Would you favor year round schooling?

[DawnM]

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE year round schooling!

I worked in year round schools for 16 years and was able to travel off-season and work during the heat of the summer when noone wanted to be out anyway.

I am a huge advocate for year round.

Right now we live in an area that only had traditional schooling......so nice to be off and travel when the rest of the world is (NOT!)

Just read the thread on how 2 parks were at full capacity this week.....YUCK!

Childcare would actually be better if everyone is rotating vacations.....childcare/camp facilities would have a consistent amount of kids during the year instead of parents scrambling to find filled up camps during the summers.

Dawn

 

[BoyLovesBuzz]

Maybe where the weather is warm year round. But up here, the camps are based on the idea that kids will be OUTSIDE swimming, playing, doing sports. They won't be able to do that in winter (and around here, we have a joke... the two seasons are 10 months of winter, and 2 months of tough sledding).
Lots of residential camps have only one winterized building.

Well, we like to think we have winter here in NC, but nothing like you guys have for sure.

 

[DawnM]

Actually it wouldn't.....it would adjust to time off.....they would be allowed to work off-track allowing businesses to have a steady stream of students working instead of everyone looking for a job at once.

Dawn

Many of my students are only allowed to work during summer vacations so that they can maintain good grades during the school year. The money saved is used for college. Year round school would hurt them.

 

[MamaLema]

No, I would hate it

 

[ReneeA]

Actually it wouldn't.....it would adjust to time off.....they would be allowed to work off-track allowing businesses to have a steady stream of students working instead of everyone looking for a job at once.

Dawn

But here in MI, most kids get jobs like lifeguard (only needed in the summer), go to Mackinac Island (only summer), and touristy-type jobs. We don't have tourists in the winter - or very, very few. Our DQ's and ice cream stores are only open in the warmer months.

Also, our district was considering it for next year. The reason it was voted down was because we didn't have the interest. Many people have kids in Elementary, Middle, and HS...they would only be able to pull off one k-5 year round school, and it wouldn't match up with the rest of the district. Those people with kids in higher grades would still not be able to travel unless they pulled their older kids out during that time.

Not to mention, our schools here are don't have AC. It gets hot in August - like 95 degree days. I don't want my kids sitting in that all day, and our schools cannot afford to redo the HVAC, not to mention the cost associated with cooling them during the summer.

 

[JoBird]

Two of my three children went to a year round elementary school when we lived here before. (we moved away for 2 years and are now back.)

The rentention rate the year round students had vs the traditional calendar schools always surprised me. The students truly did benefit from the year round.
There are two elementary schools here that are year round-- the rest are traditional.

Test scores from the two year round schools were always better. I will say that the school my kids went to was always labeled "hard core" by parents who were coming from the traditional calendar schools. They were not used to the fast pace of it. The teachers and principal pushed the kids pretty hard-- which is not a bad thing, considering how much they learned.

Now that my oldest is in Junior High-( traditional calendar), their schedule conflicts so we put them all into regular schools when we moved back.

I absolutely prefer the Year round for my kids.

Jo

 

[DawnM]

But how many kids actually find jobs? There are a limited amount, even in the summer. If kids could work in Target, fast food, etc...all year long it might give kids more opportunities.

The problem IMHO is that our entire school calendar is based on an agrarian society, which we are NOT anymore.

I agree that all the schools have to change.....there is no way I would want my elem. child on a different schedule than my older kids. In districts where K-12 all have multiple tracks, they try their hardest to put all kids in one family on the same track.

I don't know where you are in MI, but DH is from MI as well. He must not be from as far north as you though.

Dawn

But here in MI, most kids get jobs like lifeguard (only needed in the summer), go to Mackinac Island (only summer), and touristy-type jobs. We don't have tourists in the winter - or very, very few. Our DQ's and ice cream stores are only open in the warmer months.

Also, our district was considering it for next year. The reason it was voted down was because we didn't have the interest. Many people have kids in Elementary, Middle, and HS...they would only be able to pull off one k-5 year round school, and it wouldn't match up with the rest of the district. Those people with kids in higher grades would still not be able to travel unless they pulled their older kids out during that time.

Not to mention, our schools here are don't have AC. It gets hot in August - like 95 degree days. I don't want my kids sitting in that all day, and our schools cannot afford to redo the HVAC, not to mention the cost associated with cooling them during the summer.

 

[disneystacy]

We have year round schools and we LOVE it!!! We get to take vacations (especially Disney) when its off season. My kids really like it as well. We go to school for 9 weeks and are off 3 weeks all year round. Childcare is not a problem as plenty of camps in the area for track out, just like for the summer.

 

[yeartolate]

No, I think finding childcare if you need it would be a nightmare.

We ended up ith a modified year round for awhile (Summer shortened by several weeks and a full week off in October, a full week with Thanksgivng,
regular Easter break, and Presidents day got a week)

It was beautiful!!!!!We espcially loved the October break. It was vacation heaven. Cheap cheap cheap, nice weather, no crowds.

But alas, too many people had childcare issues. So the district took it away.

 

[Pigeon]

No, I'm not in favor of year round schools. Childcare would be a nightmare and our schools are not air conditioned. My kids do really terrific things during the summer that couldn't be done on shorter breaks. And I think it's good for the kids to get away from school for longer than a few weeks, given how high stress school is now.

My sister moved to a place with year round school and they all hate it.

