Extended School Day Slows Dropout Rate

By Mike Phipps

The last things any high school administrator wants to encounter are high dropout rates and a struggling student population. The students' well-being and comfort within any high school are of utmost importance.

But, all schools are not alike. Each school is a different scenario, a different setting, a different environment. Students react differently due to population, peer and socioeconomic influences. Everyone's lives simply aren't the same.

So, what happens when things start to slide? An attempt must be made to turn things around.
In the mid-1980s, I was principal of Artesia (New Mexico) High School. There were roughly 1,050 students, many of whom were in low-income and high-risk situations. Many of the students were not regularly attending classes, and the dropout rate was increasing.

Several students needed to work during the day - for instance, a typical 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. day shift - in order to provide necessities for their families, and this compromised their coursework. The requirements for graduation simply were not being met because the students could not be in school during traditional hours.

We had to find an answer to this dilemma. And the answer certainly was not letting those rates continue to drop.

My staff of teachers and counselors worked together and realized that many of the students who were dropping out or were not successful could benefit from an alternative school day schedule – classes from 3:30 to 9 p.m. So we adopted our "Extended Day Program."

We kept our facilities open in the evening, opened the media center two nights a week for tutoring and hired extra tutors for English and math. This was our attempt to help out the kids who were so willing to help out their own families in need.

We started with a limited (but dedicated) staff and limited class offerings. More than 90 students chose to take advantage of the classes we offered during the Extended Day Program, and more than 100 students were involved in the nighttime tutoring and media center availability.

It turns out that this program, which was intended for the needs of at-risk students, met the needs of all students at the high school. Many students were able to enroll in classes they couldn't have before due to extracurricular activities. They didn't have to abandon the love of their activity, and they were able to further the scope of their education. It was a dream come true.

After we had a semester under our belt, we tried new class schedules. We expanded the length of the classes to 1½ hours twice a week instead of 45-minute classes four times a week. This change simply made it easier for the students to keep up their attendance. The media center also allowed students to take "make-up tests" rather than taking them during class time. This was a great opportunity to receive homework credit and recover assignment credits.

The Extended Day Program is still successful today. Our classes have expanded to include jazz band, chorus, woodworking, computer classes, science, physical education, drafting and auto mechanics in addition to the original math and English classes.

Our graduation rates increased, and the dropout rates decreased. Grade-point averages also improved. It was the kind of improvement we desired from the beginning.

The students were able to broaden their educational experience by taking additional classes that weren't available to them during the traditional school day, and they were still able to work or fulfill other family obligations.

Twenty years later, and the Extended Day Program still continues. There are more than 90 students furthering their educational experience and interscholastic activity participation each semester, and many students have graduated by specifically enrolling in the Extended Day Program.

Even though the school facilities are kept open and active until 9 p.m., the benefits outweigh those costs. The cost of the program in negligible because our student enrollment figure remains high and our dropout rate remains low.

This program also provides additional income for our staff. Those staff members who choose to teach in the Extended Day Program earn more money for their families as well.

It would be too easy to glance over problematic scenarios and hope they just go away. High school is a critical time in any teenager's life. Students learn things that will carry over into their older years; they will gain social skills as they interact with peers; and they will inherit invaluable lessons from the people who so desperately want to see them succeed.

For high school administrators who have seen students suffer academically or socially because of outside influences or family obligations, the Extended Day Program can be a useful remedy.
Will it be easy and effortless? No.

Will all the aspects translate perfectly to your high school? Probably not.
Will it be a panacea? Not exactly.

But here's the most important question: Will it be worth it? Absolutely.

You can never place a value on a kid's education, and an Extended Day Program certainly is an idea that can help out any high school in a similar situation.

Mike Phipps is superintendent of the Artesia (New Mexico) Public Schools and is a member of the High School Today Publications Committee. Assistance on this article was provided by Bob Herman, a fall semester intern in the NFHS Publications/Communications Department and a junior at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana.