Year around school?

[disneystacy]

When would teachers get time off for vacations and for continuing education if needed? Would their salaries increase?

What about building maintenance, utilities, other staff and so on?

I'm against year-round school for many reasons.

My kids attend year round school. The school has 4 different "tracks" or schedules. Each track is 9 weeks in school, 3 weeks out of school rotating through out the year. The teachers get the same time off as the students depending on what track they teach (they go on break same schedule as the students they teach, everyone tracks in and out together). Teachers get the same amount of time off as their tradional school counterparts, just not in 3 months in summer.
July starts our new school year.
This allows the school building to be used year round like any other business would. Maintanance workers work year round with vacation time like any other job.

 

[mykidsand_i]

Yeah, the sample size is VERY small, and it's not been going many years- so there's really not that many full studies in the USA that have been completed about how it helps or how it doesn't help kids.

Sure, it works in other countries- but they've been doing it for YEARS now, they didn't just all of a sudden decide to do it one year (recently)...they also have different lifestyles. I find that it's difficult to 'compare' a USA lifestyle and choice with a choice made by other countries...just because it works for them, doesn't neccessarily mean it'll work for the ENTIRE USA.

Yes, in our area (not in our district, but a few other cites), if the full year is voted in, the kids WILL go more days! Regular school year for us is 170 days...full year would ADD about 60-75 days. The times off would be...

Over Christmas break. They'd get 3 weeks (instead of the regular 2 weeks that they get anyways!!!)

Over Thanksgiving (1 week instead of 2 days)

Over Easter (1 week instead of 4 days that they ALREADY GET)

and the occasional day or two here and there THAT they ALREADY get because of certain holidays -pres. day, martin luther king day...

AND, I also don't like the fact that some schools in our area the ONLY summer days they get off are 2 weeks over 4th of July...No dates off in June or August.

I may like the go a few weeks, get a few weeks off schedule, but not all school districts offer that...NONE of the districts in our area that are switching over offer THAT schedule!

 

[luvmy3]

There was a school sysytem here in Georgia, who years ago, had a modified "year round schedule." Stduents attended school for six weeks and then stduenst and teachers had two weeks off and then went back for another six weeks. Then they got six weeks off or so for the summer.

CNN had a show on last night talking about success in Hong Kong schools and how (all) stduenst seek private tutors in addition to their studies. They have a shorter school day than US schools and shorter year, but yet test scores remain high. However I got to thinking that surely, there must be some UNmotivated HK stduents and CNN was only focusing on the best.

I don;t know how to fix US schools, but year round wouldn't bother me. Kids would have a place to be during the summer (schools could even provide untraditional school during the summer and have "camps") and parents would not have to race to fill summer daycare spots. Schooling during the summer could also provide the opportunity for children to catch up on concepts/skills while advance stduenst could take enrichment courses or advance ahead in studies for that time.

I don't think you can compare students in Hong Kong with students in the US, we have a very different value set when it comes to eductaion. To me that is the core difference between us and other countries. I don't think HK students are allowed to be unmotivated, I don't believe its the same here

3. THE COST!!!!! It costs the states, government and US a TON of money for schooling each DAY. Adding days is only going to hurt the US financially

Actually you save money because a year round school, can hold more students due to the tracking in and out. For example, where I have taught a traditional middle school holds around 1000 students, the year round school can use the same building but have 1300 students because a track is always tracked out. So the teachers rotate the use of the different classrooms. Also, due to tracking in and out, you don't have to buy as many textbooks, because you hand out the books at track in and take them back up at track out.

Are there more teachers employed for year round then in traditional year school?

 

[BCDisneyFanatic]

Yes, in our area (not in our district, but a few other cites), if the full year is voted in, the kids WILL go more days! Regular school year for us is 170 days...full year would ADD about 60-75 days. The times off would be...

Wow...the average worker in the US (with three weeks vacation) only works 235 days a year. I find it hard to believe that your school district would require students to attend 230 - 245 days a year! If so, that is truly outrageous.

