Old Forge Junior Senior High School is rethinking how time within the school day can support student
learning and well-being. Through its Lunch and Learn system, the school provides opportunities for
interventions, enrichment, and academic assistance while giving students greater autonomy in managing
their responsibilities. Early feedback suggests that this flexibility is helping students feel less
overwhelmed, build stronger connections, and take a more active role in their education. For the Institute
for Education Innovation Roadshow, Old Forge offers a practical example of how a school can connect
academic support with the daily experiences of its students.
The school serves 440 students in grades 7 through 12 and is part of Old Forge School District, which also
enrolls 532 students in kindergarten through grade 6 at its elementary school. At the secondary level,
54.6% of students are economically disadvantaged, 26.1% receive special education services, and 8.6%
are English learners. The reported student population is 68.6% White, 16.1% Hispanic, 6.6% multiracial,
5% Black or African American, 3% Asian, and 0.5% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander. These
demographics help explain why access to support during the school day deserves attention. Students
bring varied learning needs and circumstances to school, and opportunities to receive assistance should
be built into their daily experience.
Connecting Academic Support With Student Independence
Lunch and Learn responds to that need by giving students time to address academic responsibilities while
they are at school. Students can complete assignments, collaborate with classmates in person, and seek
help when they need it. The system also creates opportunities for enrichment and allows students time to
pause and reset. Bringing these options together gives students more flexibility in how they manage the
demands of the school day.
That flexibility has an educational purpose. As students decide how to use their time, they have
opportunities to recognize when they need assistance, organize their work, and follow through on
responsibilities. Academic support becomes part of a broader effort to develop student ownership. The
school’s account describes students feeling a greater sense of control over their work, suggesting that
access to help and the ability to make choices can reinforce one another.
The benefits students describe also extend beyond the school building. Completing more assignments
during the day reduces the amount of work they carry home, leaving more time for sports, clubs, dance,
and other activities that contribute to their well-being. This connection matters because students
experience schoolwork alongside other commitments. Lunch and Learn gives them additional
opportunities to manage those demands before the school day ends.
Early Experiences and a Stronger School Community
After the first 23 days of implementation, student feedback and school observations point to encouraging
changes. Students report feeling less overwhelmed by the school day and experiencing less anxiety
related to school and assessments. They also describe improved overall mood and greater control over
their academic responsibilities. These reports suggest that time to complete work, ask questions, and
reset is helping students experience the school day as more manageable.
The opportunity to pause is part of that experience. Alongside academic assistance, students have space
to breathe and regroup before returning to their responsibilities. Old Forge’s early account brings these
experiences together: students are receiving opportunities to address their work while also attending to
their well-being. The reported benefits are preliminary, but they provide useful insight into how students
are responding to the system.
As students become more comfortable managing their day, the school reports changes in participation
and relationships as well. Lunch and Learn has contributed to increased involvement in clubs and stronger
connections between students and staff. These opportunities for interaction can help students feel
connected to the adults and peers around them. In the school’s account, that connection is accompanied
by greater ownership of the school environment.
Students are increasingly taking responsibility for their surroundings and communicating with staff when
they notice something that needs attention. This is a meaningful extension of the system’s emphasis on
independence. The ownership students are developing around their academic responsibilities is also
appearing in how they contribute to their school community. Together, the early observations describe a
more positive school culture in which students have opportunities to participate and take responsibility.
A Leadership Lesson From Old Forge
Old Forge’s experience invites a closer look at how school schedules connect students with the support
they need. Lunch and Learn illustrates an approach that makes room for academic assistance and
enrichment while giving students a role in managing their time. Its early promise comes from the
relationship among these opportunities: access to help can make responsibilities more manageable, and
greater ownership can encourage students to engage more actively with their school.
The first 23 days provide an encouraging foundation rather than a final judgment on effectiveness.
Continued implementation will offer an opportunity to examine whether students sustain the reported
improvements in stress, participation, and connection, and whether those experiences translate into
stronger academic outcomes. Old Forge Junior Senior High School demonstrates how intentional use of
the school day can create conditions that support learning and well-being together, with student
experience guiding the work forward.
By Iranetta Rayborn Wright
Chief Leadership Officer, Institute for Education Innovation
CEO, The Wright Way Leadership Group