We have year round schools in elementary and most parents love it. It's a track system, where each track in on for 9 weeks, then off for 3 weeks, (plus two two-week periods that everyone is off at the same time, in July and in December) rotating so that there is always one track off, so you can fit four classes worth of kids into three classrooms. The district saves money by building less schools and is able to use that money for programs like PE, music, spanish, technology, etc, that often get cut when districts are low on funds. As the neighborhoods age and enrollment goes down, they usually switch to a traditional schedule, with just those three classrooms per grade level.
We love having time off in the fall, winter and spring to go on vacation. WDW, Hawaii, cruising, visiting the grandparents in the desert... it's all less expensive, less crowded, and not unbearably hot in October or January as compared to July or August. We also love having lots of time off in winter to go skiing when it's less crowded than Christmas/New Year's. We still get lots of beach/pool time in the summer after school lets out for the day. Here, it's still hot in the late afternoon and 4:00-6:00 is plenty of time at the pool for us.
The kids don't get as bored as I remember getting on those long summer breaks. They come back to school after a 3 or 5-week break and pick up right where they left off. No time wasted reviewing everything they did last year.
Our middle and high schools are traditional, though, so once a family has kids on two different schedules, they no longer like it as much. Some families open enroll at traditional public schools or go to private schools to avoid it, but not very many.
Camps, day-care,etc all adjust pretty quickly when year-round schools enter in a community. One thing that is a problem is all the really good school supply sales start mid August when we have arlready been in school for 5 weeks.
Yes, this is how it is here. Most working parents use the school's childcare, which is offered for the kids that are off-track. Child care centers also offer off-track care, which keeps the flow of kids steady, rather than having a ton of school-age kids in the summer, and none all winter. There are indoor camps offered by the rec centers and such in the winter time, craft camps, basketball, gymnastics, tennis, etc. There is plenty to do.
Our DQ's and ice cream stores are only open in the warmer months.
What!?
You poor things!
There is nothing like having a Blizzard during a blizzard!
The time spent reviewing upon the return is boring to the upper kids.
What time spent reviewing? If they are reviewing each time they track back on, I would say those schools are doing it wrong. Our elementary school pick ups where they left off, which is one of the things I love about the schedule. A 3-5 week break isn't enough for the kids to forget much, they just jump back in and don't waste that 2-3 weeks at the beginning of each year reviewing, that I remember being so boring when I was a kid.
Your post brings up a lot of points that sound specific to your district. The schedule can and does work if the effort is put in to work the kinks out. We had half days, too (though never 18!
), but they quickly realized how useless they are and did away with them.
Teachers remove their own items from the classroom and put them back in each time the specific class tracks on/off, so 4 times a year, and they get it done in no time. They have the system down, portable files, etc, kids take care of all their own items, put everything in a pillowcase to take home for the break. The next user of the classroom is the same grade so most wall displays just stay there -- like states/capitals, sight words, etc. It's not that bad at all.
We still have fall and spring conferences, don't know why that would change. School was closed due to snow on our conference day two weeks ago, but conferences were rescheduled.
Our schools always put every child in a family on the same track, unless the parents choose differently. Some of the schools assign them by neighborhood, which I think would be awesome, but our doesn't. Parents request the track they want, but of course, some schedules have more fans than others, so you don't always get your first choice the first year. If not, you can get put on a waiting list and moved in a later year. Almost all the kids in our neighborhood are on the same track, simply because we all asked for it.
I love it! Unfortunately for us, due to budget cuts, for dd's last year of elementary school next year, the school is getting rid of one teacher and putting her grade only on a traditional schedule with three classes instead of four. Instead of the 22-24 kids she's had in her class for the past 5 years, she'll have over 30.
