MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WKRN) — Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) tests have been the topic of conversation across the state recently.

Some of the third-graders who did not pass the reading portion of the state’s test are now headed to summer school in hopes of moving on to the fourth grade. 

“I think that once those scores actually came out, it did make a big ‘Aha’ moment for some parents,” said Lisa Trail.

Trail, who is the director of communications and strategic initiatives for Murfreesboro City Schools, said there has been an increase in third-graders enrolled for their summer school program.

“So we have 650 third-grade students this year as compared to all grade levels last year being 800,” she said. “This year, (with) all grade levels, we have 1,200 students.”

There are 13 schools in the district with all of them focused on students in PreK through sixth grade.

Just over 24% of the district’s third graders did not meet the expectations on the ELA portion of the test. A little over 31% were approaching expectations.

“I think parents heard that it was coming,” said Trail. “I think parents had the information, but until it really touches your life, you may not pay attention.”

Trail said the district worked to communicate with parents about this new law early in the school year, while also preparing for the possibility of more students this summer.

“Our instruction team is prepared,” she said. “Our teachers are prepared. Our schools are prepared. They determined early on where summer school will be held. They made sure we had administrators to take care of that and the teachers to give students the best possible summer school experience.”

With summer school starting in just a few days, Trail said all these changes are already pushing school officials to start thinking about summer school for the next year.

“In general, we have to prepare for what we know now so we will learn from this summer school experience, and we’ll make sure it’s even better next year,” she said.

Murfreesboro City Schools will be providing meals and transportation for students attending summer school, which will begin June 5.

The district is still accepting students that are part of the Murfreesboro City Schools District for summer school.

You can call the district at 615-893-2313 if you need to enroll your child into the summer school program.