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Show Reflex- - Journal : : - What is an extended school day program? By DONETA GATHERUM What is an extended school day? Which schools in Davis County are using this program? Is it benefitting the students? What do teachers and administrators think about this pilot program that has only been tried for a month? To answer these questions, this reporter visited Layton Elementary School, one of four Davis District schools using the extended day plan. She followed a first grader and a sixth grader through a day of school. Some of her pre-form- attitudes and beliefs about extended day programs were changed through this experience. The extended day program is designed to allow better use of a school building by increasing the student enrollment but not adding teachers or new rooms to the school. Layton Elementary, Boulton, Knowlton and Adams schools are all participating in the program. Layton has one of the smaller enrollments with 875 students compared to 825 students last year. The school is operating with four fewer teachers. Some aides have been added to assist in special classes. Stephen Bumingham, principal at Layton Elementary, is the coordinator for the extended day program. He started working closely with the other principals, Forest Barker, Maynard Whitesides and Glen Tonge, over a year ago to : OCTOBER 6, 1987 establish a program that would offer good instruction to students in a different way. All schools are using the same basic program. The extended day allows for great flexibility so there are modifications in each school that adapt the program to the needs of the individual school. Subjects are divided into two Core and Arts. The categories core classes are math, reading, social studies, English and handwriting. The arts classes are art, music, physical education-healt- h and sci- ence. Students attend core sessions on a daily basis. The arts classes are taught on alternate days Monday, Wednesday, Friday for two subjects and Tuesday, Thursday for the other two. At the semester, the arts classes will Zktr JUjJ teacher for help. She says there were problems at first but most were caused through lack of communication. The kids love it. There is a real plus because no child has a single teacher for more than three hours a day, she con- switch so those taught three times a week will be taught twice weekly. A computer class is offered to all students K-- 6 at least 40 minutes a week. Special programs are taught depending on the grade level. Some computer programs have been developed by a teacher and then adapted to computer use. The computers were purchased using a portion of the state grant money allotted to the District and to the individual schools who are trying this pilot program. Teachers were given the opportunity to try the extended day program which meant longer days, more preparation, in some cases, the frustrations that come with something new. If they chose not to participate, they were allowed to transfer to a school not on the extended day. The flexible structuring of the program allowed teachers to vary their assignments. Some teachers have two sessions of core classes. Some teach only art subjects. Others combine core classes and arts subjects. In some cases a teacher has five or more daily lesson preparations to make. One teacher noted at the first of the year, it was necessary to stay at school late into the evening to prepare for the next day. In addition to the core or arts teaching assignments, the teachers could be responsible for other things. There is an assist time when a teacher helps another teacher for 40 minutes by correcting papers, working with students in small groups or preparing teaching materials. It is possible for a teacher to have two assists daily. Some teachers trade core subjects. A teacher might teach a spelling or handwriting class in exchange for an assist. Each teacher is allowed a preparation time of about 40 minutes cludes. Although it was believed that class sizes especially in the core subjects would be smaller, this has not happened in most situations. At Layton Elementary, the core class size varies from a low of 18 to a high of 33, Mr. Bumingham says. Most teachers felt this was comparable with class sizes in the regular schools. Art classes are generally larger. At Layton the smallest arts enrollment is 44 and the largest is 49 students. Mr. Bumingham sees many positive aspects in the extended day program. First, the morning recesses and afternoon have been eliminated. This gives more instruction time to each student. Second, teachers have to specialize more. The instruction is more intense. There are fewer interruptions. Third, the program guarantees that each child will receive instruction in all areas of the curriculum on a daily basis. Under a regular school system, a teacher might elect to skip art or music for an extended period of time to concentrate on a science or physical education unit. The extended day is structured so an allotted amount of time is given to each subject dai-lFinally, Mr. Bumingham observes there are three hours each day when only half the school population is in the building. This is a quiet time and a prime study time, he concludes. Teachers like the opportunity the extended day gives them to specialize in one teaching area. They appreciate the cost savings to the school district and the tax daily. payers. Although all have had to At first, there was the need for adapt and change their teaching volunteers in the school to help stu-- , methods, this is viewed by most as dents , especially