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| Blog Series - Innovations in Expanded Learning Opportunities: The Community Schools Strategy |
See also: Other Blogs in the ELO Blog Series
Extended School Day Redesigned
By
Jodi Miller, Intern
at the Coalition for Community Schools
Steven Mitchell, Full
Service Community School Coordinator at Young Achievers
Bo Hoppins, Interim
Executive Director at Young Achievers
Vision for Extending
the Traditional School Day
The idea of extending the school day is not a new one.
Educators have been looking at the value of transitioning from a six-hour day
to a seven- or eight-hour school day for years. Though the movement to increase
the number of hours students spend in school did not pick up momentum until
more recently, the Young Achievers Science and Mathematics Pilot School in
Boston, Massachusetts has proven that an extended day may be an effective way
to support at-risk youth.
Established by community activists, Young Achievers focuses
on teaching science and math to students of color in the Mattapan neighborhood
of Boston. Their vision includes partnerships with local organizations in order
to support the predominantly low-income population. Over the past two decades
the school has grown from a population of 150 students to approximately 600
children in grades K-8.
What sets this particular institution apart from other
schools in the Boston Public Schools is the unique schedule it follows and the
support it has to make that happen. As a pilot school, Young Achievers receives
the same budget as the more traditional schools in the area, but has more
autonomy with spending. Since its installation in the 1990s, a main priority of
administrators has been extending the amount of learning time. Instead of the
typical 8:00-3:00 school day, Young Achievers starts at 9:30 and ends at 4:30.
Enrichment Embedded
into the School Day
Young Achievers restructured their extended day to allow for
student enrichment and professional development. The creation of an enrichment
block that included traditional school specials along with more typical
“enrichment clubs” gives children access to non-academic learning opportunities
during the school day, while simultaneously providing teachers with time for
preparation and collaboration.
The enrichment block, supported primarily by community
partners, offers students a variety of specialty classes, also known as
specials. Some examples include music, physical education, art, dance and
chess. Students in both the lower school (grades PK-5) and the upper school
(grades 6-8) enjoy at least one special per day. The younger children attend
nearly all of the electives in order to gain maximum exposure to the offerings,
while older students select classes based on their preferences. The power to
decide gives students a sense of ownership over their education, and forces
them to evaluate their strengths.
Teachers also benefit from the inclusion of specials into
the schedule. During the time children spend at their electives, teachers can
plan or work with colleagues. This fosters more collaboration among
professionals and allows for increased class preparation time.
Though pleased with the results to date, the administration
is in the process of transitioning to a new schedule. The traditional five day
schedule became difficult to balance academic enrichment equitably for all
students because some children would have one special two days a week, while
others had three. Following a six day rotation would ameliorate the problem and
increase targeted interventions for at risk students.
School-Community
Partnerships a part of the Vision
Community activists who helped found the school emphasized
the value of community partnerships for ensuring students receive maximum
support. In 2010, the school received a federal Full Service Community Schools
grant that helped them partner with local organizations like Boston Nature
Center, Sports4Kids, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Mattapan Community
Health Center. These close relationships have allowed Young Achievers to offer
specials during the day as well as services before and after school. The
enrichment block has benefitted enormously from the partnership with Berklee
College of Music as well as the Museum of Fine Arts. Assistance from these
local organizations has provided stimulating programs students can enjoy during
the day.
Administrators at Young Achievers attribute the success of
their programs, especially the enrichment block to their relationships with
partners. According to Bwanda Owen, the former Director of School and
Community, had Young Achievers not been a community school they would:
[P]robably be leaning more towards
just trying to do everything ourselves, which doesn’t work. It’s really hard to
have an extended learning program without the support of the partnerships and
without the support of the community because it’s really hard to have all these
different enrichment activities just relying on the teachers.[i]
Community members and parents have been exceptionally
supportive of Young Achievers. Some volunteer their time in school, like the
community member who teaches a special of taekwondo, while others assist with
attempts to fundraise for the school. One special offered through the
Enrichment Club was taekwondo, led by a community member. This past May, Young
Achievers opened their new outdoor space provided by the Boston Schoolyard
Initiative. This private organization, which relies on the generosity of
foundations, corporations, partners, and volunteers has helped revitalize the
schoolyard of 84 schools, including Young Achievers. Friends of Young Achievers
(FOYA), a nonprofit created in 1999, has also been instrumental in assisting the
school to deliver academic excellence.
Challenges
One challenge associated with the extended day schedule has
been transportation. Parents who leave early for work rely on bussing provided
by the district. This prevents students from attending early morning or after
school programming. While the academic day officially begins at 9:30, students
can arrive at 7AM for academic assistance or non-academic learning
opportunities. Young Achievers also offers activities until 6PM for children
whose parents can pick them up. In order to ensure all children gain access to
traditional afterschool activities, Young Achievers established the enrichment
block to make the specials available to everyone.
[i] Jacobson, Reuben, and Martin J. Blank.
"Expanding the Learning Day: An Essential Component of the Community
Schools Strategy." New
Directions for Youth Development: Expanded Learning Time and Opportunities.
By Helen Janc Malone. Ed. Gil G. Noam. Vol. 131. Hoboken: Wiley Periodicals,
2011. 55-69. Print.
The Wallace Foundation, which has sponsored
this blog series, offers a library of free resources on expanded learning at www.wallacefoundation.org
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