Summer school

Summer school (or summer university) is a school, or a program generally sponsored by a school or a school district, or provided by a private company, that provides lessons and activities during the summer vacation. Participation in summer schools has been shown to have substantial beneficial effects on educational progress.

Summer schools in North America

In elementary and middle school, these programs are often non-academic, though some are used for remedial instruction.

In high school, college or university, students can enroll in classes for credit to be taken into account in their grade point average or their transcript. Generally, this credit is in one of two categories: remediation or advancement. For remediation, the summer school is used to make up credits lost through absence or failure. For advancement, the summer school is used to obtain credit for classes to accelerate progress toward a degree or to lessen the load of courses during the regular school year. Many universities offer short-term summer courses to attract both local and international students, and these programs are often surrounded by social activities.

Bowser Jr.

Bowser Jr. (known as Koopa Jr. (Japanese: クッパＪｒ., Hepburn: Kuppa Junia) in Japan), or sometimes simply Jr., is a video game character who appears in Nintendo's Mario franchise as a recurring antagonist. As his name implies, he is the son of the series' primary antagonist, Bowser. Since his debut in Super Mario Sunshine, Bowser Jr. has been a recurring character in the Mario series, and has been made playable in several spin-offs, such as Mario Superstar Baseball, Mario Strikers Charged, and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. He wants to do nothing more than his father's will (kidnap Princess Peach and defeat Mario).

Design and characteristics

Bowser Jr. is a yellow-skinned Koopa similar to his father with the same yellow and tan skin complexion, as well as a light green head and a tuft of red hair. He has one small tooth in his mouth and a large snout, as well as small circular eyes that are beady and black in color. His shell is lined with a green encasing with small white spikes. By contrast, Junior typically wears a white bandanna (garment) that's decorated with drawn-on fangs and worn like a mask (however it is absent in Mario Strikers Charged, and he wore a blue bandanna with Mario's mustache in Super Mario Sunshine).This bandanna is also often worn over his stomach. Bowser Jr. also has two metal wristbands, while Bowser wears four that are all spiked.

Summer

Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, falling between spring and autumn. At the summer solstice, the days are longest and the nights are shortest, with day-length decreasing as the season progresses after the solstice. The date of the beginning of summer varies according to climate, tradition and culture, but when it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere, it is winter in the Southern Hemisphere, and vice versa.

Timing

From an astronomical view, the equinoxes and solstices would be the middle of the respective seasons, but sometimes astronomical summer is defined as starting at the solstice, the time of maximal insolation. A variable seasonal lag means that the meteorological center of the season, which is based on average temperature patterns, occurs several weeks after the time of maximal insolation. According to meteorologists, summer extends for the whole months of June, July, and August in the northern hemisphere and the whole months of December, January, and February in the southern hemisphere. Under meteorological definitions, all seasons are arbitrarily set to start at the beginning of a calendar month and end at the end of a month. This meteorological definition of summer also aligns with the commonly viewed notion of summer as the season with the longest (and warmest) days of the year, in which daylight predominates. The meteorological reckoning of seasons is used in Austria, Denmark, the former Soviet Union and Japan. It is also used by many in the United Kingdom. In Ireland, the summer months according to the national meteorological service, Met Éireann, are June, July and August. However, according to the Irish Calendar, summer begins on 1 May and ends on 1 August. School textbooks in Ireland follow the cultural norm of summer commencing on 1 May rather than the meteorological definition of 1 June.

School

A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students (or "pupils") under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools. The names for these schools vary by country (discussed in the Regional section below) but generally include primary school for young children and secondary school for teenagers who have completed primary education. An institution where higher education is taught, is commonly called a university college or university.

In addition to these core schools, students in a given country may also attend schools before and after primary and secondary education. Kindergarten or pre-school provide some schooling to very young children (typically ages 3–5). University, vocational school, college or seminary may be available after secondary school. A school may also be dedicated to one particular field, such as a school of economics or a school of dance. Alternative schools may provide nontraditional curriculum and methods.