The doors closed Tuesday on the school year, as well as a pilot program that extended the school calendar at Stokes-Beard Technology and Communication and Sale International Studies elementary schools.

Interim superintendent Dr. Martha Liddell said after reviewing next year”s budget, she determined there”s not enough funding to continue the Success Academy, which added 18 days to the regular year at the two schools.

The pilot program, first implemented in 2009, cost nearly $375,000 and was made possible by stimulus funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

“At this point, the funding has dried up,” Liddell said, adding that the district plans to keep the spirit of the program by incorporating three to five Success days into the regular school year.

The additional days were tailored to students” individual needs, offering either enrichment or remediation.

Liddell said she feels like the program was helpful, but the district won”t know exactly how effective it was until they receive test scores a month from now.

“A school district should always be aware of its core mission: student achievement,” she said. “You always have to make some sacrifices.”

Stokes-Beard principal Pamela Lenoir watched students stream down the hallway, headed home yesterday. As she watched, she said she liked the Success calendar and would like to see it continue.

“It was an excellent way to work toward increasing student achievement,” Lenoir said.

Parent Niesha Rush agreed, saying it worked out well for her daughter, D”Nashia Wilson.

“I liked it,” Rush said. “They got more knowledge and learned more. It was awesome. They had more time to learn, and if they were behind, they got to catch up.”

Kay Brocato, associate professor of leadership and education foundations at Mississippi State University, said the success of extended school calendars really depends on quality more than quantity.

“If it”s going to be more of the same kind of instruction that has kept students falling behind for a number of years, then no, more of the same is not going to be terribly effective,” Brocato said. “If it”s dynamic and relevant and rigorous, if there”s an element of play involved with the work, then I think it”s probably a good idea.”

She said empirical evidence has not been conclusive on how effective 11-month calendars are in terms of raising test scores.

“The quality of those minutes are the real key,” she said. “Big differences come when you make big changes in the quality of programming.”

Devon Brenner, associate professor of reading and language arts at MSU, agreed.

“There”s definitely a lot of research that shows kids lose learning if they spend three months in a non-engaging environment,” Brenner said. “They do go down in reading levels. In some ways, the extended school year makes sense as a way to try to prevent that … if there”s a benefit and it outweighs the cost.”

Teacher and parent polls about the extended calendar were overwhelmingly positive two years ago at Stokes-Beard and Sale, with 100 percent of teachers and 98 percent of parents at Sale supporting the program and 98 percent of teachers and 85 percent of parents at Stokes-Beard supporting it.

Liddell said the district will look at other ways to continue the program, including seeking additional grant funding from alternative sources.

Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.

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