HALIFAX COUNTY SCHOOLS

CHARTING A NEW COURSE: EXTENDED DAY INITIATIVE

Dear Parent/ Guardian:

Halifax County Schools is committed to providing high quality, relevant education in our school
district. Our goal is to continuously improve student achievement in all areas, with a targeted
focus for intervention in Reading, Math, and the Sciences. Over the past few years, we have
experienced moderate to high student growth and an increase in our overall proficiency for our
students, but there is still more work to be done. Under the leadership of our new
Superintendent, Dr. Eric Cunningham, we will begin to Chart a New Course for student growth
and achievement.

We are proposing to extend our school day on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday to 5:00pm for
all students and 5:30pm for staff. Monday will be a regular school day, as it is currently operating
in your childs/childrens schools and Friday will be an early release day with students leaving at
2:00 pm and staff leaving at 2:30 pm. Each building leader has been asked to design a master
schedule that will provide an optimum learning experience for all students and to ensure both
student and teacher high engagement throughout the extended day. There is going to be a
strong focus on literacy, because we know that if our students can build their skill level and
ability in the five components of reading, they can begin to flourish as strong, fluent readers who
are better prepared to conquer math word problems and science and social studies reading
material.

We welcome your feedback and thoughts on this initiative and hope that you will strongly
consider the academic benefits that this opportunity can provide for all of our students. There
has been two times scheduled for you to join us for town hall meetings to hear more information
and to speak directly with our district leaders in regards to the Charting a New Course:
Extended Day Initiative. Below you will find information about the town hall meetings and other
information discussed in this letter.

What are the benefits?

Extended learning time is the window of opportunity for learning to take place beyond the
already existing learning time. Literacy is the focus and increasing students literacy skills will
better their chances of being successful and showing the growth and proficiency that they need
to on standardized assessments.

Do I need to arrange transportation?

No. Transportation is provided because all buses will now leave at 5pm on Tuesday-Thursday.

Do I need to supply any materials?

No. All supplies will be provided to the student.

Will snacks be provided?

Yes. Students will receive both an afternoon snack and dinner before leaving school at no charge
to the student.

When and where are the town hall meetings?

Wednesday, October 26, 2016 at 6pm at Enfield Middle School, Enfield, NC
Thursday, October 27, 2016 at 6pm at W.R. Davie Middle School, Roanoke Rapids, NC

When will the extended day initiative begin?

It will begin on Wednesday, November 9, 2016.
 HALIFAX COUNTY SCHOOLS
CHARTING A NEW COURSE: EXTENDED DAY INITIATIVE
Sincerely,

Halifax County Schools Leadership Team