Sue Benn, a Buffalo seventh-grader, is attending summer school not because she has to, but because she wants to.

“My parents say that if you go to summer school you get more education,” said Sue, a student at Pfc. William J. Grabiarz School of Excellence. “You build up from what you already know. It’s only 20 days. Why would you sleep late for 20 days and pass up this opportunity?”

Sue, who is 12, represents the new look of summer school in Buffalo.

It used to be largely for students who failed grades or final exams.

Now, school officials are drawing from a much broader base by offering a growing range of summer options.

This year, an estimated 11,000 students—or 32 percent of the district’s total enrollment — will attend summer school. That’s up from 10,937 students last year and 7,235 in 2007.

In addition to traditional offerings, Buffalo provides College Board programs, SAT prep courses, language classes for immigrants and refugees, and enrichment classes in science, technology, engineering and math.

A high school program starting next week will offer credit recovery courses in the morning and paid internships in the afternoon.

“It’s not what we used to understand summer school to be,” said Michael J. O’Brien, Grabiarz principal. “This is more like an 11-month school year. We want parents to understand that learning doesn’t stop in the summer. The train keeps moving.”

And if Buffalo Superintendent James A. Williams has his way, all city students will eventually attend school year-round.

The traditional school year includes about 182 days of instruction. Summer school now stretches that to 202 days. Williams wants to extend the school year to 215 days.

“The ultimate goal is to have a longer school day and longer school year for everybody,” he said. “More time is a key component in catching them up.”

Already, Buffalo is bucking a national trend by expanding summer offerings.

School districts in many states — including Florida, California, Delaware, North Carolina and Washington — are eliminating or greatly reducing summer school due to budget crises.

“We’re seeing a disturbing trend of districts making huge cuts to summer school,” said Ron Fairchild, executive director of the National Center for Summer Learning at Johns Hopkins University. “They’re just devastating these programs.”

In contrast to Buffalo, just 10 percent of West Seneca’s students attend summer school. In the Williamsville district, officials estimate that 17 percent of their students will take part this summer.

Redefining summer school

President Obama, in a proclamation earlier this week, said summer school can be crucial to the success of students from low-income families.

“Like an athlete out of practice, a child who takes long breaks from learning can face academic setbacks,” he said. “High-quality summer learning programs help children catch up, keep up and work ahead.”

At Grabiarz — which enrolls 700 students during the regular school year — summer school attendance has grown to 400 from 40 or 50 in just three years.

O’Brien said summer school — formally called the Extended Learning Opportunities Program — was one of the key elements in raising the school’s average passing rate on state math proficiency exams to 70 percent from 13 percent in those three years.

“The bottom line is this: We were previously sealing our students’ fates, and now we’re securing their futures,” he said.

A representative for the Buffalo Teachers Federation said the first few days of summer school were marked by some elementary and middle school classes with as many as 33 students, late buses and a shortage of supplies.

But the union’s biggest concern was Williams’ decision to limit teachers in several summer school programs to half-days of work so they can be paid an hourly wage rather than a more expensive fraction of their annual salary.

That move has led to a shortage of special-education teachers and a lack of continuity for full-day students who have two teachers rather than one, said Sue Travis, a New York State United Teachers labor relations specialist assigned to the BTF.

“I think the staffing is a huge issue,” she said.

Will Keresztes, an associate Buffalo Public Schools superintendent, described the staffing decision as a reasonable cost-cutting measure.

“The district has to be very responsible in managing our academic programs,” he said. “This was a step in that direction.”

At Grabiarz, on Lawn Avenue, seventh- grader Danny Parsons said summer school is an “awesome” opportunity to be with his teachers and friends.

Sameria Howard, a classmate, shares Danny’s enthusiasm.

“If we all go to summer school, we’re able to learn more than we do at regular school,” she said. “When we come back, we’ll be smarter than we are now.”

Attitude adjustment

How do other students feel?

“I think 75 percent want to be here, and 25 percent don’t,” Sameria said. Sue Benn pegs student sentiment at closer to “50-50.”

Williams is a seeking a waiver from federal and state officials so he can use a greater share of federal stimulus funding to expand summer school next year.

Families, he said, are displaying a more positive attitude for a longer school year, creating additional demand for programs.

“We are getting calls now from people who want their kids in summer school,” Williams said.