 

[mykidsand_i]

Sure, it works in other countries- but they've been doing it for YEARS now, they didn't just all of a sudden decide to do it one year (recently)...they also have different lifestyles. I find that it's difficult to 'compare' a USA lifestyle and choice with a choice made by other countries...just because it works for them, doesn't neccessarily mean it'll work for the ENTIRE USA.
!

Hate to quote myself, but another fact about 'comparing to other countries'...I heard a pp compare with China- Which, sure, it's a great 'comparative' for school year going all year...and that they have smart kids- because they DO...

But, their lives are 100% different. A LOT of kids that go to year around schools there don't even LIVE with their parents (they stay with grandparents or in 'dorms'. They see their parents 1-2 times a year...Not only that, LARGE parts of their school day include things like 'Chineese traditions' and 'celebrating' the life of China. It includes their 'religion of China' type of classes- in the USA that wouldn't EVER work in a public school, but it works for them really well.

I know that's not the case in all countires, but China cannot be compared to USA in any way shape or form as far as schooling goes.

 

[mykidsand_i]

Wow...the average worker in the US (with three weeks vacation) only works 235 days a year. I find it hard to believe that your school district would require students to attend 230 - 245 days a year! If so, that is truly outrageous.

It is outrageous! I just watched the online "school board meeting' for the larger city south of us. They were thinking of requirements being in the 210-240 school day range. I HATE that idea!

I didn't know of how many other optios there were, until this thread. I would be FURIOUS if my kids went to school THAT many days!

Although, I am wondering if they threw that number out there, so there was some 'wiggle room'...even with 'wiggle room' that is too many days of school! It's horrible! I don't think kids benifit from a 200 (or more) days a year school year!

 

[taylor3297]

Are there more teachers employed for year round then in traditional year school?

Not a simple yes or no answer. Say an over crowded traditional school has 1300 kids, then then X number of teachers have to be hired in order to serve those kids. At a year round school, you would have the same number of teachers for the 1300 kids but the school would not be over crowded because you never have all 1300 kids on campus at one time. The only difference is that the elective and special teachers are employed for 12 months.

 

[mykidsand_i]

And the bus system? I'm wondering how bussing all year around helps for costs? My FIL does a 'shortened school week' system, because their school system can't afford to go 5 days a week- they now go 4 longer days a week.

I suppose that there would be less busses having to go out, but in that case, they'd have to still go out 12 months a year and maybe even drive furthur to get the kids who weren't normally on their route?

 

[taylor3297]

It is outrageous! I just watched the online "school board meeting' for the larger city south of us. They were thinking of requirements being in the 210-240 school day range. I HATE that idea!


Although, I am wondering if they threw that number out there, so there was some 'wiggle room'...even with 'wiggle room' that is too many days of school! It's horrible! I don't think kids benifit from a 200 (or more) days a year school year!

I would understand them wanting to change the number of school days to 180 since that is the norm in most states, but 240 would be a huge jump from 170.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Respectfully--some of your responses don't make sense.

Mainly b/c states have a required length of school year. All year round school does is space it out--the kids aren't going to school that much longer than other kids if at all.

In any cases--my thoughts are posted in red. I do have kids which I think makes me eligible for this survey.

OK, I am starting this thread for those of you WHO ARE EXPOSED (parent, grandparent, caregivers, school staff) TO SCHOOL AGE KIDS...

I have training in child Psych. and I have my feelings about this issue:

1. If ANY parent has complained about how their family is TOO busy, it wouldn't get less busy if school was year around! It would be worse. AND the LARGEST problem for elementary students (in our district) nowdays is the fact that their parents don't spend enough time WITH them. It is a fact. A lot of parents 'overschedule their kids'. We have a 'rule of thumb' that we tell parents of kids who are struggling in school. Do not allow your children to be enrolled in activities more than 2-3 nights a week durring the school year.

