The School Day Is 12 Hours Long At This Elementary School
The school day in Brooklyn Charter School is 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., because school hours that leave families scrambling to fill the gap between school dismissal and the end of the work day ‘aren’t made for working people’, says principal Joanne Hunt. About 80 students have signed up, and school enrollment - which shrank during the pandemic - is now close to 200. When a few dozen students arrive at 7 a.m., they read books and tell stories under the watchful eye of a social worker. From 8:30 to 4 p.m., it is school as normal. Then for the students staying on, there is a meal and a range of activities, including music and homework. There is a huge need in the community for better child care, says Roger Redhead, who runs the program at Brooklyn Charter.
