...years ago, Evergreen Elementary in Mountlake Terrace

became one of the few schools in the state to extend school days

into the summer months.

Controversial at the time, the unorthodox move appears to be

paying off in higher scores in the district's own "levels" test, which

measures how much individual students have learned from one year

to the next.

Evergreen is one of two schools in the Edmonds School District,

and one of a small number of public schools in the Puget Sound

area, to follow a modified school calendar. Instead of one long

summer break, the school shortened summer vacation and made

winter and spring breaks longer. Students are in school for 180

days, just as in other schools, but the time is distributed differently.

The breaks worked well in two respects: Students don't forget as

much when summer break is shortened, and the "honeymoon

period" - those highly productive first few weeks after a long

vacation, when kids are at their best - is longer, said Peggy Gloth, a

learning support teacher at Evergreen.

But the modified calendar is more than a gimmick to make students

pay attention longer. Evergreen put the breaks to use, offering

special enrichment classes as well as basic-skills classes for those

who needed extra practice with the basics. The classes, called

"intercessions," add 30 days to the school calendar.

There is a cost, but it's lower than day care, said principal Lynda

Fischer. About 150 of the school's 376 children participated this

summer.

Intercessions are part of a "more time and opportunity" philosophy

that also extends into the regular school week, Fischer said.

Evergreen offers after-school study sessions, phonics awareness

with a private tutor and a literature club. The school also offers art

and chess classes after school.

This year, Evergreen began a third focus in its efforts to improve

school performance: an emphasis on "character development," or

teaching students a sense of respect and responsibility for peers

and adults.

As an example, all grades now hold class meetings to give kids a

voice in problem-solving.

"There's a culture we have built into our school that learning is

continuous and life-long," said first-grade teacher Susan Duncan.

"We are preparing our children for the 21st century."