LA HABRA : Kids Learn to Love Staying After School
Hundreds of students have been staying after school recently, but not for punishment.
Instead, about 300 of the sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders at the district’s two middle schools choose to stay on school grounds for academic and recreational activities in a pilot program started in November.
“I think it’s wonderful,” said school board member Nancy Zinberg, after hearing a report about the program last week. “They’re there because they want to be.”
Activities such as sports and performing arts programs in addition to computer, chess, science and homework clubs are offered for one hour Monday through Thursday, with the sports programs being most popular, said Washington Middle School Principal Gary Mantey.
Participating teachers are paid $18 an hour, and four high school students who volunteer at the Imperial Middle School receive credit.
Mantey said funding, which expires at the end of the month, will probably be extended.
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