Summer Semester

Six-week session from Monday, June 22 – Friday, July 31 (no school July 3)

Elementary School

• Six-week session from Monday, June 22 – Friday, July 31 (no school July 3).

Middle School

• Monday – Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
• Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. MSCR Only

No family will be turned away from MSCR programming based on their ability to pay.  Indicate your need for assistance during online enrollment.  Tiered fee structure based on a family’s self-reported socioeconomic status (in Infinite Campus). Fee per student for the six-week program- SREC (Summer Recreation & Enrichment Center), grades 4K-4.

• $115.00 – full pay fee 
• $57.50 – students who pay a reduced fee for meals
• $0.00 – students who receive free meals or who are in the Transition Education Program (TEP)

MMSD Health Services is available during the morning portion of Summer Semester. For health-related support needed during the afternoon MSCR SREC/YRC program, contact MSCR Inclusion Services at mscrinclusion@madison.k12.wi.us to discuss reasonable accommodations. 

Due to limited seats, students are expected to attend all 29 days of the Summer Program. If you are planning a vacation, please plan around summer dates.  If you know that you’ll be absent for more than 2 days, please do not enroll.

Elementary School Sites (Grades 4K-4):

• Hawthorne
• Mendota
• Elvehjem
• Henderson
• Chavez
• Van Hise
• Leopold
• Olson

Middle School Sites (Grades 5-8):

• East
• LaFollette
• West
• Memorial

Breakfast, lunch, and an afternoon snack are served.

General Information is available on the transportation page (under Board of Education Policy 5111). Your child’s assignment will be in Infinite Campus after May 26, 2026 and is subject to change until June 17.  Please check for your child’s final stop time on or after June 17, 2026. Transportation is available in the morning and at 4:00 p.m. 

Hybrid - The majority of our courses will be offered as a hybrid model, instruction is provided through a combination of asynchronous and synchronous learning experiences, as appropriate, and is determined by the teacher/course. This model allows students to accommodate work schedules, extracurricular activities, and access to a variety of courses.  However, we also recognize that students may benefit from in-person support to provide them with access to high-speed internet, a quiet workspace, and/or adult assistance. Teachers will help students troubleshoot issues they are having with their classes and connect students with their teachers as needed. In-person support is available at each of our sites from 9:00 am-12:00 pm (East, West, Memorial & LaFollette).

In Person - Some of the HS Courses are offered in person, and the designated location and times are listed in the course description section of the catalog.

General Schedule/Daily Expectations

For a list of first-time credit course offerings, please see the Course Offerings Summary in this catalog.  For a complete list of all other course descriptions, please refer to your high school’s regular year course catalog, available on your high school’s website.

For those who are unable to register in advance, registration for credit recovery courses may be completed via summer school on Thursday, June 18, 2026, from 8:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. by contacting the summer site for your feeder pattern.  Students will be scheduled for courses in the order that requests are received. You should register as soon as possible, as some courses may no longer be available, and courses with limited enrollment will be closed as soon as the maximum number of students is reached. The final day to register for high school Summer Semester 2026 classes is Thursday, June 25, 2026. Students are responsible for completing all course assignments, regardless of registration date. 

In general, students may earn up to 1 credit during the summer, in addition to Experiential Learning. Depending on the need for credit and the format of instruction, students may take more than one course at a time.  Please work with your school counselor in late spring to determine the best scenario for you.  

A course may be canceled if enrollment is below the minimum number of students needed to justify offering the course. In such cases, students will be notified of the cancellation and provided an opportunity to enroll in another course.

Summer semester courses are 18-week courses condensed into 6 weeks; one day of class is equivalent to 3 days during the regular school year. To achieve success, students are expected to submit work in each course weekly. Students can learn at their own pace as long as they are making progress in the course every week. To measure learning, students complete self-checks, practice lessons, multiple-choice questions, projects, discussion-based assessments, and virtual discussions. For students who are not progressing in their course, the teacher and student will need to meet to develop an action plan to ensure course completion. If there is no progress with the plan, the student may be dropped from the course or earn a non-passing grade.

