Newark students head back to school for 1st day of classes

NEWARK, N.J. — Tuesday marked the first day of school in Newark, New Jersey, and there are some big changes in place this year.
All 39,000 students across the district’s 63 public schools will have longer days that run from 8:15 a.m. to 3:05 p.m.
The new universal schedule means 20 more minutes of instruction time for kindergarten through eighth grade students and 25 more minutes for high schoolers.
District leaders say the goal is to provide more instruction and tutoring time to support academic achievement and growth. The district is also offering before and after care.
“That gives me, throughout the entire school year, an additional number of school days — 30 days over the life of this contract,” Superintendent Roger Leon said.
Students and families can use this link for the full 2024 academic calendar. 
The superintendent greeted students and staff Tuesday morning, starting at Franklin Elementary School at 8 a.m.
Principal Robert Spat told CBS New York the school has a back-to-school theme, “Unleash your super power.” He also spoke about the longer school days.
“What’s important with that extra time is we have tutoring, we have the ability to make sure that we are preparing our students in a small group environment, as well, within the classroom, so it’s just extending the rich learning that we already have in place,” Spat said.
While students were not so thrilled about the longer days, many working parents are praising the changes.
“I prefer the shorter school days, since I want to go home,” seventh grader Neymar Palatines said. 
“I am all for it, I want the education to go through, extra half hour, awesome,” parent Richard Ciacci said.
“They’re gonna stay there because they need really to learn,” parent Rosa Stephens-Torres added.
Newark is the largest school district in the state, and the change is part of its 10-year strategic plan to transform the school system. The district has been aggressively expanding in recent years, opening nine schools, with a 10th scheduled to open this fall.
“My child has been here for five years, so, indeed, there has been improvements over there, especially in the reading,” parent Andree James said.
The superintendent said one sign the plan is working is that 48% of the students who graduated in 2023 either went to a two- or four-year college.
“What are we seeing right now is $169 million in college scholarships with the class of 2024, $14.2 million we saved parents by having their students take college classes while they are in high school,” Leon said.
Tuesday was not only the first day back for students, but also for 400 newly recruited teachers. Leon said the district has been able to attract and retain faculty at a time when the country is experiencing a teaching shortage.
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