Ridge Park Charter Academy opens school year

GRAND RAPIDS (WZZM) - Students and staff at Ridge Park Charter Academy showed up to class Wednesday ready for the start of the school year.

Johan Linna the Dean of Upper Elementary said, "Surprisingly a lot of the students last night were excited to get back to school."

Many of the students at Ridge Park are enrolled in English Language Learners (ELL) classes. The staff developed a year-round schedule to help students retain what they learned from the previous school year with shorter breaks.

Linna adds, "We find there is less summer learning loss. Most traditional schools will start after Labor Day, but starting six weeks prior to Labor Day, we feel we are ahead of the curve."