Attendance will be taken each day of summer school.  Students participating in online classes can be present by 

1. attending an optional synchronous class session, 
2. submitting a completed assignment, or 
3. communicating with their teacher about an assignment. 

Students can be excused by a parent/ guardian by calling or using the Infinite Campus parent portal. If a student misses multiple days of summer school, the student is expected to make a plan with their teacher so they have a plan for catching up with missing assignments.  Missing more than one consecutive week of classes for vacation and/or other summer activities makes it very difficult for students to complete their summer course unless they can access their course while away to continue to work on assignments.  Please consider this when determining whether you/ your student has the capacity to take summer courses. Note: Access to district systems was restricted to locations within the U.S. If you are traveling internationally during the summer semester, students will NOT have access to their learning platforms.

Students with disabilities are welcome to attend Summer Semester; however, IEP’s will not be implemented in summer semester unless an Extended School Year IEP is on file. Consult with your school counselor and/or case manager before registering for courses. 

Madison Metro Summer Youth Bus passes will be available at your school before the end of the year and at the High School Summer Sites during Summer Semester. Reminder that only metro routes run in the summer. For route information, go to: https://www.cityofmadison.com/metro/routes-schedules.

Summer Semester is an extension of the regular school year, therefore, all other rules and procedures from the regular school year must be observed during Summer Semester, including the MMSD Behavior Education Plan.  Students who are removed two times from a class for inappropriate behavior may be dropped from that class and will not receive credit. Students suspended two times from Summer Semester will be dropped from Summer Semester and will not receive credit. If in person, loitering in school or on campus will not be allowed. Students who arrive early are to wait outside the school building. The only areas students are to be in or use in the school are the Summer Semester instructional areas and halls leading directly to or from these instructional areas. 

There are no course fees for Summer Semester, and students who reside in the MMSD attendance area or have been attending MMSD for the current school year under Open Enrollment do not need to pay tuition.

However, students who reside outside of the MMSD attendance area AND have not been attending MMSD for the current school year may apply for Part-Time Open Enrollment (PTOE) Per Wis. Stat. § 118.52(2). The resident school district is responsible for the cost of the summer school courses. The nonresident school district directly bills the resident school district.  Note: a student who just finished 8th grade (a rising 9th grader) would not be eligible for a high school program like PTOE until July 1, when the new school year officially begins. Therefore, they could not apply for a summer course that starts before this date, as they are not yet officially considered a high school student.

A PTOE student can take summer school courses in a nonresident district under the part-time open enrollment program. However, only courses that are eligible to be counted for state aid purposes may be taken under the program. Part-time open enrollment allows a student to apply to take up to two courses in any public school district while remaining enrolled in their district of attendance for the majority of their courses. Parents may obtain an application from any school district or from the Department of Public Instruction’s part-time open enrollment website. Parents must have the PTOE form approved by the resident school district first before sending the form to the MMSD Summer.

View more information about the PTOE Process
 All questions regarding tuition may be directed to the Summer Semester site principal (see contact information). *Please submit a check or money order, not cash, for the correct amount to cover tuition. Make checks payable to “MMSD, Summer Semester 2026.

As a reminder, as of April 2024, access to district systems was restricted to locations within the U.S. This change was implemented to enhance data security and comply with regulations. If you are traveling internationally during the summer semester, students will NOT have access to their learning platforms.

View additional information about International access

Be aware that students MUST use their MMSD email account to access their classes. They cannot use a personal email to log in. We can no longer grant exceptions to this requirement. Students who choose to use a VPN (Virtual Personal Network) to access their courses do so at their own risk.

If you have previously taken a course and either did not pass this course or earned a lower grade than desired, you may recover credits through credit recovery or grade replacement. 

