Longer school day bears fruit
ALFIE KOHN and Leo Reyzin ("Reading, writing, arithmetic, but more hours of it," Letters, Dec. 4) as well as other readers should be aware that in several Worcester schools, longer school days do not mean more of the same. These schools (Jacob Hiatt and City View, for example) are taking advantage of existing partnerships with area cultural organizations to bring integrated, hands-on, project-based learning to their students. These types of opportunities do often get dropped in the quest for higher MCAS scores in an ordinary-length school day. Longer school days afforded by state grants allow the time for more creative learning. These schools are, in fact, getting their students more excited about learning and offering opportunities that can benefit students at all levels of ability.
ANN MARIE PILCH
Boylston
The writer is a youth education coordinator at Tower Hill Botanic Garden.
IT WAS gratifying to read about how longer school days are resulting in higher MCAS scores in traditional public schools ("Longer school days appear to boost MCAS scores," City & Region, Nov. 30). One of the reasons charter schools were created more than a decade ago was to implement reforms that could be adopted in district schools. A great number of charter schools - not just a few, as you stated - offer longer school days. In Boston, MATCH's school day runs from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and many kids stay until 8 p.m. for extra tutoring. Codman Academy holds classes six days a week.
The results at charter schools offer the state a glimpse of the kind of academic gains that can be achieved by extending the school day. Several urban charters, with high populations of minority and low-income students, rank higher on MCAS than many of the best suburban districts. In Boston, almost every charter middle and high school rivals the performance of the city's elite exam schools.
The state is on the right path, and it has been paved by charters.
CHARLES T. GRIGSBY
Jamaica Plain
The writer is on the board of the Neighborhood House Charter School in Dorchester. 