I am writing in response to the Matthew Kiernan letter to the editor on extended learning time (Daily News Tribune, April 13).
I would like to start by saying that we have been given almost no information on the extended day program. The ELT committee meetings at MacArthur are not open to parents after the first 10 minutes. The two open meetings they did have offered little information. Parents are in the dark. The school claims we voted in favor of ELT. How? They sent one vague survey home earlier in the year, which two-thirds of the parents did not answer and which many did not understand.
As the parent of a future kindergartener I do not want an extended school day. It is just too long of a day, especially for the kindergarteners. They are only 5 and 6 years old and are exhausted by 3 p.m. But every grade in the school has to participate in ELT. Older children will miss sports because they won't get home until 4:30. Others will miss out on time with parents or siblings or playing with friends. It will be dark when they get home in the winter!
Children will come home exhausted, have do homework, eat dinner and go to bed. If they try to add sports or music, they won't get to bed until 9 or 10, which is way too late - especially if they have to get up early the next day. And where is the family time?
If we need this program so much let's find another grant and run it as a voluntary program after school. We could also perhaps add two weeks to the school year, or leave out the winter break in February.
But since MacArthur and Northeast are not failing schools, why are we even doing this there? Why not at one of the other schools in Waltham where the kids really do need additional school time?
I, as a parent, would not want my kid to be in the extended day. But with ELT, I will have no option. Will the city pay for private school for children who want out of MacArthur and Northeast? Or build a new school to hold them all? This is unfair to the children and parents of North Waltham.
MELISSA ROSSI,
Waltham
