EVERETT — At Voyager Middle School south of Everett, it’s called "Getting to Standards Class."

Several miles west at Olympic Middle School in Mukilteo, students show up after school for "Math WASL Club" or "Reading WASL Club."

Like many of its neighbors, the Mukilteo School District has for years invested in after-school programs for elementary school children who need extra help to pass the tough statewide Washington Assessment of Student Learning, or WASL, exams. Now the district is intensifying its after-school efforts at its middle and high schools.

Mukilteo has identified and recruited students believed to be on the cusp of passing the tests at its four middle schools and three high schools. The idea is to offer a little extra focused instruction and push them over the top.

Fourth-, seventh- and 10th-graders will take the WASL tests between April 19 and May 7.

Unlike many middle and high schools in other districts, Mukilteo offers both the WASL prep classes and more traditional after-school tutoring for students seeking help with day-to-day homework. Money comes from Initiative 728, a tax measure Washington voters approved in 2000 to improve student achievement.

"We take this very seriously," said Rick Robbins, the district’s director of secondary education. "Sometimes it just takes a little more time."

Plenty is at stake, including the threat of federal sanctions under the new "No Child Left Behind" federal law for schools that don’t show enough "adequate yearly progress" through improved test scores. Moreover, by 2008, high school students will need to pass their WASL exams to graduate.

That need to improve brings Voyager seventh-graders Tony Boyd and Chelsea Bishop to a WASL math preparation class after school once a week. Similar programs in reading, writing and math are also available at Voyager and other secondary schools in the Mukilteo district.

Tony, 12, was leery about going to school after school.

"At first, I wasn’t too sure about it," he said. "It kind of takes away time to play with my friends. Once I started coming, I thought it was pretty cool."

Tony likes the fact that much of the WASL math class comes in the form of games and puzzles — and no homework.

The class is small, anywhere from four to 18 students, depending on their after-school schedules. Tony likes the chance to get more instruction rather than just coming up with the right answer. The class also helps him learn to explain his answers on the WASL, which includes multiple choice questions along with short and extended written answers.

"I’m pretty sure this class has helped me a lot," Tony said. "I think it will help me get through it."

Chelsea doesn’t mind coming in.

"At first I was thinking, ‘Why do I need it?’ Then I thought I could really use it," she said. "WASL math is pretty hard."

Sometimes, the students acknowledge, it can be kind of fun because the environment is more relaxed and the exercises engaging.

Perhaps, too, it is the fact that their teacher hands out math papers with a challenging laugh akin to the Wicked Witch of the West in the "Wizard of Oz."

Teacher Shelly Henton likes the small-group format of the after-school program, saying she has seen growth in the students who have been able to attend on a regular basis.

"I think it’s very valuable," she said. "I am able to give a group of children very intensive instruction. I am able to look at them individually and pick and choose what they need to work on."

Henton emphasizes several methods to attack math problems.

"I hope that they have a few strategies to fall back on for expressing their thought process that they may not have had before," she said. "I am hoping they can look at a problem from different angles rather than being stymied."

At Explorer Middle School, WASL prep classes are offered before school, during lunch and after school.

Explorer realized last year that many students needed help in reading, writing and math and didn’t have enough time for everything after school, said Mark Flotlin, Explorer’s principal.

Some Explorer students arrive by 7:30 a.m. twice a week to brush up on reading strategies while eating breakfast.

At lunch, in two-week increments, rotating groups of students are released early to get their food and polish their writing skills. The school continues to offer after-school math, as it did last year.

Mainly, the classes are aimed at helping students demonstrate their knowledge.

"It’s not teaching them how to read, it’s teaching them how to present what they already know," Flotlin said.

"Nothing replaces outstanding instruction," he added. "This is a big help, but the biggest change comes from the teacher and the (everyday) lessons."

The emphasis on extra help for WASL exams is climbing slowly up the grade levels.

Jan Link, a retired principal from the Edmonds School District, runs Academic Edge, a Kirkland-based tutoring business that includes WASL preparation classes. Parents flocked to sign up their elementary school children, but enrollment among seventh-graders was lean.

"Just recently, I found enough interest to offer a seventh-grade class," she said.

Link predicts that will change as the pressure to pass the state exams increases.

Programs similar to the one in Mukilteo are popping up at other schools across the state.

At Baker Middle School in Tacoma, more than 50 students start their after-school WASL preparation class listening to Mozart and doing what is known as the "brain dance," a series of yogalike movements aimed at helping students focus their thoughts before settling into their lessons.

This is the first year of districtwide, after-school WASL classes for middle school students in Tacoma.

Sylvia Wood, principal at Baker Middle School, expects to see more schools offering similar programs in the future, given the new state and federal requirements.

"It’s a whole new ballgame," Wood said.

Reporter Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446 or stevick@heraldnet.com.