Should Academic School Year Be Extended?

During summer, many students forget what they learned the year before, and teachers must review material done last year. People in year-round schools believe that because of the shorter breaks, teachers have to spend less time reviewing material, and can move forward in their teaching. According to the National Education Association, “one of the main reasons for switching to year-round schools is to improve with student academics.” Although there is no proof, many schools believe a year-round schedule helps improve students academic skills.

Many teachers take graduate classes during the summer vacation period to catch up with new curriculums and advances in technology. Teachers will find attending professional conferences, staff development activities, and college courses more difficult. A teacher who was part of a year round system recounts, "I found myself going through 3 school years without that opportunity for self-assessment and planning for the future of the educational program." ("The Effect of Year Round Schools" 1999/22 February 2005). With a much shorter summer break, teachers will not have enough time to increase their education, which can benefit the learning of their students. For these reasons, year round schools are not as beneficial as the traditional school year.

Summer break is supposed to be a time of rest and rejuvenation for students. After nine months of hard work and challenging classes, one would think such a long break could do nothing but good for students; however, this is not the best way for young minds to learn. A three month break is far too long for children to go without proper education and supervision. Instead of a long three month break at the end of each school year, why not give students the same number of days off but spread them out more frequently throughout the year? Year-round education is a more efficient, globally competitive, and fair alternative to the traditional nine month school year.

Most students enjoy summer vacation, but some educators feel that the summer break is too long and that students do not retain information as easily when they return in the fall. Some people argue that there should be year-round schools, where there would by a 3-4 week break in the summer, a long winter break, and a week off in the spring and fall. I disagree with those people. The biggest problem with this schedule would be the summer break, it just isn’t long enough. I believe year-round school is a bad idea because summer break is a time when students get to take a break, parents may not be able to find a caretaker during the shorter breaks, and schools may not have sufficient funds.

In his article “Go Year-Round: A Push for True Summer School”, Milton Chen, the executive director of Edutopia, urges readers to use the year-round schooling system. He explains in brief words what the summer vacation was for. “…when farm families needed young people home during the summer months to replace the three R's with the two P's -- plantin' and pickin' " (Chen). He carries on discussing that the problem with the school days is not only the amount, but the schedule of the school day. The curriculum is too tight; neither the students nor the teachers have the time to step away from the books and text and learn from the outside. The students do not have the chance to go into the outside world and observe what is going on in the society that they live in. Additionally, the teachers do not have the chance to decide how their time is spent because it is spent on the strict schedule of the classroom.

The average school period is one hundred and eighty days with small breaks in between and a three-month break during summer to ease students’ minds and let them relax. The Board of Education should make all schools in the United States year-round to increase educational time and decrease the loss of knowledge over the breaks. It gives students the same time to relax and plan family vacations periodically throughout the year, but never creates the stress of changing sleep schedules that summer break changes. Not only is it a good way to enhance education, but it also is better for planning family events, positive effects on budget, academic achievement, and could decrease the absence rate of students.

Have you ever found yourself in the same schedule? Repeating almost the same day over and over. Students with traditional scheduled schooling have to go 70 plus days before just a short break. If we had year-round schooling the most we would have to go to school before a break is 45 days. Plus students would be able to advance more quickly, teachers would be happier, and our school would have a higher grade point average. This is why year-round schooling could help the staff and students of linden schools.

The third reason is many year-round schools have an intersession with creative classes. According to “Year-Round Schooling Offers Benefits over a Traditional Calendar,” the scheduled breaks or vacations for students are called intersessions. Nevertheless “Intersession also is a fertile period for enrichment and creativity” (Year-Round Schooling Offers Benefits). Year-Round schools can have 1-3 week classes for a number of different subjects (Year-Round Schooling Offers Benefits). Also, as a student, intersession is a great way to catch up for a student falling behind in classes. Likewise, if a student is struggling with a certain subject they can take a class during their intersession, then when classes restart they could be caught up. In addition, high school students may use the fall and winter intersessions to scope out future colleges. Students who participate in sports can use the intersession as a way to catch up on their studies if they are not at the level they are expected to be at (Year-Round Schooling Offers Benefits).