Hybrid Learning Credit Recovery courses are taken virtually with a licensed teacher providing students the opportunity to retake previous courses not passed (i.e., earned a grade of NC on their transcript).  In-person support is available from 9 am-12 pm at our high school sites. 

Blended Credit Recovery is best for those students who have previously participated in Blended Credit Recovery and may have courses in progress, students who are motivated to complete multiple classes to get back on-track with graduation requirements, students who do best with one teacher for multiple classes, and/or seniors (i.e., non-graduates) who need to complete a first-time credit course or a class that we do not offer in regular summer school, such as Art Experiences, to complete graduation requirements. This is very motivating for students, especially for seniors who need multiple classes to graduate, or students who struggle with transitions across multiple teachers.  Please note that these courses would not be for students who are on track for NCAA eligibility. 

Grade Improvement
Summer Semester courses may be used to replace the grade in a course previously taken if the student earned a D, C, or B (priority for grade replacement will be given to students with the lowest grades to replace). The Summer Semester course must be the same course taken during the regular school year in order for the grade to be replaced. Grade improvement is based on course availability and students may not know if they will have a seat in a class for grade improvement until the end of the first week of summer school. 

• A student would like to improve their Algebra I grade, they must take Algebra I in summer school. 
• A student would like to improve their Algebra I Honors grade, they may take Algebra I in summer school (Honors courses are not offered in Summer School). 
• AP grades may not be replaced with an Honors or regular course as the curriculum does not align. 

Students interested in taking a course for grade improvement should contact their counselor for more information.
 

2026 Summer Semester: 9-12 Letter Grades (A, B, C, D, NC).  Students who do not complete a summer course for credit recovery will receive a transcripted grade of WD (Withdraw).  

Students taking first-time credit classes can drop their course without the class appearing on their transcript during Weeks 1 and 2 of summer session. If a student drops a first-time credit course during Week 3 and 4, a WD will be listed on their transcript.  Students cannot drop first-time credit courses during Weeks 5 and 6; they will receive the grade earned based on work completed (A-NC).

MMSD continues to expand our first-time credit offerings for rising 9th-12th-grade students.  Summer presents a unique opportunity to offer courses that students may want to explore and/or may not be possible during a traditional school semester.

Check out our new courses that are worth .5 credits and are fun, yet rigorous, high school courses.  Most courses are scheduled in the morning during the six-week summer semester session.  Space is limited, and a lottery will be used if registration exceeds capacity. The deadline to be considered for the lottery is April 9th, with students/ families getting information as to their summer course selections starting the week of April 20th.  All enrollment after the lottery deadline is based on a first-come, first-served basis.  For more information, including descriptions of the available courses, please see the end of this document. Students may take up to 1 credit during Summer Semester for first-time credit based on availability, except for Experiential Learning. Students accepted into ECSA can take PE through Madison College if they need PE credits to graduate.  Therefore, we do not prioritize ECSA students over others for first-time credit summer classes.

Earn elective credit towards graduation through successful part-time work or volunteer experience. The number of credits earned is based on the number of documented work/volunteer hours. Students who are taking credit recovery or other courses in the morning are eligible for Experiential Learning Credit as well. Students need to meet the following requirements: 

1. Maintain continuous paid employment or documented volunteer service for a range of hours:

2. Complete and submit the required documentation related to the work/volunteer experience:

• Education/training agreement and learning plan, timesheet, attend 3 virtual employability workshops, and final reflection.

The Education/Training Agreement is due by July 3, 2026.  All assignments and work/volunteer hours applied toward Summer School must be completed by July 31, 2026. The number of credits earned is based on the number of verified work and volunteer hours: see details above.

Work Credit/Experience (WRK1010 / WRKY0000) 
For students engaged in a District-approved experiential learning activity facilitated by the Summer Semester Experiential Learning Liaison. Students are responsible for obtaining their own work/volunteer experience.

*Please note that Experiential Learning opportunities are only available to MMSD students.