Anchorage Daily News

Madeleine Overturf curls her fists into a ball and hits the punching bag hard.

The 16-year-old wishes she could be outside running in the June sun instead of in the dank gym at West High School standing still and throwing punches. But she knows this is for the best. She knows this will get her somewhere in life.

Overturf is a student in West High's summer school, racking up credits and getting her required fitness class out of the way so she can take advanced courses this fall. If it all works out, and she keeps up working really, really hard, she'll be a student at Oxford University in England in three years. That's her dream. But to get there means summer school.

The stereotypical summer school where struggling, lackadaisical or temperamental teenagers re-learn the basics is no longer the case in Anchorage. Super-achievers like Overturf are taking over the hallways, classrooms and even the gyms to fulfill their required courses to free up their schedules for more advanced classes during the regular academic year.

As a result, they are swelling the summer school classrooms. A record 3,000 Anchorage high schoolers, or roughly one in five, is attending this year, marking a 10 percent growth over last year and following a trend of similar growth ever since the district started offering non-remedial summer courses in 2005.

"We're filled to the brim," said Anchorage School District spokeswoman Heidi Embley. Class sizes were increased from 25 to 30 students to accommodate the unexpected demand, she said.

School officials say the increase has primarily been with students who want to get required courses out of the way. Some kids do it because they want to lighten their load during the school year. Others do it to gain a time slot for band or dance or a language that they otherwise wouldn't be able to fit in. Others simply don't want the stress of passing required courses too close to graduation. And others, like Overturf, feel like they have to take summer classes in order to compete for the limited slots in good colleges.

"I wish it wouldn't be necessary," Overturf said. "But it is."

Kyle Edades, 15, is spending six hours a day at East High studying U.S. government and Alaska history and culture. He says it's the only way he can make room in his schedule to free up space for weighted college level courses that could boost his grade point average. He wants to be in the top of his graduating class to take advantage of the University of Alaska scholarships that are offered to the best students.

"And I heard U.S. government is really hard during the school year," he said.

Kids pushing themselves to attend summer school demonstrates the pressure on Anchorage's students competing for the country's top colleges.

"Anyone in pursuit of a well-known or renowned college feels the pressure," said Rachel Hull, 16.

Hull is a kid who wants it all. Despite the fact that she plans to take some International Baccalaureate classes, college prep courses that are among the most difficult in the Anchorage public school system, she's already been told her chances of getting into an Ivy League school are slim. She doesn't have straight A's, but more importantly, she doesn't plan on taking any more math classes because she wants to take band in those time slots.

"Music is my passion," she said, explaining why she won't give it up. "It's what I do."

Anchorage high school students need 22.5 credits to graduate. Typically, a student's freshman and sophomore years are dictated by core curriculum; junior and senior years offer more choices. But there are four required electives that every student must take: lifetime personal fitness, U.S. government, economics and Alaska studies. These are the classes that have surged in popularity in Anchorage summer schools.

Dick Flannery, director of professional development services with the National Association of Secondary School Principals in Reston, Va., said there's been a clear shift across the country in summer schools.

"There are only so many courses that a kid can take during the regular academic year, and the combination of increased graduation requirements and ... the competition of getting into college really creates a situation where we find lots of kids doing summer school," he said.

Anchorage School District assistant superintendent Rhonda Gardner said it is only the super-achievers who feel they have to take summer school to create room for the advanced classes. "For the average AP kid, it's more than workable."

Still, teenagers, perhaps dozens of them, were turned away from summer school this year because there wasn't enough room to accommodate them all at the district's six high schools offering courses. At West High, the school projected 410 students but ended up with 640. At East High, the school projected 600 students but got 789.

Some kids were directed to take online courses either through the district or various Web sites that offer high school classes, like Brigham Young University or the University of Nebraska. Others were told they would just have to wait until the next school year.

Overturf, who wants to study drama at Oxford, said: "From the beginning of high school, it's pressed upon us to plan for college, and take classes according to the college you want to go to."

If this coming fall goes according to the way she's planning, she'll be busy all weekend, every weekend with homework from four International Baccalaureate courses, then busy during the week with voice lessons, piano lessons and school plays.

"It's what I want to do," she said.

Find Megan Holland online at adn.com/contact/mholland or call 257-4343.

Popular classes

The most popular summer school classes, in order of popularity by number of students in each class:

1. U.S. government - 469

2. Lifetime personal fitness - 463

3. Alaska studies - 430

4. Economics - 117

Online courses

Here's where high school kids can take online courses for credit with approval from their schools:

1. BYU

2. N. Dakota

3. Nebraska

4. Texas Tech

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