Beverly Patch Readers Split on Longer School Days

On Monday, federal and state officials announced that Massachusetts, along with Connecticut, New York, Tennessee and Colorado, are participating in a pilot program to find out if more time in school translates into greater student achievement. 

Csmonitor.com reports that the program will add at least 300 hours of learning time in some schools, including Fall River and Lawrence, starting next fall. 

We asked Patch readers their thoughts on the pilot program, and the answers varied. 

Here's a look at some responses from Beverly Patch Facebook:

• Talia Kenny All for it!!!
• Tara Harville-Fry We need longer school days. I don't know how they fit everything into a day that is less than 7 hours long!
• Pj Nicole Simard I think they should do it!
• Heather Neely Johnston I think a longer school day for elementary kids would be great. Give them more learning time and more time to have lunch and run around at recess.
• Betty-ann Cardran Scheri Disagree! Maybe if they add more time to recess then maybe but it isn't good for kids to sit all day long and only get 15 minutes to move around!
• Beth Alexander Walsh I know the kids at the high school level who are involved in sports, musicals and after school clubs and jobs, along with keeping up with homework barely have enough time in the day now, I think it would only work if the school year were extended and not the school day.
• Jennifer Scott Andersen Only if it involves more recess and they bring back study halls in the upper grades. Would rather see them ditch February vacation. That is really unnecessary.
• Christopher J Palazola Not sure how I feel about longer days due to after school activities that are vital to growing up but I'd like to see them go year round with a couple more 1 week vacations sprinkled in. We need to compete with the other industrialized nations before we get left behind by them.

What are your thoughts on longer school days? Join the conversation in the comments.