Academics // Programs

EXTENDED DAY

In addition to an academically rich regular school day program, Harlem Day students benefit from the Extended Day, an integrated arts and academic program that we offer after the end of the formal school day. The goal of our program is to use the hours from 3:30-5:30 pm to integrate the arts into our academic curriculum in a meaningful way that will lead to a rich experience for all of our students. In addition, we provide a creative and intellectual outlet for our advanced students, and remediation for our students who need it, all while providing additional time for learning in a less structured environment than the regular school day. We see the entire Extended Day program to be an extension of our regular curriculum, as well as a way for our students to have a rich education imbued in the artistic and historical legacy of Harlem.

SUMMER ACADEMY PROGRAM

We believe that we must engage our students not only during traditional school hours, but beyond the academic day and year, during those hours and months when students are most likely to fall behind academically or find themselves longing for more stimulation. To help many of our struggling students, our six-week summer program has been redesigned to provide intensive instruction in the morning, followed by enrichment activities in the afternoon. The enrichment programming provides students the opportunity to engage in fun-filled recreation and arts activities that help to develop basic skills in discipline and encourage social skills and academic confidence. Our hope is that by using the summer as a bridge between academic years, students will retain more of the important skills they have learned and enter the fall semester with greater confidence.

SCHOOL LIBRARY PROGRAM

Literacy is at the heart of every aspect of Harlem Day’s academic program, evidenced by the fact that we are one of few charter schools with a full-service library and certified School Library Media Specialist (SLMS.) Because the population of students that we serve is in dire need of attaining literacy skills, building a library was a top Board priority made possible by generous grants from a number of foundations and private donors. Opened in the spring of 2006, our school library program allows Harlem Day students and teachers to benefit from the expertise of a School Library Media Specialist. She oversees the development of the main library and media center, home and classroom libraries; plans instructional units with teachers; works with parents to encourage reading with their children; teaches students how to research and access information using texts and electronic resources; and serves on appropriate curriculum and standards committees.