair and group dialogues. Writing exercises will include short-answer responses and descriptive pieces in the present tense. These activities will keep in mind the World Language “5 Cs”—Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities—and students will have many opportunities to “churn and play” with the language. Active collaboration on the class Schoology site and frequent use of online tools such as Quizlet, VoiceThread, Edpuzzle, FlipGrid, and Extempore will help improve student proficiency and understanding. Classes will be taught online and in person, if possible.