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
Replies
Great summary and well done overall Avery! Be sure to comment back three differentr days next time.
I would prefer the traditional schooling schedule. Lots of things happen during the summer that kids typically would want to go to but would not be able to if they were in school. I dont think it is benifitioal. It might make sese in the south becaue the weather allows you to do more.
i wouldn't prefer the year-round schedule because then I wouldn't get a big summer break to recover from the school year. The traditional consists of a couple of major breaks, then the summer break. Allowing one to completely recover from the school year.
I would prefer the traditional schedule. I think this because I want to have summer off and be able to adapt to a new schedule twice a year so when I graduate, I am not clueless on how to manage time. I think the biggest benefit is steady scheduling and people knowing their exact schedule all the time.
I would prefer the traditional because then we can get one big break and a bunch of small breaks instead of having a bunch of medium breaks. The biggest problem is that I think that people would get tired of going to school all year. Year round schooling would prevent summer slides.
I would not like to have year-round schooling because I think that kids would get tired of going to school. One of the biggest problems with school all year would be that it is nice outside in the summer and kids would want to be outside more. It might make it so there is less loss of learning, but I don't think that is a very big deal, because after we graduate, we are going to forget some of it anyway.
In my personal opinion, I prefer the traditional school schedule, rather than the year-round option for multiple reasons. For instance, the summer is when many high schoolers work, and it's nice having a long break in the summer compared to short breaks throughout the year with year-round schooling.
I do not think school should be year round. This would not allow to work and make money during the summer. Without this, kids won't be able to make money to earn and save for college, or their future plans. Kids also just need a nice break from school, and without summer break, kids will become exhausted from school.
No, I think that year-round school is a terrible idea. Every single day, I just think about how I can't wait until summer. Most students don't want to live school if that makes any since. Let young people live their life and not have to worry about school for the first 2 decades of their life. With little to no breaks.
In my personal opinion, I do not think that school should be year round. I think that having a long summer break is crucial for children and their social development. Although, I can see why some people would push for a year round schedule. It would greatly help with students retaining information.