YES, some kids can do a TON of activities, but the majority of ELEMENTARY aged students who struggle in school have 1 of 2 issues- 1- Over scheduled or 2- poor home life.
I don't see how year round school makes this works. The lenght of time spent in school is the same. It's just on a different calendar schedule. But at the end of the school year...180 days in the classroom. So your thesis doesn't make sense b/c you aren't looking at the hard numbers, but rather that the kids are in school ALL YEAR LONG, when they aren't.
My next reason...
2. When are KIDS allowed to be KIDS if they are going to school year around?
-going to summer camps (wether it be scouts, church camp, fun camps)...when would there be time for kids to experiance that? I'm not talking about the 2-4 week camps that people know of in large cities such as new York or where ever...I'm talking about the 1/2 week or full week camp that I grew up going to. I believe summer camps are a great thing for kids to develop.They can be kids on tehir breaks. They'll still have spring breaks and they'll still have summer breaks. they are just at different times. Many camps are mulit-session, so a year round school child (in my area) would have ZERO problems finding a summer camp.
-playing at the pool...I'll use our town for an example. Three years ago there was this beautiful outdoor pool and waterpark built. They close in mid-August, because that's when the H.S. lifeguards start school. If the pool is open, ALL of it has to be maintained on a DAILY BASIS, so if it's only open on weekends, the maintinence costs wouldn't get taken care of just by weekend opening...SO, it closes durring the entire school year- even in the hottest part of the summer here, which is mid-late August. If there was year around school, things like that would suffer. Unless I Am mistaken, children and families can swim outside of school hours. Also, I have my own pool--so my kids can swim 10 months of the year (in our present home) if they choose. A year round student isn't in session the entire summer...and again, they can use the facilities at times convenient to them. Example: Many of our public pools have evening hours--so that working tax payers can enjoy swimming after work with their families. It wouldn't suffer--but that is b/c you are thinking entirely in black and white.
-vacations. A HUGE amount of families go on vacations in the summer- HUGE amount. We camp A LOT, we go on one big vacation AND my kids look forward to going to stay with their grandparents once or twice for a week.
Year round school permits familes to schedule vacation times at more convenient times of the year. Having "summer" off is from days of old when it was necessary to work the farm. Our culture would survive if families vacationed at other times of the year. Many people balk at summer vacations due to crowds and premium costs. Year round school, would permit them to actually plan things off season for once without the kids missing school.
3. THE COST!!!!! It costs the states, government and US a TON of money for schooling each DAY. Adding days is only going to hurt the US financially.
Citation? Evidence? It doesn't add days at all. Not sure where you get that from. AGain, the student isn't attending school all 365 days per year. You might wish to actually investigate facts rather than opinions.
4. BEING A KID is PART of a child's education!!!!! My kids learn A LOT in the summer months that they can't learn in school. They learn about LIFE...they experiance things that they could not if school was year around!

Year round school allows kids to be kids in all 4 seasons of the year. Per your above assessment, you feel that summer is the only time to be a kid. I totally disagree.

5. In the midwest and other areas, parents DEPEND on their kids to have summer vacation to help with farming, to help with picking up jobs for summer travelers, to help with family buisnesses. When i was growing up, it was NORMAL for some farm kids to take days off from school to help their parents durring the harvest. Parents in the midwest STILL do this- not as often, but it does happen.In areas where they still depend on children for faming activity, I'm sure that local custom would take precedence. But in the end, they can now help with the family business throughout the year and not just summer. The whole country shouldn't necessarily stay in the olden times if the vast majority students are no longer needed for seeding planting and crop harvesting.

I believe if school was a year around thing, I would home school. I know they'd have to continue their education through out the summer too, but at least we'd be able to have the time to take them on vacations still, they'd still get to experiance being kids, they'd still get to go stay with grandparents on occasion...I homeschool--many--MANY homeschool year round. It allows us to take breaks as needed for those vacations as needed (or in my case, 2 months off in the fall when I was extremely sick and unable to leave my bed). I don't know if you have children right now--but homeschooling allows many freedoms that are not available in a school setting restricted to 8am-2pm, Labor Day to Memorial Day.

Those are my reasons. I have more. I don't believe that parents who support all year school are wrong, I just believe they have different life experiances than my family has had. I don't think you are wrong, but I do feel that many of your cons against homeschooling lack factual backing. In particular the increased costs.

