Year-Round School
- Thread starter MJS
- Start date
I'm torn on that. There are studies that show that kids benifit from year round schooling, mostly because there is less time to forget stuff, therefore less time is wasted on recap at the begining of the school year. Also it allows for better use of the facilities. With a percentage of the student body off at any goiven time, you should be able to teach more kids in the same physical facility.
OTOH, the 5 week break is not a whole lot shorter that the current 8-10, so that may kill the first argument.
Then there is the issue of infrastructure. Year round may be feasible in the south, but most schools in the north are not equipped to function year round, with most of them not having AC. Retrofitting them would cost a fortune.
Then there is the financial costs to older student. An economy has been built around having kids off school in July and August. It opens employment for older kids staffing programmes for younger ones. Year round would seriously jeopardize that.
And think about the family dynamics. When my kids were young, we knew we had to cover a couple of weeks around Xmas and a week in March. Summer was usually spent in day camps (see previous point). With year round, We'd have to cover stretches throughout the year, and there may not be outlets like camps available. And what happens when your kids are on a different rotation?
Overall, I'm not crazy about the idea.
OTOH, the 5 week break is not a whole lot shorter that the current 8-10, so that may kill the first argument.
Then there is the issue of infrastructure. Year round may be feasible in the south, but most schools in the north are not equipped to function year round, with most of them not having AC. Retrofitting them would cost a fortune.
Then there is the financial costs to older student. An economy has been built around having kids off school in July and August. It opens employment for older kids staffing programmes for younger ones. Year round would seriously jeopardize that.
And think about the family dynamics. When my kids were young, we knew we had to cover a couple of weeks around Xmas and a week in March. Summer was usually spent in day camps (see previous point). With year round, We'd have to cover stretches throughout the year, and there may not be outlets like camps available. And what happens when your kids are on a different rotation?
Overall, I'm not crazy about the idea.
That differing rotation kills the idea for me. Go with a 4 quarters program across the board with 3-4 weeks off between quarters. Drop the week off for Easter and week off for Christmas (unless you structure your quarters to allow those periods off).
Hey, it works for Bryant & Stratton.
Hey, it works for Bryant & Stratton.
I agre with Bob on this one, it makes alot of sense.
How long are the achool holidays now? Ours are 5-6 weeks in summer usually from the end of July to the beginning of September. There's a weeks 'half term' break at the end of October/beginning of November and another in spring depending on when Easter is. Easter holidays are 2-3 weeks as is Christmas. Dates vary in different parts of the country by a week or so. Fee paying schools tend to have less time off.
Xue Sheng
All weight is underside
Define balanced schedule?
I do not see the numbers of schools that the article claims is following what it calls a balanced schedule
http://drpfconsults.com/5-critical-components-of-a-good-running-school-schedule/
And for the record I don't like the idea of 10 weeks on 5 weeks of or whatever it ends up being. Summer is part of being a kid and we should let kids be kids while they have the chance and that does put an awful lot of responsibility on the parents, as it should, to make sure summer is productive as well as fun (for the record I am a parent) Constant learning is not going to change any educational rating without looking at the root causes of the problems in education.
I use to love NYS solutions to all educational issues....make it harder They never actually took the time to figure out what the issues were they just changed it and made it more difficult no matter what the issue was. And for the record I use to work for NYSED.
I do not see the numbers of schools that the article claims is following what it calls a balanced schedule
http://drpfconsults.com/5-critical-components-of-a-good-running-school-schedule/
And for the record I don't like the idea of 10 weeks on 5 weeks of or whatever it ends up being. Summer is part of being a kid and we should let kids be kids while they have the chance and that does put an awful lot of responsibility on the parents, as it should, to make sure summer is productive as well as fun (for the record I am a parent) Constant learning is not going to change any educational rating without looking at the root causes of the problems in education.
