Extended Day Solutions and FAQs

Solutions:
  1. Two hour study time from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM.
    1. There was a meeting with parents and administration on Monday, July 20. At that meeting the same issue most parents shared involved monitored supervision between the times of 3:00 PM and 5:00 PM for students in grades 7 through 11. Some ideas were discussed and the solution that was most advocated for was to offer a two hour study time from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM. The NCLA has found an individual to fill that void.
    2. However, as discussed, there will be a cost associated with this 2 hour block, the fee will be $25.00 a month and the monthly payment will go directly to the individual/s who is/are supervising said study time. The NCLA will not collect or process any of these fees. The $25.00 dollar monthly payment will cover Mondays through Thursdays assuming school's in session and not on Holiday or on a weather cancellation. This two hour block will not be offered on any Fridays.
    3. Therefore, assuming school's in session you can enroll your student on a monthly basis for $25.00 a month. This is a flat rate and will not be prorated, so if you only use the service once it is $25.00 dollars, if you use the service 20 days a month the fee is $25.00 dollars.
    4. For this to work we need at least 20 students, the deadline to submit your response is August 3rd. So, if this is a service you as a parent/guardian wish to use please fill out the following Google Form, click here.
  2. Car Pool Directory
    1. The other solution discussed was in regards to Car Pooling. Mr. Gonzales has worked hard to set-up a Car Pool directory. This service is free and is optional. If this is something you are interested in please visit our website thencla.org, click here for more information.  
Most Common Extended Day FAQs:
  1. Does that mean that one teacher could have multiple students staying for one day per week for 45 minutes to try to get extra help?
    1. Yes, this means that one teacher could have multiple students in his/her classroom at one time. Tutoring with a teacher is not meant to be one-on-one tutoring. However, the student will need to communicate to the teacher in question that he/she will attend the tutoring session. Under the past Extended Day paradigm, this teacher could have between 10 to 30+ students in his/her classroom, regardless if the students needed help or not. The NCLA is hopeful that this top number will go down dramatically and that only those students who need help and have work will elect to stay on the day that teacher elects to offer tutoring.
    2. This will also help teachers not burn out and allow them more time to plan and communicate with parents and see their families.
  2. What will the options be for students that need more time with a specific teacher or subject?
    1. It is our hope that with three math teachers, for example, that the teachers will offer tutoring on different days, say Wednesday, Tuesday, Thursday. This will allow a student to get extra help.
  3. Will the entire school now be dismissed at the same time (like in 2014-15 on Fridays)?
    1. Correct, if your student is not participating/attending CAP, Athletics, Clubs, Tutoring, Imprints, or Study Hall he/she would be dismissed at the same time as all the other students, 3:00 PM.
  4. For tutoring, are the teachers setting the same time each week or will it vary each week/periodically?  How will this schedule be communicated?
    1. The teachers will be setting up a specific day each week. For example, Mr. John Doe is a math teacher and his scheduled tutoring day is always on Thursday from 3:00 PM to 3:45 PM. However, if Mr. John Doe gets sick or something of this nature then Mr. John Doe will communicate this to the students and/or parents/guardians who signed up for tutoring. This should be a rarity but will likely happen during the course of the school year.
  5. What will the pickup time be for those that stay for tutoring?
    1. For those students who elect to stay only for tutoring, dismissal will be from 3:45 PM to 4:00 PM in the back where normal end of day pick up will be.
    2. If the student is going to tutoring then to a club or an athletic event the time for said student to be picked up would need to be coordinated between the student and parent/guardian.
  6. For those receiving tutoring is the pick up line only in the back or do they pick up in classroom?
    1. For students receiving tutoring they will be dismissed at 3:45 PM-3:50 PM and can be picked up in back. Parents will not pick up in the front office after 3:45.
    2. If a student needs to be dismissed prior to the end of tutoring he/she will be checked out by parent in the front office.
  7. What days and times for clubs and a list of clubs.
    1. The number of clubs, the kind of clubs, and the length of time each club will run will largely be determined by those who are able to volunteer their time and skills. This will allow for intense and focused small group learning. Gifted and talented students will be encouraged to find more advanced ways of demonstrating their mastery and skills by creating and running clubs.
