Year Round Schooling
By Brittany Anderson
What is year round schooling?
Year round schooling operates just like any school. Year round schools just have a modified calendar to cut out the lengthy summer break. They attend class 180 days of the year, but instead of the schools cutting out time for summer break, they will go through the summer. The schools follow a 45-15 plan, which is 45 days in class, and then a 3 week (15 day) break. With the 45-15 plan, the schools still build in the holiday breaks that 10 month schools have, which would be a part of their 15 days off. Many of the schools in America use a 10 month calendar. Other forms of how schools divide the 180 days is the 60-20 method and the 90-30 method, but the 45-15 method is the most common. When looking at a year round school calendar, they would stretch the 180 days of class out over the entire year, not just August through May or September through June. Schools may also do a single track system, which means all students get the same calendar and same days off or they get a multi-track system, which is where groups of students get certain days off and others do not. The multi-tracking system allows the schools to enroll more students per school, since there will always be a small portion on their breaks.
Just how long have we had year round schools?
Year round schools have essentially been around forever. It has recently became popular over the last seven years. Many schools are taking initiative and trying to change the calendars in their district to be year round.
Year round schools do not operate a full twelve months. The schools operate on a modified school calendar.
Pros and Cons of year round schools
Pros
It takes away the summer learning digression
Increases amount learned
You can increase student population in one school
Extra vacation days during the year
Improvements academically
May receive extra funding
Cons
Only one day to finalize grades
A week layover between years
Could be a challenging change for students
Sports become more difficult
If using a multi-track system, parents with different aged children may have one child home one week and another home the following week, making vacations difficult.
No concrete proof that it actually improves the students academically
Does year round school still exist?
Yes, schools are switching over to year round schools and are beginning to make this a change in some states.