I use to love NYS solutions to all educational issues....make it harder
They never actually took the time to figure out what the issues were they just changed it and made it more difficult no matter what the issue was. And for the record I use to work for NYSED.About 16 years ago when I first got into teaching, "year-round" school was all the talk. Everybody was predicting that it would soon be the norm, and a few districts in my area experimented with it. But it didn't work out. The schools that tried it were out of sync with all the rest. It played hell with sports Schedules, work and vacation plans, and the predicted rise in student achievement never materialized. Furthermore, any attempt to add a significant number of actual teaching days was scuttled when the economy went South. These days, there's scarcely enough money to keep things running as they are. All the schools that tried going "year round" went back to the standard old schedule, and I seriously doubt that you will see any dramatic shift towards year round schooling in the foreseeable future.
Personally, I'd be satisfied if I could just trade one week of my summer break for five more three-day weekends during the teaching year. That way, at least I'd have a little more time to catch up on all the extra work that's being shoved on us at the same time they are cutting our salary and benefits! Out here it's "No union, no tenure, no seniority, and shut up or we can cut your job out altogether" (I teach visual arts). Well at least it's more secure than teaching MA.
Personally, I'd be satisfied if I could just trade one week of my summer break for five more three-day weekends during the teaching year. That way, at least I'd have a little more time to catch up on all the extra work that's being shoved on us at the same time they are cutting our salary and benefits! Out here it's "No union, no tenure, no seniority, and shut up or we can cut your job out altogether" (I teach visual arts). Well at least it's more secure than teaching MA.
When my niece and nephews were adopted, my sister enrolled them in a charter school which is year round, about 30 minutes from their house. These are 4 siblings that were split up in foster care in to 4 different homes and were hoping upon hope to be adopted together. My sister and her husband were brave/crazy enough to do that.
Considering the circumstances, I don't think there could have been anything more ideal. The youngest was in Kindergarten, the oldest in grade 8, but they all got to attend school together, and for my sister, planning around smaller school breaks was easier than planning around a large summer vacation.
The charter school only goes through grade 8 so this year the oldest is in high school. He goes to high school at a gateway program at a local community college -- meaning he'll go to school for 5 years, but graduate with a H.S. diploma and an AS degree. I am fairly certain that is not a year-round program, just an accelerated program. So, now that means there are weeks when he is off when his siblings are not and vice versa. I'm sure that is taking quite a toll on my sister and her family...especially where none of these kids are going to schools that can be reached with a school bus.
Considering the circumstances, I don't think there could have been anything more ideal. The youngest was in Kindergarten, the oldest in grade 8, but they all got to attend school together, and for my sister, planning around smaller school breaks was easier than planning around a large summer vacation.
The charter school only goes through grade 8 so this year the oldest is in high school. He goes to high school at a gateway program at a local community college -- meaning he'll go to school for 5 years, but graduate with a H.S. diploma and an AS degree. I am fairly certain that is not a year-round program, just an accelerated program. So, now that means there are weeks when he is off when his siblings are not and vice versa. I'm sure that is taking quite a toll on my sister and her family...especially where none of these kids are going to schools that can be reached with a school bus.
The kids that are doing well in school would continue to do well in school regardless of how the year is structured. The ones that do poorly, would continue to do poorly.
The reason? The parents. The parents who are involved, in their childs education, read to them every night, make sure home work is completed, and teach their children manners and respect for others, these kids will always do well. The parents who think that it is solely the job of a teacher to raise and educate their child, these kids will continue to do poorly.
The reason? The parents. The parents who are involved, in their childs education, read to them every night, make sure home work is completed, and teach their children manners and respect for others, these kids will always do well. The parents who think that it is solely the job of a teacher to raise and educate their child, these kids will continue to do poorly.
Ken my dearest,
do you define doing well as acheiving a high GPA and being well prepared for the work force or the grind and politics of higher education? Or is it being well thought of by the teachers and your peers, or maybe just by the teachers. Being active in the community and having a social conscious? What exactly is Doing Well?Lori
