Some students attend summer school to ace classes in fall

By STELLA M. CHÁVEZ / The Dallas Morning News schavez@dallasnews.com Julie Chang is spending the summer learning calculus at a college prep school. In the fall, she's going to take calculus again, as a junior at Plano Senior High. Her strategy is simple: Learn as much as possible about the subject over the summer so there's a good chance of acing the class when it really counts – during the school year. And maybe she can reach her goal of being valedictorian for the Class of 2010. Every summer, a select group of students enrolls in rigorous courses from calculus to physics at private schools and local community colleges. But Julie and other highly motivated students like her elect not to receive credit. Instead, they hope their hard work over the summer will bring greater success when they take the class for actual credit.... [read full story]