The calendar read June 4, but the Winnie the Pooh and Scooby Doo backpacks hanging from a hallway coat rack showed that school still was in session for the summer.

That's because almost as soon as the spring semester was done, students at the West Side charter school La Escuela De Las Americas were coming back for the school's summer review program.

The Mexican American Unity Council, located across the street from La Escuela, founded the school in 1998.

The summer school is exclusively for La Escuela students. This is the second year MAUC has organized the summer program at La Escuela, 111 N. Sabinas.

"We want to give the kids the opportunity to have fun in the summer but always be in a learning environment," explained Frances Teran, school administrator and president of MAUC.

The children come to school from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday — just like a normal school day — for six weeks. The summer school helps eliminate the period of remediation many students need in the fall after a summer without classes, Teran said.

"We want to minimize that if at all possible," she said.

Of the 97 students enrolled in La Escuela, 35 are participating in the summer school program. La Escuela will be open to prekindergartners through fifth-graders starting in the fall.

The fee to participate in the six-week program is $25. That includes the cost of weekly field trips to such places as the McNay Art Museum, the San Antonio Botanical Garden and the Alamo.

The students in the summer program come from seven school districts in Bexar County. Their teachers are eight AmeriCorps volunteers.

The volunteers assist La Escuela teachers during the school year and teach during the summer session.

They also design the summer curriculum, ranging from science projects to world geography and study skills.

"We wouldn't be able to run the summer school program if it weren't for AmeriCorps," Teran said.

MAUC partnered with AmeriCorps starting three years ago through the National Council of La Raza. AmeriCorps gives each volunteer an educational stipend after he or she finishes at least one year of volunteer service. Volunteers can stay with AmeriCorps up to two years.

This is Connie Martinez's second year in the AmeriCorps program and with La Escuela. Before coming to the school, she had no teaching experience.

"The reason why I like working here is I get to help them in their development in education," Martinez said of the students. "I can see differences from beginning to end."

She plans to enter San Antonio College in the fall and pursue a career in school counseling or teaching.

One recent summer afternoon inside her classroom, rain slapped against an upstairs window, labeled with the Spanish word "ventana" for window. Her fourth-graders drew the world for a map quiz, labeling the different continents and carefully distinguishing the land from the ocean with green and blue crayons.

"We get to be with all our friends here," said 9-year-old Elbert Greene III. "We get the advantage of learning at a better pace and we get to learn everything quicker. We don't forget a lot of things."

"It's fun here," added classmate April Amaya, 10. "They show you a lot of things."

Martinez had stapled an article on the recent death of former President Ronald Reagan to the wall.

Such topics become part of the weekly discussions, just like asking students what they did over the weekend, Teran said.

"Where if they'd been at home there probably would have been no discussion of those issues as far as, this is history in the making, this is social studies," she added.

But the students aren't the only ones learning. For some AmeriCorps volunteers, the transition from teaching assistant to full-time teacher can pose challenges.

"I'm seeing the teacher's side," said Adriana Madrigal, 29, who joined AmeriCorps in January. "It's a very good experience. I liked it, working with the students."

The mother of three plans to pursue a career as a medical assistant after finishing her time with AmeriCorps.

The June morning she helped students make floating paper boats looked more like September, with clouds blocking the sun outside her classroom window. But the summer showed itself in the tall sunflowers in the school's garden — flower and vegetable beds planted steps away from the school playground.

Elbert and April were looking forward to a field trip to the Alamo later that afternoon, if the rain cleared up.

But rain or shine, the learning never stops at La Escuela.

"We have to commit to lifelong learning," Teran said.

vdavila@express-news.net