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Year-Round Schooling?

© Carlie Vanwilligen

Year-round schooling. The thought strikes fear in the students who are used to a three month summer vacation. It brings a smile to the faces of working parents who struggle with finding things for their children to do while out of school. It is a major source of controversy for parents, schools, and communities in general. In this article, I am going to present a look at year-round schooling: its origin, its potential benefits, and its downfalls.

The Origin

The issue of year-round schooling has been around for decades, but has recently (within the last 10 years) made a comeback. It has been a major rallying point for those who believe that the quality of our country's educational system is in decline. Year-round schooling is seen in some circles as the best course of action to take to improve the education of our children.

Year-round schooling is a misnomer of sorts. Children in year-round schools do not attend school "year-round." In fact, they attend approximately 180 days per year, the same as a traditional school calendar. There are some year-round schools which extend the academic year, but they are the minority. The difference between traditional schooling and year-round schooling is in the schedule. Year-round schools work in blocks, where students attend class for about 6 weeks, then have a two week break. Summer break is shortened from three months to six weeks. The National Association for Year-Round Education (http://www.nayre.org) has additional information and a historical timeline of year-round education.

The Pros

Year-round education has a number of positive benefits, for both students and teachers.

Reduced Teacher "burn-out" - with a year-round calendar, teachers and students get the same amount of vacation at the same times. The year is broken into chunks, allowing for breaks approximately every six weeks. Teachers have time to review, revive, and rejuvenate.

Continuous Learning - with year-round education, students are always in a learning mode. There is less off-time, and reduced reviews when students don't have the three-month break during the summer. Also, activities that children may be involved in would continue throughout the summer, as long a school was in session.

Ease Overcrowding - this was the primary reason for instituting year-round schooling during the 1980s. With a year-round school, you can "track" the students, and have a different track on vacation at all times, reducing the total number of students in the school at a given time. The students still receive the same amount of instructional time, but with reduced class sizes, the quality of learning increases.

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