Revere schools to showcase extended day program for state

REVERE – Local educators’ success in merging extended-day programs with after-school programs has captured statewide attention.Superintendent Paul Dakin said extended-day organizers will take part in this Friday’s education summit on lengthening the school day.Charlotte Ferrante represented the parents’ perspective last year when Garfield Middle School educators discussed extending the school day to 3:45 p.m. She said her son, Michael, enjoys the longer day and the chance to participate in extracurricular classes like “Law and Order.””This is something otherwise he would not have been able to do until high school,” she said.Hosted by Gov. Deval Patrick and sponsored by Massachusetts 2020 and the state Department of Elementary & Secondary Education, the 4th annual Expanded Learning Time (ELT) Summit will take a deep look at the issues of quality, impact and results of lengthening the school day.Revere educators will highlight their experience working with local after school provider Kids Smart and Generation Inc., an organization that matches seniors with students who need tutoring.He said their presentation at the Boston seminar will focus on two questions:”How do you expand the learning community through partnerships? How do you bridge the experience from school into after school?”Whelan and Garfield Middle School extended their school day to 3:45 p.m. in August. The state provided $1.5 million to cover teachers’ pay for the extra hours worked.The added hours focus on English language and mathematics instruction as well tutoring and experimental learning. Generation Inc. tutors work with students while teachers meet to compare and develop lesson plans.Dakin envisions other local elementary schools adopting extended day and using the time to offer music, art and physical education programs and provide homework time for students.The national effort to redesign schools with substantially more time for learning is growing rapidly in the state. Poised to become a model for national replication, the Expanded Learning Time Initiative now includes 26 schools with more than 13,000 students and more than 30 schools that are considering implementation in 2009.School and district leaders, teachers, school committee members, union leaders, community-based organizations and policymakers from Massachusetts and from around the country will explore and analyze the key issues related to creating Expanded Learning Time schools.