Should School be Year-Round?

In the recent decades, the number of schools who use a year-round schedule rather than a 9 months on and 3 months off schedule has been increasing. This alternative to the school year schedule with a summer break was first established in the 1960s. As of 2015, more than 3,500 K-12 schools in the United States have opted for year-round schooling rather than the traditional schedule. These changes have predominantly taken place in school districts located in the south and west of the United States. These schedule changes have been met with backlash and concern from parents, staff, and students.  

 

Although “year-round” is used to describe the different schedule, the school year would still include just the normal 180 days of students being in the classroom and the same number of vacation days. Majority of districts who have made the switch split up the 180 days with longer periods of vacation days throughout the entire year. Some of the most popular schedules are four 45-day periods followed by 15-days off, three 60-day periods with 20 days of break, and two 90-day periods in the classroom followed by two 30-day vacation periods. 

 

Advocates for year-round schooling argue that the pros outweigh the cons so much that it is worth making this big change to the school year schedule. Benefits of year-round schooling include a reduction of learning loss over the summer, nearly year-round childcare for parents of younger students, and longer breaks throughout the year which may eliminate the need for students to miss school for a vacation. Cons of implementing a year-round schooling schedule include, teenagers would not be able to have summer jobs, summer camps would not be able to exist or would have to be shorter, and the change would be costly for school districts. 

 

In my opinion, I would definitely prefer the traditional school schedule with a 3 month summer break over year-round schooling. I feel I would perform better academically with a longer break between school years rather than only a few weeks with the year-round schooling schedule. I don’t think it would be very beneficial to many people as it would be a very big change. 

 

Would you prefer year-round schooling over the traditional schedule? Why or why not?

 

What do you think the biggest problem with year-round schooling would be? 

 

What do you think the biggest benefit of year-round schooling would be?

 

https://www.edweek.org/leadership/year-round-schooling-explained/2015/12

 

https://www.verywellfamily.com/the-pros-and-cons-of-year-round-school-621001





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  • I think we should stick to the traditional school year because nonstop schooling would make kids too tired and they wont be focused for the next year. Summer is a time for students to rest and refresh their minds. I think kids would also hate school even more if there wasn't a summer.

  • I think that the traditional schedule is the better option. I feel like it is important for students to have a summer break. It gives them a long break before they have to go into the next school year. I think it is also important for students to have off while it is so nice. Sunlight and fresh air are very good for people. During the summer season, students get to be outdoors a lot. 

    • I agree, I think it's nice to have a long break before going into the next school year. 

  • Although school is a big thing that impacts our lives I think its fair to have 2 or 2 1/2 months away from school during the summer time because school can be very draining for some kids and summer is the best time for vacations, and when theres vacations you need days off. Spending time with family and friends is better to do in the summer. 

    • I agree with you, summer is a good oppurtunity to spend time with family and friends. 

  • I do not think school should be year round. I think having a summer gives kids something to look forward to and when kids make some really good memories. It also gives families more time to go on vacation and do other fun things. I think kids would get too burnt out all year round.

  • I would perfer traditional schools over year round schools because year round school would either slow down or speed up how much time you have to graduate. I personally think the educational system is fine the way it is right now unless you can shorten it or make college free but in this situation I would keep it the way it is. 

  • I personally would not enjoy going to school year-round. I think that if we went to school year-round, students and schools would have several problems. I think that lots of students and parents would constantly complain. It is nice having a two to three-month break before a new school year and having the ability to not have to worry about any type of schoolwork. I think that a benefit of going year-round would be students won't be so "crammed" with schoolwork. Schools and students won't have to worry about making up school days and being behind on schoolwork. 

  • I would prefer to have the traditional schedule over the year-round schedule. I think the biggest problem with having year-round school is that students' morale would be so low and they would not try at all. Having summer break is a nice long break for students to lay off school and have fun.

  • I personally would not want to be in school year around. I enjoy my summers. Normally during the summer, I'll be traveling around the county with livestock so I would most likely miss a large amount of school if it happened to be year around. I also feel like summer is a much needed break for students.

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