the younger ones , a challenge and a plus. find classes. After a month, the stu- The biggest teacher complaint to the progwas the size of the classes especial, dents are.well-adapteram. Mrs. Bertha McGee, first ly in the core subjects. We just grade teacher, says They all dont get to know the students as know it is like home. If you have well as we would like to, many problems, you go back to your first teachers commented. They also y. d AIL PHOTOS BY DONETA A teacher and an aide of the pilot extended GATHERUM handle physical education duties for these 2nd graders. It's part day program being tried in four district elementary schools. showed concern over the number of different students they have in their classes core and arts. The mixing of grades in some arts classes doesnt seem to be as successful as anticipated. The extended day means more work for the same amount of pay for many school employees including secretaries, custodians, prin- cipals, librarians and lunch workers. Some of the extra time with the school lunch administration will be eliminated when the district receives card readers which will allow the students to move through the lunch line quickly and a machine will check the tickets, similar to the system used in lib- raries. Layton Elementary has a safety problem on Gentile Street. The crossing guard is not hired to handle both sessions of children so there are many young people walking along this busy street and crossing the street unassisted. The school staff hopes they can get Layton City to pay for additional traffic guard service. After spending one month in a new pilot program, changes and adaptations have been made. More will follow as administrators, teachers and parents work out the bugs that come with any new program. Although there were many concerns expressed, no one seemed to feel the extended day program is a bad idea or one that cant be made to work well for the staff and students. A day witti two pmpils By DONETA GATHERUM LAYTON Darby Gardner ar- rived at Layton Elementary School at 7:35 a.m. He reached his first class, a core section, in time for the 7:45 bell. After taking care of some school business including calling At 9:30, Darby left Mrs. the roll and taking the lunch count, his teacher, Mrs. Scoffield, started with the first core subject of the day, spelling. There were 29 students in this 6th grade core class. The spelling lesson was followed by one in reading and one in English. Scof-fiel- room for Mr. Laytons. Here, he completed his remaining core classes, math and social studies. At 10:45 Darby was ready for lunch. The idea of eating tacos before noon didnt bother Darby. His group eats first and then moves to the playground for the only free period of the day. Half of the students eat while the other half have their recess. This allows the lunch staff to feed the studentbody in a 50 minute period. Darbys afternoon classes are in the arts area. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays he stueducation dies from Mrs. Scoffield and science from Mrs. Anderson. Tuesdays and Thursdays Darby goes to Mrs. Drysdale for music and Mrs. Boyce for art. The days of these classes will change at the semester. At 2 p.m. Darby has completed health-physic- al his schooling for the day. He likes the program and he especially appreciates getting out early. First grader Chad Leavitts day is the reverse of Darbys. He starts with the arts subjects and moves into the core classes in the late afternoon. Chads school day begins at 9: 15 a.m. He is assigned to a combination first and second grade science class. There are 41 students in this large section. After a lesson on the places where animals live, Chad moves to his music class. Lunch break starts at 10:45. Chads group has recess first followed by his meal. In the afternoon, Chad goes to his core classes where he studies the basic reading, spelling, writing, math and social studies curriculum. This first grader knows where his classes are. He can identify each teacher by face and name. Chad completes his school day at 3:30 p.m. a Mk Second graders get their chance at computers as part of extended day program at Layton Elementary School. Students spend at least 40 minutes a week in front of a computer. Chad Leavitt is a first grader at Layton Elementary School. Hes shown in front of his core" 1 st grade class where he will study reading, writing and math the 3 R's. Brent Harnois, 5th grade science student, shows his monarch butterfly hours after it hatched. Extended day program to be expanded in 1988-8- 9 school year FARMINGTON The pilot extended day program that is being used at Layton, Adams, Knowlton and Boulton elementaries will be school expanded for the 1988-8year. The five next largest elementary schools in the district, East Layton, Lincoln, West Bountiful. Columbia and Woods Cross, will be placed on an extended day program. Associate Superintendent Gayle Stevenson notes the extended day concept offers no savings in salar 9 in a core Darby Gardner is a 6th grader students. including 29 English grader Chad Leavitt is in an "arts class that includes students. First class A A A 41 teachers are paid more for more hours of work. The big savings is in the capital outlay (construction) budget. The number of classrooms saved by the extended day this year in the four pilot schools would be equal to a full school costing about $2.5 million. ies since Since the school district has no plans to build additional elementary schools in the immediate future, the extended day is one possible good solution to a major overcrowding problem. |