Would you favor year round schooling?

[disney junky]

or a variation, like 200 days with longer breaks equally spread out over the year? More days?

 

[wall*e2008]

I am for year round school with longer breaks. Kids who need more help would get it during the breaks.

 

[GJM]

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

 

[EthansMom]

Year round school.... yes, yes, yessity, yes, yes! (As long as they put in AC in our NE schools.)

A few more days of school per year if we were doing year round school... sure, why not?

Personally, I think it's ridiculous that we take off 10 weeks in one block every summer and expect kids to retain all of the stuff they learned during the last school year. Heck, if I had a 10 week break from my regular responsibilities, I'd forget stuff too.

 

[suzannews]

As the parent of only 1 child, I would have no problem with year round school. I would enjoy taking vacation at different times of the year, not always in the dead heat of a Florida summer! While we have never been on a year round schedule, it has been tried here in FL. Lots of problems with siblings not being on the same "track" schedule.

There is currently big talk about FL schools going to a 4 day week, M-Th with Friday, Saturday and Sunday off. Adding a hour or so to the daily schedule or extending the schedule so not having 10 weeks off for summer. My DD will be a 9th grader in August so we are pretty flexible.

 

[BoyLovesBuzz]

We are currently in our 5th year of year round school. It works for us, but its not for everyone. Also, just FYI, you go the same number of days as a traditional calendar.

 

[Tantor]

We have a elementary school (it's K to gr 8 ) that is year round in Ontario.
(this was for 2006-2007 year)

school year begins –July 31st
two-week break in October – Oct. 2 to 13 (inclusive)
three-week Christmas break – Dec. 18,to Jan. 5 (inclusive)
one-week break in February – Feb. 5 to 9,
two-week break in March – March 12 to 23 (inclusive)
last day of classes – June 27
summer break – June 28 to July 27 (inclusive)

Would make it nice for a trip to Disney in the off times!!!!

 

[laurie31]

I would love it.

There is a school system near here that does it, and the parents, students, and teachers all love it, but most systems are afraid to change.

 

[JessicaR]

I'm not sure. I really enjoy our summers off. I tend to think no I wouldnt like it. I guess we would have to try it to make an informed decision.

 

[Northstar]

Wouldn't like it here (but I don't think it's even being considered).

The weather is dreary and cold for so much of the year... might as well be going to school then. And then we have two glorious summer months. Kids need to be outside soaking up as much sunshine as possible.

Also, it would mess up a lot of well-established summer programs... summer camp, sports camps, specialty camps.

 

[Northstar]

or a variation, like 200 days with longer breaks equally spread out over the year? More days?

I forgot to mention that our school year already consists of 190 days. However, that includes about 8 professional development/assessment days when the teachers work but the kids don't go to school.

 

[ReneeA]

No - I have no desire for my kids to have 2-3 week blocks of time off in winter when there's 2 feet of snow on the ground and nothing to do. I keep my kids super busy in the summer time - the do Cub Scout camp, Summer Bible School, and I signed them up for 3 sessions of swimming, so they'll be going for swimming lessons everyday for 6 weeks.

I am also going back to work full time for the first time since before I had kids this summer. It's been much easier to find childcare for one big block of time than trying to schedule lots of smaller blocks throughout the year.

I may feel differently if we lived somewhere warmer where they wouldn't be stuck in the house for long periods of time.

 

[tinkntraining]

I would love it.

There is a school system near here that does it, and the parents, students, and teachers all love it, but most systems are afraid to change.

Same thing here. My kids get so bored by the last month of the summer, not to mention, the entire first quarter of school is nothing but review from the previous school year. And personally, I would much prefer being able to take a family vacation that's not smack dab in the middle of the summer (and at peak rates!)

I'm not gonna hold my breath, though. Change comes very slowwwww around here.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

The elementary and middle/high schools do not match up here. That is a scheduling problem.

http://www.fhsd.k12.mo.us/parents/qh/attencal0809.asp

 

[Alicnwondrln]

I would

 

[BoyLovesBuzz]

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.

 

[crs7568]

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.

 

[BoyLovesBuzz]

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.

It also hurts teachers in there first few years when their pay is so low they need that summer supplement. Becuase of that you tend to see the more experianced teachers in the year round schools.

 

[Nancyg56]

I think it would be a good idea. By the end of summer my kids were bored and it took several weeks of review in the beginning of the year to get them all back on track. It also seems to me that more children are being taken out of school for vacations in order to accommodate their parents, who are not all lucky enough to have the school breaks off from work.

I think that child care would not be an issue for most, families are looking for childcare in the summer months, those opportunities would be there quickly if the school calendar changed.

 

[Northstar]

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.

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.