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Once among the highest performing schools in Palmdale, CA, Tumbleweed Elementary had fallen on tough times over the last decade. Then, in 2010, California labeled Tumbleweed "persistently low achieving," ushering in a new era of school-wide transformation, featuring an expanded schedule, supported by federal School Improvement Grant funding. 

These days, when you read a headline like that, your mind instantly flashes to sequestration or some other partisan fight over the budget.  But, in this case, I want to focus on the public schools in Washington, D.C.

Massachusetts leads the country’s most ambitious statewide initiative to expand the school calendar. This past weekend, CBS Evening News featured one of these pioneering schools, the Kuss Middle School in Fall River, MA.  

Lindsay Cyr is a coordinator for the TIME Collaborative at NCTL.

Earlier this year, parents gathered at A.C. Whelan Elementary School in Revere, MA to discuss the impact of expanded learning time. Schools considering adding learning time will find the video of this discussion a great resource to share with their parents.

At Pennington Elementary in Wheat Ridge, CO, Principal Sandy Craig and TIME Collaborative planning team members have kept their planning process transparent and solicited feedback from all stakeholders from the day the school was selected for the TIME Collaborative. Principal Craig stated that she and TIME Collaborative planning team members knew that their TIME Collaborative work would only be successful if intentional communication with all staff members, families, and the community became a part of their planning process.

Jennifer Davis issued the following statement today on the release of Mathematica Policy Research’s report, KIPP Middle Schools: Impacts on Achievement and Other Outcomes.

Nancy Conneely is a senior associate at the National Center on Time & Learning.

Expanded learning time was prominently featured at one of the largest, most widely covered education events of the year yesterday.  

The New York Times recently highlighted the growing trend of school districts pushing physical education teachers to move beyond soccer, kickball, and tennis to include more academics into traditional physical education time.  

Recently, I came across an article in the New York Times about a change to the French education system that entails adding in a half day of instruction on Wednesdays—which is currently a full day off with no school—and shortening the other school days by 45 minutes each.

Robert Travaglini is the Senior Director of School & District Support in Connecticut for NCTL.

Last Sunday, NPR’s All Things Considered profiled Pulaski Elementary School in Meriden, CT, an expanded-time school participating in the TIME Collaborative

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