    2. The normal time frame for clubs to meet at The NCLA will be within the time frame from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM. This is largely decided by the supervising club director.
    3. The following are clubs that were available last year and The NCLA expects they will remain largely the same and hopefully increase as more students get involved.
Art Club
Cyber Patriots
Drama Club
Fitness Club
Girl Scouts
Glee Club
Interact Service Club
Japanime Club
K - Kids
Legos
Little Buddies
National Honor and Jr. Honor Society
Robotics
Student Council
Yearbook
  1. What are the hours for CAP on Monday?
    1. CAP meetings will begin immediately after the end of the academic day (approximately 3:00 p.m.) each Monday and run until 5:30 p.m.  The NCLA Squadron will generally meet at The NCLA, in the gym.
  2. Is this decision already set in stone? On what date did The NCLA Board officially modify its extended day program?
    1. Yes, the Board of Trustees has approved this paradigm change for Extended Day for the 2015-2016 academic year. This decision was approved on 7/15/2015 at the Board of Trustees meeting.
    2. The Extended Day program was not terminated, it was changed/evolved to better serve the school, staff, students, and parents.
  3. Were there any The NCLA Board members who did not support said modification?
    1. Once again, Extended Day has not been terminated, it has been altered. The only major change being that there is no longer direct supervision for students in grades 7-11 for up to 2 hours daily and now CAP is included under the Extended Day umbrella. There were no The NCLA Board members who verbally opposed this paradigm change.
  4. On what date did The NCLA Board serve notice of such termination to the Public Schools of North Carolina – State Board of Education or to the Office of Charter Schools?  If The NCLA Board has not yet served said notice, on what date does it plan to do so?
    1. The NCLA has contacted the Office of Charter Schools on 7/20/2015. The NCLA needed the approval from the Board of Trustees before going forward. It is not allowed for The NCLA to submit a change without the Board of Trustees approval first.
  5. What are the full and exact reasons for The NCLA Board’s modification of the extended day program? Surely, The NCLA Board would have considered it wise to discuss the possible repercussions of altering the extended day program with a limited number of enrolled parents, prior to their decision to change said program.  
    1. The NCLA Board of Trustees did not terminate the Extended Day program. The only main change is in regard to the amount of time students can stay after school is over as well as now including CAP into Extended Day. When The NCLA was conceived the original idea was that a tutoring period would be offered as only one part of the approximately two hour time period. This approximately two hour block was also to involve athletics, CAP, clubs, etc and would be an aid to help close the achievement gap in regards to academic standards like the EOC/EOGs and NWEA. However, after only two years of operation it is apparent that based off of students scores that this gap has disappeared and those extra two hours of study time daily are not warranted as well as expensive. Thus, The NCLA feels that by offering 45 minute tutoring sessions those children who do struggle will still be able to get help and by not monitoring 40 to 80 students daily.
    2. Further, as you may  recall, all parents/guardians were given the option, twice, once in October and once in January to enroll their students into the two hour supervisory block, which most refer to as Extended Day. Although that was not the intent. Please read the following message that was sent out on Oct. 2, 2014.
Greetings,
The NCLA is dedicated to serving its students, parents, and staff. After careful consideration and input from parents, we have decided that our Extended Day program is in need of revision. Although The NCLA will be unable to satisfy all involved, it is our goal to continually improve the program to best serve its students, parents, and staff. With that being said there are some changes that will be implemented starting this coming Monday, October 6th and they require feedback from our students’ parents/guardians.
  1. The NCLA Extended Day program will now be optional.
  2. The NCLA Extended Day program will only be offered for those 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th graders who sign-up for Extended Day.
  3. Once signed-up, the student is required to attend Extended Day for the remainder of the fall semester, unless the parent/guardian sends an email to Mr. Lake (klake@thencla.org) and Mr. Loggains (aloggains@thencla.org) explaining the reason for the absence. (Parents will be given this option again in January for the second semester.)
  4. CAP is not a part of the Extended Day program. Thus on the days that a student has CAP, either Monday or Wednesday,  that student is required to attend CAP. No one can opt out/sign-out of CAP.
