Austin Public Schools’ summer school program is expanding.

The district plans to expand summer school services for the second year in a row, as well as combine its summer school and pre-kindergarten efforts, according to Woodson Kindergarten Center Principal Jessica Cabeen.

Cabeen informed the Austin Public Schools board of the district’s summer school plans at the board’s public meeting Monday night.

It will help students in grades 1-4 go through regular morning routines, get in the building, listen to stories, and have a self-reflection time. The program will look into the student’s regular schools to make sure the summer school program lines up with what they will be studying and learning during the school year.

Another part of summer school, called Start Our Day, or SOD, will get students to participate in a school-wide read in the morning. Teachers will then hold 30 minutes of working with growth versus a fixed mind-set, a 90 minute block for language arts and social studies, and a 90 minute block for math and science.

Last year, the district hosted 586 students, and this year officials think the numbers will be much higher. The district already has 540 students signed up, and that doesn’t include many of the students yet.

In other news, the board:

—Recognized the Peer Power Partners group out of I.J. Holton Intermediate School. Peer Power Partners groups general education students with special education students.

“We educate them and empower them to become advocates for those students with disabilities, and we also provide plenty of opportunities to foster those friendships and academic collaboration opportunities during the school day,” teacher Jessica Carlson said.

There are 51 students in the program altogether, about 40 mentors and 10 mentees.

—Learned Sumner Elementary School will continue on its year-round, 45/15 scheduling. District officials recently received approval from the state Department of Education to continue having Sumner run on an alternate schedule for the next three years.

—Was invited by Pat McGarvey to provide input on the duties and qualifications for a new city administrator for Austin. McGarvey, a former city administrator who retired in 2003, was recently hired by the Austin City Council to help the city search for a new city administrator. McGarvey said he and city Human Rescources Director Trish Wiechmann hope to have an outline of the city administrator position for the council to review at its June 2 meeting, and formally approve at its June 16 meeting.