Building Bridges, Expanding Opportunities: Reflections on Leadership and Collaboration in Philadelphia's Extended Day Extended Year Initiative

Abstract

Enrichment programs have been increasingly adopted in K-12 schools nationwide due to their impact on student engagement, academic achievement, and social-emotional development. The School District of Philadelphia (SDP) in partnership with the mayor of Philadelphia sought to mitigate the opportunity gap for Philadelphia’s children by providing Extend Day/Extended Year programming in 20-pilot schools in the district. This high-priority initiative was based on the needs of working parents and expanding access to enrichment programs. The district’s Superintendent, along with the mayoral appointed School Board, leveraged the expertise of members of various SDP departments and created a cross functional team to liaise with the mayor’s education team on this initiative. Extended day/Full Day and Extended Year/Full Year is defined as a comprehensive initiative to offer additional programmatic opportunities for SDP students and their families that include services before and after school, winter break, spring break, and during the summer months. I had the responsibility of supporting the roll out of this initiative and collecting data throughout the process to assess the overall effectiveness of the program. This capstone specifically explores the inaugural Winter Break Camp in SDP. By partnering with new and existing stakeholders, developing a comprehensive directory to aid in internal planning, and communicating pertinent information with families, the goal was that SDP and the City of Philadelphia would host a safe, welcoming, and fun Winter Break Camp for the families in Philadelphia. This capstone explores the collaborative process between the school district and the mayor’s office, while simultaneously exploring my leadership learning throughout the strategic project.