Saturday School is a learning program that takes place on Saturdays in addition to the traditional weekday schedule. The program is designed to run on Saturdays rather than after regular school hours during the week, as the name implies. In general, Saturday School is for children in kindergarten through grade twelve.
A Saturday School platform can be used for two different purposes. Saturday school is geared toward providing additional learning opportunities for gifted students in some communities. When this is the case, the program’s components are set up to complement the areas of study that are appropriate for each grade while also providing a level of challenge that goes beyond the standard curriculum. This allows students who are bored with school during the week to be intellectually stimulated on Saturdays, potentially reducing the likelihood of poor performance during the week.
A second use of the Saturday School program is to assist students who are having difficulty with their classes during the week. Students who have missed a significant amount of instruction due to illness can catch up with their peers by attending make-up sessions on Saturdays in this setting. Simultaneously, students who have difficulty assimilating information during the week will have the opportunity to receive instruction from a variety of teachers through the program, and will hopefully begin to relate to the subject matter encountered during the week.
Saturday School sessions are usually scheduled for five to eight weeks and are usually accredited by the local public school district. The offered courses’ content is approved by local and state boards of education, and they typically use textbooks and other materials that have been approved by these bodies. Many jurisdictions provide the extra school program for free or at a low cost, with scholarship funds available for families who cannot afford it. The program is usually held in a public school setting. There are some Saturday School programs, however, that are housed on local college campuses.