 

[pooh4evr]

we have a yr round calendar here for the elementary schools in the district- I want to say thay have been that way for almost 30 years- and we really love it! a pp was concerned about childcare- our district has what they call vacation station for kids during their cycle breaks they go on field trips and have different people come to the schools for fun days and and other activities ( my kids want to go!) Next yr starts July 17th or so they go far about 9 weeks - off near the end of Sept until mid Oct, back in until mid Dec. back just after new yr- off in March- then back until begining of June. The middle and high schools also have a fall and spring break for a week which matches up with the younger kids cycle break. Yeah the summers are shorter but they are ready to go back when it is time - they don't get as bored at home, and they get a break during the year when they need it (students and teachers) - oh and of course all the schools have ac the buses don't which is a concern at the beginning of the yr when it can be 100 in the afternoon but the schools take measure on those days and the kids are only onthe bus for 15- 20 mins - overall I thik it works really well - here anyway!

 

[Planogirl]

I would hate it for the older kids. Many work or take classes at the colleges during the summer. I don't agree that stores could continually hire new kids to work a few weeks. There is some training involved for many jobs so they'd be continually training for one thing.

I can see that it might work OK for younger kids though. I would still hope to see more of an emphasis on time off during the warmer months though.

 

[monorailsilver]

I would hate it. I am a SAHM.

My kids like to be outside & play which is what we do all summer long. If I had a pool we'd be in it but I don't so they use the waterslide or we go to the beach.

Our town beach is free but it is just a little lake. If we go to the real beach (aka LI Sound) then I have to pay to get a pass & I would not get my money's worth on that pass.

If my kids had off longer then a week winter time, we'd go stir crazy because it can be bitter cold here. They can't play outside when there are wind chills at zero or worse, below.

Plus can you imagine the snow days that would happen on the non-tracked out days. They would never be in school (assuming it was a snowy winter).

 

[BoyLovesBuzz]

I would hate it. I am a SAHM.

My kids like to be outside & play which is what we do all summer long. If I had a pool we'd be in it but I don't so they use the waterslide or we go to the beach.

Our town beach is free but it is just a little lake. If we go to the real beach (aka LI Sound) then I have to pay to get a pass & I would not get my money's worth on that pass.

If my kids had off longer then a week winter time, we'd go stir crazy because it can be bitter cold here. They can't play outside when there are wind chills at zero or worse, below.

Plus can you imagine the snow days that would happen on the non-tracked out days. They would never be in school (assuming it was a snowy winter).

Snow days are made up here on Saturdays on the year round calendar, which is why I think you rarely see it up north.

 

[amsyw]

NO NO NO! I look forward as much to my sons summer break as much as he does. We have a pool and he does many summer sports camps, we go on many short weekend trips to KC and STL for baseball games etc. We don't do those things in the fall/winter because of the weather (snow/ice threats). We are warm weather lovers though.

I can say though after reading some of the replies that I would keep an open mind about it if it came to our community.

I would strongly be opposed to the different schools (elem. jr high or HS) being on different schedules. I have kids that are 9 years apart so they WILL be in different schools at the same time and I would hate having them on different schedules.

We don't have any schools on that kind of schedule around her now, and I've not heard of any even discussing it. So I don't think I will have to worry about it for now anyway!

 

[BoyLovesBuzz]

For those that answered No...

We have a large number of year round school in our district because of over-crowded schools. Would you be in more likely to be in favor of YR, if the alternative was your child was in a trailer or in a class with some hideously large class size?

 

[castleview]

This SAHM likes the idea - it might actually provide more family time for us. I would be ticked though if schools' calendars were lined up differently in one school system.

 

[MoniqueU]

We used to have it and I didnt like it. We love long summer and they had it at the elementary school but not the upper schools so I had kids off at different times. I am glad that is over.

 

[ReneeA]

For those that answered No...

We have a large number of year round school in our district becuase of over-crowded schools. Would you be in more likely to be in favor of YR, if the alternative was your child was in a trailer or in a class with some hidiously large class size?

I would think that would be less of a problem if there were some year round alternatives offered. We don't really have that problem in our district (at least not now)

I would not be against a year round elementary choice in our district IF they could find the funding, staffing, and make sure they could fill it up. Michigan is a school of choice state, which means you can choose any district in your county to go to (if they have space for you). If our district could prove that this move would bring in much needed state funding and enough children from out of our school district, without spending millions we don't have...I'm all for it.

As it is, they sent out letters of intent for parents to sign up for the year round option for the 2009-2010 school year, and only 50 were signed out of the 4 elementary schools. That shows me that they would end up spending way more than it would bring in.

As stated lots before in this thread, I think this is a way more viable choice for those in warmer states. Heck, I would consider it then. Being the fact that we are buried in a snow bank for almost 5 months out of the year, I am NOT for it. The cost of putting A/C in all those schools and the cost of cooling them for a few months out of the year is a huge expense that we don't have in Michigan schools right now.

 

[kinntj]

No way. I love the time I have with my kids in the summer after a long Michigan winter. I guess I'm not that good with change in this way.

I'm still adjusting to the thought of our district going with full day Kindergarten in 2 years. I'm so glad my DD will miss that and I get to put her in 1/2 day next year.

Now, if they had it in our disctrict, I guess we would have to deal with it, but I would still have a right to crab about it. The way it is now, the last month of school is miserable because the classrooms get so hot even with fans running in the classrooms.