Transforming Learning: We Have an Extended Day

At The Foundations School, we have an extended day. Our school day starts at 7:45am and ends at 3:45pm, with aftercare running until 5:45pm. This longer learning period gives us the opportunity to do more in the classroom and work with students who need one-on-one attention to make up for learning loss in previous schools. 

The Benefits Of An Extended Day

According to Christopher Gabrieli and Warren Goldstein, authors of Time To Learn: How a New School Schedule Is Making Smarter Kids, Happier Parents & Safer Neighborhoods, extra time is necessary for students to develop the skills and acquire the knowledge necessary to succeed.

“In effective new day schools, teachers and principals talk constantly about how to make best use of time,” Gabrieli and Goldstein write. “They wrestle with finding the best ways to apply more time in core academic subjects, to help teachers incorporate more individualized instruction and project-based learning into their classes, and to balance added core academic time with more time for engaging enrichment in arts, music, drama, sports, and other essential aspects of a well-rounded education.” 

Our Approach

At The Foundations School, having an extended day allows our teachers to dive deeper into subjects and work one-on-one with students. “We use that time to make sure that we’re helping the students achieve academic and social emotional success,” said Jerry Crank, Chief Operations Officer at CCE. 

“Our extended day allows for us to have very in-depth instruction with the students,” one CCE staff member said. “But also time to play and reset.” The extended day not only allows for greater academic focus, but also time for yoga, brain breaks, and additional recess. 

Overall, the extended day model gives us the opportunity to create strong classroom learning, deepen our individualized instruction, and give students the chance to develop their social emotional skills.

You can read our previous installment of Transforming Learning here. If you want to learn more about our literacy results, click here.