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Local School Calendar - 11/20/2009 7:26:30 AM
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Sideways
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Wow, my county's school board has voted on next year's school calendar and it's a doozy. Students start on August 2nd, which means teachers report in July. The kids get a week off in September, a week for Thanksgiving, two weeks for Christmas, a week off in February and a week in April, ending the year on May 27th. So they get two full months for summer, plus 6 weeks during the year, not counting the occasional 3 day weekend.
I actually support shorter summers, but it's going to be a challenge for parents who need to find childcare. One of reasons given is that children retain less info the longer they are out of school, and the other reason is that the week-long breaks throughout the year is supposed to give kids who are behind a chance to catch up. Of course, the teachers will be out of school, too, so it would be up to the parents to make sure the child makes good use of the week off.
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RE: Local School Calendar - 11/20/2009 8:03:18 AM
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garsyt
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It sounds like a move to year round schooling to me.
All those weeks off don't seem to make sense to me tho. At first I thought, by the dates you gave that they must be trying to go 9 weeks, take a week off, and go back for another quarter, but then I sat down with my calendar and that didn't work out.
The reasons you gave are often used in conjunction of year round schooling, which has it's benefits, but is definitely not something I would be in favor of. A lot of the time, tho, when the kids are out of school there are still teachers in the building. Title 1 programs here run pretty much year round.
Blessings,
Garsy
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RE: Local School Calendar - 11/20/2009 9:03:27 AM
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mamajennleigh
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From: Fuquay-Varina, NC
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Garsy, can I ask why you are not in favor of year round schools? I'm curious because they've already implemented it all over my county and state for that matter. My kids have never attended a year-round school, but I've always thought it was a neat concept, especially since I would rather have three weeks off at a time throughout the year than one big chunk at the summer (I might have thought that stunk as a kid though lol).
Our school calendar gets stranger and stranger every year. We have so many year-round schools here that are on "tracks" and so it drives me nuts trying to keep up.
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RE: Local School Calendar - 11/20/2009 11:43:29 AM
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Sideways
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I did an energy audit of some California schools that were on tracks. It's basically meant to keep the school occupied year round (barring certain holidays) and reduce how many new schools they need to build. I think the idea was that 3/4 of the school population was in school at any one time, while the remaining quarter were on break. It's not a bad solution to school over crowding.
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RE: Local School Calendar - 11/20/2009 12:33:54 PM
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debilyn
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Our district has discussed year-round schooling several times, but it always gets voted down. Tourism in the state is the big leveler, but I still see it on the horizon in the next few years, since some districts are doing it already.
I'm pretty neutral on it, as I see the pros and cons from both sides as pretty even.
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RE: Local School Calendar - 11/20/2009 12:42:59 PM
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stampinlady
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From: Northern IL
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quote:
I'm pretty neutral on it, as I see the pros and cons from both sides as pretty even.
Me too. I knwo that my kids get really bored by the time Aug. 1st rolls around. Now I don't have them enrolled in all kinds of stuff over throughout the summer simply because I think they need kid time, but now that their in they're 15 and 16 I think they could stand a few more studies. Our district hasn't gone to this model yet, but I know of other who have.
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I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality .... Acts 10:34
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RE: Local School Calendar - 11/20/2009 1:27:03 PM
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garsyt
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quote:
ORIGINAL: mamajennleigh
Garsy, can I ask why you are not in favor of year round schools? I'm curious because they've already implemented it all over my county and state for that matter. My kids have never attended a year-round school, but I've always thought it was a neat concept, especially since I would rather have three weeks off at a time throughout the year than one big chunk at the summer (I might have thought that stunk as a kid though lol).
Our school calendar gets stranger and stranger every year. We have so many year-round schools here that are on "tracks" and so it drives me nuts trying to keep up.
My PRIMARY issue with year round schooling is this - FAMILY time. I have family in Minnesota and California as well as the East Coast as well. We are in Indiana. Hubby has family in Texas and Southern Indiana. My kids already don't get to spend hardly any time with their cousins simply because of distance. We hardly ever see some of our family from the East Coast because their schools have gone year round and their schedules just don't ever jive with planned family get-togethers. I want my kids to know that SUMMER is family time and that means extended family too. The nice thing about summer is is that it's pretty much a sure thing that EVERY body has at least the end of June to the end of July. Also I would absolutely HATE the possibility some of my kids being on one school schedule while others are on another schedule. I know a mother in California that has to deal with her eldest's high schools schedule always being different from her younger childrens except at Christmas time. They could NEVER plan a family vacation when everyone was available. Well actually she can now because she's pulled her eldest and he's doing a virtual schooling program from home. It would also mean the end of summer trips for MY kids with their grandparents and a cousin, simply because either the cousin or my kid could be in school - heaven forbid the schools give them the same weeks off.