A teacher who was part of a year round system recounts, “I found myself going through 3 school years without that opportunity for self-assessment and planning for the future of the educational program.” (“The Effect of Year Round Schools” 1999/22 February 2005). With a much shorter summer break, teachers will not have enough time to increase their education, which can benefit the learning of their students. For these reasons, year round schools are not as beneficial as the traditional school year.

To the counter-argument, Ballenger & Kneese say it best: “Of what value is there to a community of having most of its classrooms unused for fully 25% of the possible school days each year, when America 's students need more, rather than less, education?” As it stands, concerns concerning loss of learning over the extended summer break remain prevalent. Changing to a year-long school schedule would close that learning gap, allowing students higher retention. However, as Gabrieli states in Koonce (2015), even schools that add “25 percent more time each year – or the equivalent of three extra years of school for students” (p. 236) can achieve this increase merely by extending the school day with no adjustment in summer breaks. Expanded hours and days “can ensure at risk students keep up academically; develop attachment to school through such activities as sports, arts, and drama; and develop the beliefs and behaviors consistent with success” (p.236). The proponents of expanded learning time (ELT) may attest that “the greatest opportunity that expanded learning time offers for improving academic achievement comes from being able to better individualize instruction—putting the right teachers with the right students and focusing on the right skills” (Koonce, 2015). ELT allows students to learn that “through hard work, they can excel through the odds, but that [success] requires time” (Koonce, 2015). Supporters of expanded learning time argue that there is a sizeable benefit from

Nelson Mandela once said “Education is the most powerful weapon, which you can use to change the world”. School boards today are taking these words to heart, as they are concerned about student’s education more than ever. The solution to their concerns of students weakening education is the method of Year Round Schools. This supposed “education-saving” method offers the same amount of school days except the traditional summer break is exchanged for smaller breaks throughout the year. Although this method is supposed to boost students learning and intelligence it is actually not all that it is cracked up to be. Year Round Schooling essentially causes more harm than good because it does not benefit the students at all, it is a

”Bye students. Have a great summer,” the teacher yells over the bell. Happiness and joy fills the classrooms as everyone leaves the room talking about their summer plans with their friends and family.This is the way it should be,but what if all that was taken away just like that? and the joy of summer vacation suddenly disappeared? All you had planned to have with the people you were closest with. How would you feel if all of that was gone? That's why we shouldn't have year-round schooling, because it complicates schedules, add to costs, and with year round schooling

Imagine a place, and in this place, you got out of school. Then you had to go back to school one month later. Sounds like a nightmare, right? Like some of you reading this right now, if anybody is, is like what the heck, this can be real, are you sure you’re not just messing with me, or pranking me. Unfortunately, it’s true. There are schools across the U.S that have year-round school, and their breaks are shorter, especially the summer break, the best break of all. And because of this, we should not have year round school because it affects the kids, it affects the parents, and it affects the teachers.

They state, “...some have found that students lose a lot of what they learn during the school year when they go into summer.” This supports my claim because during summer, students focus on having fun, not on education. Also, the frequent breaks allow for teachers and students to regenerate and refresh without forgetting the materials that have been taught previously. Traditional schools don’t have as many breaks and this can lead to children becoming worn-out and not doing their best. Another problem is coming back to school in fall and not getting the concepts the teachers are reviewing or using.

It is October 15th. Normally, students would be at school, working for hours on end at math, communication arts, and science. But this year is different. This year your school has now entered into the year-round calendar system. At home, you can enjoy the season of fall with pumpkins, Halloween, and beautiful weather. The idea of year round school has most commonly been pushed aside because of the misconception that it is too much school, or an on-going cycle of learning. However, those who declare this, do not understand the year-round school concept. Year-round school provides the same number of days as the traditional calendar. The difference, which will change our society and the achievement rate of our students in the future, is that the days are reordered into intersessions. The mechanisms of year round school include students attending school for a nine week period, then following this is a three week break. This rotation occurs year-round with a slightly longer summer break. Consequently, Though many people agree with keeping tradition with the popular school calendar, new evidence and testimony proves that year-round school provides the better avenue because the world is evolving, it benefits low income students, and intersessions are more effective than summer break.