I didn't start this thread for people to come on and 'fight' about their opinions and state why others are 'wrong, or right'...I just like to hear others opinions on the subject. I want to understand why people feel the way they do. I know that there are people who support all year school fully- And for their kids, maybe it's a good thing. Opinion has been shared--understand that many opinions are rooted in disagreement. I don't mind opinions and feel that you have the right to share yours. But my opinion is that you misunderstand a year round school.

I think it's localized...some larger cities, it may work really well for- but for us smaller midwestern towns, I don't think it makes any sense. That's fine too. Remember, education is state mandated and governed. The federal government is not in the position to require states to change their state to a national norm. I live in a "suburb" type area--and the year round schools that are here work fine. The county has some, but not all the public schools operate that way. In the end, the only thing that differs from a traditional public school is when they do their 180 days.

Looking at our district calendar for year round schools for this school year...

School began on July 20 (only about 3 or so weeks ahead of traditional year students) and their last day of the year will be June 9th (listed as part of exam days).

Their intercessions (breaks) are as follows:
Sept 21-Oct 9 (3 weeks)
Dec 18-Jan 1 (2 weeks)
March 22-April 9 (3 weeks)

post-session
June 10-July 19 (5 weeks + 2 days)

So that is 13 weeks + 2 days, not including in service days, federal holidays (that are not included in above breaks), and the included hurricane make up days (off unless there is a tropical storm/hurricane closure).

Traditional schedule
First day was August 10, last day will be May 24th.

Summer break will be May 25th until August 6 (11 weeks minus 1 day)

Spring break is 1 week, winter break is 2 weeks....so 13 weeks + 6 days off, not including the in service days, federal holidays (that are not included in above breaks), and the included hurricane make up days (off unless there is a tropical storm/hurricane closure).

That is a difference of only 4 days--but that likely disappears when you go and compare the other holiday times.

The class time is pretty much identical. (and no--I'm not going to go and dissect the calendar further to make those 4 days disappear--the point is to demonstrate that your "opinion" isn't founded in fact...or if it is, it is abundant in hyperbole).

 

[luvmy3]

What about whether related days off, here in the northeast that could totally disrupt the track schedule.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Yeah, the sample size is VERY small, and it's not been going many years- so there's really not that many full studies in the USA that have been completed about how it helps or how it doesn't help kids.

Sure, it works in other countries- but they've been doing it for YEARS now, they didn't just all of a sudden decide to do it one year (recently)...they also have different lifestyles. I find that it's difficult to 'compare' a USA lifestyle and choice with a choice made by other countries...just because it works for them, doesn't neccessarily mean it'll work for the ENTIRE USA.

Yes, in our area (not in our district, but a few other cites), if the full year is voted in, the kids WILL go more days! Regular school year for us is 170 days...full year would ADD about 60-75 days. The times off would be...

Over Christmas break. They'd get 3 weeks (instead of the regular 2 weeks that they get anyways!!!)

Over Thanksgiving (1 week instead of 2 days)

Over Easter (1 week instead of 4 days that they ALREADY GET)

and the occasional day or two here and there THAT they ALREADY get because of certain holidays -pres. day, martin luther king day...

AND, I also don't like the fact that some schools in our area the ONLY summer days they get off are 2 weeks over 4th of July...No dates off in June or August.

I may like the go a few weeks, get a few weeks off schedule, but not all school districts offer that...NONE of the districts in our area that are switching over offer THAT schedule!

That would be troublesome. But I do not see how it could work.

 

[daughtersrus]

Yeah, the sample size is VERY small, and it's not been going many years-

Actually, our school district did it for about 8 or 10 years in the 70's. I believe that there were schools in CA also doing this around the same time.

Yes, in our area (not in our district, but a few other cites), if the full year is voted in, the kids WILL go more days! Regular school year for us is 170 days...full year would ADD about 60-75 days.

Would you mind sharing where this is?

 

[DisneySaver28]

First, it's year-round not year-around.

Second, the students across the country participating in those districts go to school for just about the same number of days as those who do not; the days are just spread out throughout the year.

Our district has been tossing the idea around for a little while. I think it's a great idea, and I fully support it!

