South Kitsap School District’s summer-school program continues to evolve.

Shannon Thompson, the district’s director of curriculum, said junior-high students now will be able to take some classes online. She said those subjects, which include language arts and math, are offered for “skill building” rather than credit recovery.

“It partially is the way the world is going and how to better meet the needs of our students,” Thompson said.

Other online courses are offered to high-school students to recover credits in English, science, history and social studies.

High school-aged students still can take a variety of courses in the traditional classroom setting. Eric Canton, who is the director and principal for the summer-school program at South Kitsap High School, said courses are offered in English, Washington state history, math, swimming and a High School Proficiency Exam preparation class.

Classes run from 8 to 11 a.m. July 16 to Aug. 3 at the high school. Each costs $185.

Canton said the majority of students enroll in summer school to “recover” credits, but he said there are a small number that also want to repeat a course to earn a better grade. For example, a student who earns a “B” in physical education, biology and English, but a “D” in geometry, would finish that term with a 2.5 grade-point average. But repeating geometry and replacing that “D” with a “B” would boost the student’s GPA to a 3.0.

Swimming is one course that only runs at the high school. Thompson said that class is different from the others because students usually sign up for it to avoid taking it during the normal school year. She said many students like to take the class during the summer, which allows them to sign up for another elective during the school year. Canton said there is another reason behind its popularity.

“I think there’s a lot of people who don’t like to have to come to school and do their hair and makeup,” he said. “A lot of kids express that.”

The district now combines lessons with its summer-lunch program. Superintendent Dave LaRose renamed it the Summer Lunch Program in 2010 under his “Whole Child” philosophy. He said the aim of Whole Child is to make each student feel safe, healthy, cared for and supported, engaged and connected, and challenged.

The Summer Lunch Program runs from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. from Monday through Aug. 19 at East Port Orchard, Orchard Heights and Sidney Glen elementary schools. SKSD director of food and nutritional services Ariane Shanley said those sites were selected because they have the highest levels of students on free- and reduced-price lunch in the district. She said 150 to 200 lunches were served daily at each site.

The other portion of the program runs from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on those dates. That portion of the program is open to all elementary school students and focuses several activities. In 2010, Tim Shaffer brought kits to build birdhouses, while Will Murray instructed a class on robotics.