Should Elkhorn Public Schools Switch To Year-Round Schooling?

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.

Does year round school truly have a positive impact in the lives of students? Various studies do suggest that year round school is helpful. There are some disadvantages to this type of schooling that are preventing all schools from switching to this type of scheduling. In earlier times schools were only teaching throughout half of the year so that school would be out of session when it was time to work in the fields. This type of scheduling is still common today even though only a small portion of agriculture is tied into education and kids are no longer required to work. “In 1994, the National Education Commission on Time and Learning (1994) urged school districts to develop school calendars that acknowledged (a) differences in student learning and (b) the major changes taking place in American society. The report reflected growing concern about how the school calendar relates to students at risk for academic failure” (Cooper, Nye, Charlton, James, & Greathouse). As a result. many are fighting for year-round school. Year-round school has proven to be beneficial in the lives of students and has lead to greater success in the classroom. Although, there are some downfalls to year-round schooling.

When a person first mentions the idea of year-round schooling, their comment is usually met with a look of dread. The image of year-round schooling is that students must go to school every day throughout the entire year with no breaks. This is an untrue image. Students are given frequent breaks throughout the school year to make up for the shorter summer break. It was first used in the 1800s, which goes against many people’s thoughts that it is a new alternative schooling proposal (Research). At that time year-round schooling was used in industrial cities to teach English to children of immigrants. By the early 1900s, year-round schooling was used as a method to reduce overcrowding, underfunding,

If there is year round schooling, there is a higher potential level and students would benefit from having year-round schooling. There are year round schooling which would cause a lot less distractions through the school year. “Suppose in the year round school program, there’s a break every six or eight weeks; that means as soon as students begin to feel settled, they’re off again. If shortened breaks come too frequently, as they’d almost have to in the new system, it becomes harder for students to ever get

Have you ever thought about how year-round schooling can be beneficial to students? In today’s society, many school districts have been switching from a standard school year to year-round schooling. Year-round schools follow the basic 180 day school year, but the days are more spread out throughout the year following the 45-15 method. Forty five days of school, followed by fifteen day breaks. Year-round schooling is beneficial to many because it prevents students from gaining unwanted weight and causes less stress for teachers and students.

Year-round schooling is characterized by its 45-90 day periods of instruction (varying with different multitrack systems) separated by 15-30 day breaks (varying with different multitrack systems) (California Department of Education). There is no current scientific evidence to show that year-round education lessens the amount of material forgotten during the summer (McMillen 68); in fact, this memory loss is maximized as it occurs more frequently as it accompanies the shorter, habitual breaks. Constant breaks can also multiply some of summer’s negative effects. One common issue associated with summer is students’ loss of focus as summer approaches and trouble becoming accustomed to the beginning of the following school year (Worsnop 439). This would be a, though minimized, a recurring difficulty with constant breaks. Furthermore, teachers

According to the National Association for Year-Round Education, students will be able to advance more rapidly if they did year-round schooling. A by-product of summer break is the dividing of classes based on age. If schooling was year-round, there would be less distinction between one year and the next. This only teaches us to work with people from our generation. If we had year-round schooling we could advance quicker and work with people from different generations, just like how it would be in the future with jobs. Also, the constant learning environment takes away the emphasis of when the student started school and instead emphasizes skill

"They do not view YRE as a calendar configuration for space, achievement, or enrichment, but rather as a part of the transformation toward a philosophy of long continuous learning." (Guthrie). One of the main purposes of Year-Round Schooling is to lower the break time between school sessions. This causes children to have a better chance of retaining the knowledge that they learned from the previous year (Wyoming Tribune Eagle). Year-round schools consist of the same amount of school days, 180 days, the difference is that it is spread out over 12 months instead of the original 10. When the original school schedule was made, it was made for families who farmed in the summer. Modern day Americans do not have to focus on the economic issue

Year round school eliminates regression of learning due to extended time off. Having a year round school can reduce what people known as summer learning loss ("The Pros"). Almost every child will experience a decrease in their math over the time of summer break each summer break ("SUMMER LEARNING"). “On an average students lose two months of reading skills over summer” ("SUMMER LEARNING"). After

Year-round schooling is beneficial to school systems because: it alleviates overcrowding, offers remedial opportunities, decreases teacher burnout, increases retention rates, assists English as a Second Language

“More kids will have learning loss than others.” That is why we have school so we can learn the same stuff. We will get learning loss because we will learn to much stuff.When kids go to summer break they will have learning loss but they will learn that stuff again in the next year. When kids have all the vacations they might as well just have a summer break.(EDU leadership removing school year round schooling.) “We found that students in year- round schools learn more during the summer, when others are on vacation, but they seem to learn less than others children during the rest of the year,”.(Von Hippel 2007)

There are many other benefits to following the year round schooling schedule. The california department of education reports that “A year round school might make it easier for students to access tutoring, particularly economically distinguished students.” (Vandewater, 2012) and “using a multi track calendar allows schools to enroll up to fifty percent more students” according to The California Department of Education. (Vandewater,

Students also would not be able to work summer jobs. Having year-round school also means accommodating utilities in buildings such as air conditioning and other expenses. Another source claimed that “Some critics, however, note that extracurricular activities, like sports and band, may be more difficult under the year-round schedule. Unless the entire district converts to the same calendar, parents with kids in different grade levels can find it troublesome to plan vacations. And although one of the main reasons for switching to year-round schools is to improve retention rates, there is no concrete proof that students improve academically.

Year round schools also get the same amount of days as traditional schools. Year Round Schools get more breaks than normal schools like when each marking period ends, we give them a two to four week break. Year Round Schools have more breaks than normal schools so that kids won't be so stressed because if your kid has stress it won't be able to work on their math, social studies, science, and language

The topic of year round schooling is quite controversial and greatly misconceived by the public. Most school systems tend to steer clear of the idea due to lack of support and academic success. Year-round schooling is not for everyone. Benefits however, include downsizing of schools, the reduction of building construction, and the ability to effectively meet the demands of the community. Students and teachers are typically placed on a multi-track schedule instead of the general nine month school calendar. The altered schedule can consist of two different sequences that each school district may choose to participate in. Students and teachers go to school for longer periods of time throughout the year and take small