It would also make it practically impossible for girl scout, boy scout, and many other camping type groups to keep going. My youngest dd went to a girl scout day camp this summer that drew girls from 4 different school districts - all of which would be very likely on different schedules should things go year round. Kids NEED these things too. My eldest dd's art camp is a very big deal drawing kids in from 4 STATES and numerous school districts. BUT the organizers and funders simply don't have the funds to run the camp more than 2 times a summer - once for the younger grades and once for the older kids. It would be the end to summer camps because they wouldn't be able to recruit the older teens that staff these camps because they would all be on different school schedules as well. Kids need these opportunities as well.
Another reason - Teachers have families too. We have several teachers that live in one district but work in another. The way it is there are times when the school calendars don't always match up, but with year round schooling it is likely that matching up would become even more rare.
And finally - Kids also NEED down time-well at least mine do. When summer break comes it usually takes them a week to reach the point where they can actually relax a little bit and 2 weeks or so to gear back up for the next Fall. By getting only 3 weeks here and 3 weeks there - I believe, at least MY kids would become more stressed out then they already are.
But that's where I stand.
Blessings,
Garsy
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RE: Local School Calendar - 11/20/2009 2:08:53 PM
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mamajennleigh
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Excellent post, Garsy. Many of those things I had never thought of, especially the kids from the same household being on different tracks. I actually know a woman here who had the exact same problem. I guess I just always assumed they would be on the same schedule.
I guess thinking about it now, it would mean that my sister and I (she lives in FL, I live in NC) would not get together over the summer, and if not for that, I might not see her at all!
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RE: Local School Calendar - 11/20/2009 4:06:04 PM
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Sideways
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I'd be more upset by it if I had 2 kids on 2 different tracks (or more kids on different tracks). I don't have the issue of family as much. We have grandparents in Florida (who often come up here) and family in New York and Chicago, but those could be visited easily in shorter summer break. Of course, my kids are younger.
My MIL is a teacher and she has the same thing about needing a week or two just to unwind in the summer. She is opposed to year round schooling. I think I would've loved it as a kid. I got bored after 6 weeks of summer. Of course, I also spent 2 years under the German public school system, where summer was only 6 weeks long, but the whole country was on the same schedule.
So, part of the objection is the multitude of schedules, not so much the need for a long summer break (except for Garsy's point about some kids needing more time to unwind).
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RE: Local School Calendar - 11/20/2009 7:46:45 PM
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garsyt
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quote:
So, part of the objection is the multitude of schedules, not so much the need for a long summer break (except for Garsy's point about some kids needing more time to unwind).
Pretty much that sums it up. The school districts in my area (and there are a number of them), can't even get together on common start and end dates. To get them all to agree on on a common calendar would be absolutely impossible.
And I don't think the kids that end up losing so much over the summer break would improve as much as some think they would. Honestly I think by providing summer school for those that need it the schools would actually save money - at least in my area as opposed year round schooling for all children. And then if more parents would take an active role in their children's academic lives during the summer months by providing trips to the library, requiring reading, and turning off the TV and video games, there would be much less academic loss.
Blessings,
Garsy
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RE: Local School Calendar - 11/23/2009 1:08:13 PM
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heremainsfaithful
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G, you make some very good points. As a teacher, I think I would like year-round, but that will never fly here because we have a large University and they are on semesters.
However, as of several years ago, the studies about retention were really inconclusive. Some students did very well, and some didn't really do better or worse in year round school. It does seem to help costs, but not if the school is open all year anyway because of child care programs. Truthfully, we have dealt with long summer gaps for decades now, and not all of the academic progress lost is due to the school calendar. You are right on about how important parental involvement is. Studies about that are very conclusive.
It will be interesting to see how these issues are addressed at a governmental level over the next few years.
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RE: Local School Calendar - 11/24/2009 1:59:02 AM
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kernsfamily
Posts: 535
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From: Dallas (originally Detroit)
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quote:
Wow, my county's school board has voted on next year's school calendar and it's a doozy. Students start on August 2nd, which means teachers report in July. The kids get a week off in September, a week for Thanksgiving, two weeks for Christmas, a week off in February and a week in April, ending the year on May 27th. So they get two full months for summer, plus 6 weeks during the year, not counting the occasional 3 day weekend.
That is the "calendar" we had here in Texas....until a few years ago. When the "travel and tourism" industry in the state lobbied the legislature to mandate that school would NOT start until the last week of August...and, thus, school now ends in early June.
I am all for the "long summer". While growing up, that's when we would take worthwhile trips (sometimes road trips that were 2-3 weeks in length), and learn more than I would have if I were in school. And, I do the same with my kids....and, are looking forward to some international destinations in the near future...once they get a bit older.
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