Year around schools VA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s a better schedule. It’s not more school (it’s still 180 days) it’s just that the breaks are spread out more so you don’t get one long 8 week summer break with summer slide. It’s more like 2 weeks between quarters and a 5-6 week summer. I support it. Kids get to refresh between quarters and we wouldn’t waste September reinstituting norms and whatnot to get them used to school again. And honestly we know we are all bored and antsy those last couple weeks of summer. It’s too long.

-teacher

+1, also a teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have not read the whole thread but I attended year round school in VA and as a kid, I really liked it. We were not wealthy, so not traveling a bunch, and the summers did get dull in the second half. I liked the frequent breaks. We did 9 weeks on and 3 weeks throughout the year.

I did this in California mid 80’s. My brothers and I loved it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I teach in a FCPS elementary school. If there was a district-wide move to a modified calendar, I would be in support of trying it. As an elementary teacher, with a child in MS and one in HS, having different schedules would be a nightmare. When my oldest (now in college) was in K, our neighborhood school (Title I) was on a modified calendar. Because I was working at a preschool that was not, I had to opt him out so we were on the same schedule, but I really liked the idea in principle. The staff at our neighborhood school really liked it. During the 3 week breaks, they offered intercessions (optional) which were either remediation or enrichment. This added extra costs due to staffing the intercessions. (FCPS cut these programs before my younger two went to school, so we moved them to our neighborhood school.) If Northam wants to use this model, it would of course need to be funded. Another option would be going back to offering summer school for those who need it. The past few years, they have only had Bridge to K, SpEd programs and Young Scholars in the summer. Many of my colleagues chose to work summer school when it was held. If this is what Northam was referring to, then this option would also require additional funding.

My district did intersession and year round at half the schools. The parents paid for most of them, similar to summer camp. In a way it’s easier for budgeting since the costs are spread out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you actually care about closing the achievement gap, you are a proponent for year round school. The lack of year round school in America is strong evidence for the fact that no one actually cares about closing the achievement gap, no matter what they prattle on about during SB elections.

The achievement gap will not be closed with mandatory summer school for all.

Well it’s a good thing that’s not what I said, then. Year round school ≠ summer school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have not read the whole thread but I attended year round school in VA and as a kid, I really liked it. We were not wealthy, so not traveling a bunch, and the summers did get dull in the second half. I liked the frequent breaks. We did 9 weeks on and 3 weeks throughout the year.

I did this in California mid 80’s. My brothers and I loved it.

As a teacher, 9 on and 3 off sounds amazing

[Anonymous]

We’ve got to do something to make up for 18 months of lost learning. This could be a start.

[Anonymous]

No this will not happen and I am glad of it. Summers are for sleepaway camp and extensive travel. I look forward to them every year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have not read the whole thread but I attended year round school in VA and as a kid, I really liked it. We were not wealthy, so not traveling a bunch, and the summers did get dull in the second half. I liked the frequent breaks. We did 9 weeks on and 3 weeks throughout the year.

I did this in California mid 80’s. My brothers and I loved it.

As a teacher, 9 on and 3 off sounds amazing

As a teacher that travels every summer this is garbage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have not read the whole thread but I attended year round school in VA and as a kid, I really liked it. We were not wealthy, so not traveling a bunch, and the summers did get dull in the second half. I liked the frequent breaks. We did 9 weeks on and 3 weeks throughout the year.

I did this in California mid 80’s. My brothers and I loved it.

As a teacher, 9 on and 3 off sounds amazing

As a teacher that travels every summer this is garbage.

Yeah, i am a summer person, and I prefer a long block of time off to these “interludes.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have not read the whole thread but I attended year round school in VA and as a kid, I really liked it. We were not wealthy, so not traveling a bunch, and the summers did get dull in the second half. I liked the frequent breaks. We did 9 weeks on and 3 weeks throughout the year.

I did this in California mid 80’s. My brothers and I loved it.

As a teacher, 9 on and 3 off sounds amazing

As a teacher that travels every summer this is garbage.

I travel too but you can still travel, you just can actually travel at different times of year now!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All members of Open School
Now should be required to enroll their kids in mandatory summer school. All the clamoring about how their kids aren’t learning anything. They can have the spots in place of everyone who feels DL is adequate.

+1,000

[Anonymous]

It seems like we should make this decision based on children's learning. As PP's pointed out, there isn't strong evidence about year round school simply because it isn't done enough - and in a way that can be studied. But we DO have lots of evidence of summer slide. Many children lose learning over the summer, and for children who may already be behind, this slide can be disasterous. But even for children who aren't behind, teachers spend months doing catch up in the fall.

I keep reading articles about how it would feel like a punishment, and that kids would be so miserable, and teachers would be so miserable, etc., etc. It's astonishing to me that we have all just come to view school as a punishment. If school feels like a punishment to kids or teachers...maybe we need to rethink how we are doing school? Having our children in instructional settings year round should not be a terrifying concept.

[Anonymous]

Most pushback comes from the completely wrong assumption that year round means no breaks. The name is more accurately described as modified schedule.
People hear year round and think omg we never get breaks again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All members of Open School
Now should be required to enroll their kids in mandatory summer school. All the clamoring about how their kids aren’t learning anything. They can have the spots in place of everyone who feels DL is adequate.

+1,000

Don’t worry. Per usual, parents of most kids will get nothing while ELL, farms, and special Ed get most of the resources. I’d gladly send my kids to summer school, but I don’t delude myself for a second that they will be “eligible.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No this will not happen and I am glad of it. Summers are for sleepaway camp and extensive travel. I look forward to them every year.

So we should decide our school schedule on the probably less than 10% of the population who sends kids to sleepaway camps and travels extensively?

Sleepaway camp can be 1 week - 5 weeks on the new schedule. You can travel for longer periods of time during the 2-3 weeks off at the end of the quarter. All this would do is shift your travel times.