 

[mykidsand_i]

I would actually, because I'm not one to give my location- but it is in the mid west- not in ILL. though.

 

[mykidsand_i]

First, it's year-round not year-around.

Second, the students across the country participating in those districts go to school for just about the same number of days as those who do not; the days are just spread out throughout the year.
!

In the school districts I am talking about, it adds several days. One of their 'excuses' is that it would be less bothersome for people who use daycare...which is a lot of people apparently.

 

[chrisxtwo]

We were in a district that had both schedules and you could choose to go year round if you wanted. We did and LOVED it. I miss it now that we have moved ! I will say it is a tough schedule for families where both parents work outside the home. Unless the whole district is on the year round schedule, there weren't a lot of options for care during the breaks.

We loved it and our kids miss it too. The retention during the 5 week summer break was SO much better than the long break they have now. Also, I thought they had more time to be a kid in the year round schedule then they do now. And we loved traveling during the fall break (end of Sept. to Columbus Day). I know most of the teachers at their school also loved the year round schedule.

 

[Tinkermommy]

I would have to see the schedule, but I think I would be all for it. I HATE having to schedule vacations during peak periods. Think how much money I could save at Disney this way.

I don't see how it would disrupt kids playtime. Mine play everyday even with homework! If they aren't having family and play time with the current system, I think it wouldn't matter if they spread the breaks out or not.

Yes, in our area (not in our district, but a few other cites), if the full year is voted in, the kids WILL go more days! Regular school year for us is 170 days...full year would ADD about 60-75 days. The times off would be...

Over Christmas break. They'd get 3 weeks (instead of the regular 2 weeks that they get anyways!!!)

Over Thanksgiving (1 week instead of 2 days)

Over Easter (1 week instead of 4 days that they ALREADY GET)

and the occasional day or two here and there THAT they ALREADY get because of certain holidays -pres. day, martin luther king day...

AND, I also don't like the fact that some schools in our area the ONLY summer days they get off are 2 weeks over 4th of July...No dates off in June or August.

Sorry, your data here doesn't add up.

365 days a year
260 week days approx.
105 weekend days approx.

So you are having the kids go to school 230 to 245 days then have all these breaks, it's not adding up. I can't see how they would go that many more days.

I think we should look at other schedules that fit our modern life and not adhere to a school calendar that was created when this was an agrarian society.

 

[Northstar]

Yes, in our area (not in our district, but a few other cites), if the full year is voted in, the kids WILL go more days! Regular school year for us is 170 days...full year would ADD about 60-75 days. The times off would be...

Over Christmas break. They'd get 3 weeks (instead of the regular 2 weeks that they get anyways!!!)

Over Thanksgiving (1 week instead of 2 days)

Over Easter (1 week instead of 4 days that they ALREADY GET)

and the occasional day or two here and there THAT they ALREADY get because of certain holidays -pres. day, martin luther king day...

AND, I also don't like the fact that some schools in our area the ONLY summer days they get off are 2 weeks over 4th of July...No dates off in June or August.

I may like the go a few weeks, get a few weeks off schedule, but not all school districts offer that...NONE of the districts in our area that are switching over offer THAT schedule!

I'm having a hard time getting my head around this... your area is considering going to a 230-240 day a year school year, where all of the kids attend for 230-240 days instead of 170?

How on earth are they going to fund it?

Also, I think we can debate this question better if you frame it as "230-day school year?" instead of "year around school?"

I would not like it. I know there are countries where kids do attend for this length of time, often including at least 1/2 days on Saturday. But I think it would reduce kids' opportunities to follow their interests, daydream, and be kids.

 

[mykidsand_i]

The retention during the 5 week summer break was SO much better than the long break they have now. Also, I thought they had more time to be a kid in the year round schedule then they do now. And we loved traveling during the fall break (end of Sept. to Columbus Day). I know most of the teachers at their school also loved the year round schedule.

Now, that doesn't sound so bad...at least the kids get SOME summer. I don't believe 2 weeks over July 4th and two other Fridays off over summer can count as a 'summer break'