School News
Record-Breaking Year: Fayerweather's After-School Programs Thriving in 2023-24
Did you know that at the start of the 2023-24 school year, almost 50% of Fayerweather students were also enrolled in Extended Day? Factoring in extracurricular classes and programs, we found that over 70% of enrolled students were participating in at least one of our afterschool offerings this fall.
What’s remarkable about these numbers is that they take into account roughly one third of the offerings available to students over the course of the school year. At the conclusion of the 2022-23 school year, we found that 83% of Fayerweather students took advantage of our Extended Day and Extracurricular Programs. If these stats are any indication, we’re in the middle of another record-breaking year of after-school programming.
As I reflect on the continued growth of this program since the COVID shutdown, I ask myself: How are we able to engage so many students across the PreK through 8th grade spectrum?
This year, we have every single member of our PreK class participating in Extended Day. They leave smiling and laughing, excited to show their families the craft they worked on with Katie or Amelia. I hear anecdotes from families in grades 1-4 about kids asking to be picked up later in the afternoon because they want to stay in Extended Day.
One time, I was even sent a video of some kindergarten kids “playing Extended Day” with walkie-talkies because they missed the program so much during their break from school! These young ones, some of whom stay onsite as late as 6pm, thrive because of the relationships we’ve fostered with them.
To keep families coming back, we are also constantly adding new extracurricular offerings to the mix to keep kids engaged. We listen to what they are interested in and consider what continued learning can occur during after-school.
Finding Nemo KIDS debuted this November as the first ever Fayerweather musical! Kids from grades 3-6 were both onstage and backstage, while Unit mentors supported them in the tech deck or backstage. These students had the time of their lives – some of them participating in their first piece of theater ever! This program was such a success that I received a student note with a list of 10+ titles that I should consider the next time “we hit the spotlight.”
Make no mistake, Extended Day is a lot of fun, but it is also crucial to the dynamics of life at Fayerweather. We provide child care during early release days, parent events, conferences, and vacations. We make it possible for families to make it through their day with a little more ease. When their child is with us they can be assured that their day at Fayerweather is ending with plenty of love, learning, and laughter.
Fayerweather Street School | 765 Concord Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138 | 617-876-4746
Fayerweather is a private PreK, kindergarten, elementary and middle school. We engage each child’s intellect.