The Year Round Schooling System Essay

The first year round school was established in 1904 in Bluffton, Indiana (Glines, 2002). Year round education is described as a “calendar modification that requires students to begin school earlier and end later than normal, with the lost summer vacation redistributed in blocks throughout the year” (Glines, 2002, 2698). It is important to note that year round schools have the same number of days in a calendar year as does the traditional school year. However, the days are distributed throughout the year. Year round schools differ from traditional schools in a variety of ways.

Year-round schools have gained popularity among the United States, being a very communicated topic within middle class communities. These schools are generally argued about by whether they are beneficial or not. While there are many advantages to year-round schools, there are some disadvantages as well. A few of these disadvantages include the expenses of the schools, the schedules the schools provide, the involvement within the schools, and the actual effectiveness of these schools.

Another important advantage for many school districts is that year-round school can enable multi-track schedules. A multi-track schedule is one in which teachers and students are divided into equally sized groups called tracks (Gerard 1). Each track attends school and has vacation at the same time, but there is always at least one track on vacation at any time (1). This is somewhat analogous to our P.E. system at Johnston High. Imagine if everyone had P.E. on the same day; we’d never be able to manage students or fit them into the gyms. This is comparable to our

Gone are the days of children getting off of school to help their family farms during the summer. Now, children as well as the teachers get out for some much needed relaxation. So why do we still follow the same schedule? It seems every school year the discussion of year-round education captures the attention of the general public. Is it time for year-round education (YRE) to be the new norm? Ultimately, there are not that many pros for year-round schooling to be the new thing and the traditional 180-day schedule should be kept.

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.

Industries such as business and medicine depend on extreme methods and forward thinking ideas. To be a successful enterprise, one must be willing to take risks and try new things. Within the last century, education has attempted to take a leap of faith by completely flipping the traditional school schedule and idea of summer vacation upside down. Just as with any idea, there are advantages and disadvantages as well as supporters and opponents. Each district must look at their own individual needs and evaluate the trials from schools that have gone before them to decide if year-round schooling would benefit their school.

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,

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.

Have you ever wondered what the difference between traditional schooling and year-round education is? Maybe you didn’t know that there are more than one type of year-round education. A year-round school schedule can benefit educators, students, and even families. Year-round schooling is where the breaks in school are on a balanced schedule. Instead of having a three month summer break, there would be 60 days off and then the students would be back to school. If on a multi track schedule, teachers could use their off time to substitute at their school on a different track or at another school to get paid more. For students, the shorter breaks away from school increase retention rates, therefore reducing the amount of review necessary at

DeNisco, Alison. “Year-round schooling gains popularity.” District Administration, vol.51, issue 9, Sep. 2015, pp. 15-18. EBSCOHost, web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/

“It’s for the public it’s year round and it 's also for the schools because we 're going to re-establish our school programs and all our outreach programs” Susan Hayward. Will year round schooling help or benefit the schools of the United States and society? Year round schools could change the reasons why teachers are teaching ("Top 10 Reasons"). Elimination of extended breaks from schools in the United States. would be beneficial to the population.

When individuals think of year-round education, many think that it is an extension of the traditional school year with no breaks and more class time. However, this is not the case. Year-round school systems have the same number of days as any other school system, but the breaks are spread throughout the year differently than the traditional school year. This unchanging view and failure to realize the facts about the system from many people is what makes year-round education a hot topic to debate in terms of whether or not to expand the number of schools who use the system or not. Year-round education can be one of the most beneficial choices for children, as shown in Brigid Schulte’s article, when she describes the benefits her children have

Single-track schooling is the most popular kind of year-round education; ninety percent of year-round schools operate on this track. It costs the same as a traditional school year and the students attend school for the same amount of days, but the breaks are rearranged to prevent learning loss.

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.

As our Nation evolves, so does our technology and everyday life. So, why do we use a school calendar that has been implemented from over a hundred years ago? Schools should be year-round. With a continuous learning flow, ease from overcrowded schools, and flexible calendar plans the American Education system will be able to branch away from the traditional school calendar with benefits that will soon follow.