  5. To enroll your student into Extended Day for the rest of the fall semester please submit this form.
  6. To Opt out of Extended Day for the rest of this semester please submit this form.
  7. The paradigm for Extended Day will remain the same.
  8. Please be advised that if the parent/guardian does not sign his/her student up for Extend Day, said student will not be permitted to stay in Extended Day and will be required to leave school campus upon dismissal at 3:05 PM.
Please fill out and submit the appropriate form above. By doing so, The NCLA can better plan and communicate with all those involved.


Thanks to all the parents of 7th, 8th, 9th, and some 10th graders for your patience and understanding regarding the Extended Day time period between 3:00 PM and 5:00 PM. When our charter was created, the Board members saw Extended Day as a time to allow students to take part in athletics, games, clubs, tutoring, etc. As our middle school and high school enrollment has grown, we feel it is time to move toward that original purpose for Extended Day. The NCLA is grateful and honored to serve the students, parents, and staff in this way. We The NCLA and all its programs successful. For The NCLA to fully develop and implement its mission regarding Extended Day (ED) we need your assistance and understanding. The NCLA realizes change can be frustrating and daunting; however, we believe this change with our Extended Day policy will allow us to better serve the individual needs of our families.


Thank you for understanding.

    1. Thus, The NCLA only offered this past paradigm of Extended Day to students in grades 7 to 10 and the enrollment was low. Before starting the second semester Mr. Lake sent out an additional sign-up Google Form. Out of 178 students only 109 students elected to stay and 69 elected to opt out. Thus, out of 532 students who attend The NCLA. The NCLA was only serving, at most, 109 students and only those students in grades 7 to 10. Pragmatically, with clubs, athletics, and CAP The NCLA was only reaching 40 to 80 students at best. Which, The NCLA feels is a small number compared to the other 492 to 452 students, less than 8% to 15% of the total student population.
    2. As can be seen, The NCLA and the Board of Trustees did implicitly receive the opinion of all parents/guardians, twice once in October and once in January. As well as when students disenrolled from the two hour block throughout both semesters. The NCLA also explicitly sought out the opinions of a select number of parents/guardians throughout the Spring semester before proposing this paradigm change. The feedback that The NCLA received was largely positive. The negative feedback The NCLA did receive was in regards to supervision. Those parents stated, that the main problem would be that parents will no longer have access to free student supervision, just like the other 92% to 85% of parents who have children in grades K-6. Those parents input have proven to be correct. After receiving and reading all 22 questions, The NCLA has seen that the major issue on parents minds is in regards to the loss of free supervision from the times of 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM. Although this was a nice benefit, that was never the intent of the past Extended Day paradigm nor will it be the intent of this current Extended Day paradigm. That being said, The NCLA wishes to work with parents, as seen above under the solutions section, to help them problem solve this current issue.
    3. The parents who were asked about this possible change were individuals who had proven to be honest, frank, and discreet. These individuals were asked about their opinion of Extended Day and also about the prospect of eliminating tutoring as well as this current amended paradigm. Unfortunately, The NCLA did not keep a list of which parents were asked, but in the estimate of Mr. Lake it was around 10 to 15 parents. Thus, The NCLA polled between 10% to 15% of the parents who this decision would affect. As stated earlier, the major negative feedback these parents voiced was in regards to free supervision.
    4. The NCLA also asked the teachers what they thought regarding the past Extended Day paradigm and they voiced the same concern. They stated that the major issue would be in regards to free supervision. Another issue the teachers brought up was teacher burnout. The teachers stated, that although the extra money was nice, it was negatively affecting their teaching and making their days extremely long, especially in regards to responding to emails, grading papers, and planning for future lessons. Further, all teachers believed that this current paradigm shift, although difficult at first, would be more beneficial for all parties then the previous paradigm.
    5. Lastly, The NCLA spoke with the School Leadership Team on July 8, regarding this proposed change. The School Leadership Team was implemented by Ms. Faenza and at their first meeting this new paradigm of Extended Day was discussed. The School Leadership Team is composed of teachers, staff, and parents. Once again, those involved believed the major issue would be free supervision. This group felt the new paradigm would be difficult at first, but would be a positive change in the long run.
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