DC Public and charter - is there interest in year round school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish! I seriously panic at the idea of having to find camps and such for the whole summer. I feel bad for my kid having to shuttle to random places, but I can't afford to not work for the summer and wouldnt be able to request that from my job anyway.

But just think about those random weeks off when there are no camp offerings. I have a friend whose son goes to a year round school and she said that is the toughest part, trying to find something for her kid to do during those random weeks off during the year that are not in the summer. She said the school does not do a good job of offering any type of out of school programming during those weeks for parents that need to take advantage of it.

Yeah, but if more schools did it, more programs would be offered. The problem now is that so few are year-round, but if, say, DCPS went year-round, you can bet that the organizations that offer summer camps would offer camps during the school breaks.

[Anonymous]

I think the school year is too long. DCPS is very test prep focused, and my child needs time to explore the world in other ways, via travel/language immersion, computer programming camps, science camps. Also since so much of this new school curriculum is still an "evolving process" -- for example, we are on our third math textbook series in as many years -- summer affords time for me to help my DC build strong fundamentals, as I work with DC at home.

Other families may have childcare needs, and/or cannot afford camp/summer travel and I respect that...maybe some sort of optional summer academic camp that would follow after the close of the traditional school year?

[Anonymous]

Would love to have longer breaks throughout the year so we can travel more in off peak times. and quite frankly thats probably a better use of our time then another week of test prep in DCPS.

[Anonymous]

I would think if we ALL went to year round then the intercession camps, for one thing. would be much higher quality than what is just now pieced together by individual schools. This notion of year round school would obviously benefit all students academically, that doesn't seem to be in dispute, and in a city like DC that has widely varied test scores... it would seem to be a no brainer. Some teachers may not like it, though they'd either adjust or move out. And families too will have a shift. And although I wasn't a huge believer of this idea when my kids were younger and I stayed at home with them, I can now see how transformative this could be for ALL families, low to high income, to put our kids on a level playing field with the rest of the world. So I am getting behind this idea and I hope others will take a moment to really look at the other side of what we have right now, and what we could have...many many more achieving schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would think if we ALL went to year round then the intercession camps, for one thing. would be much higher quality than what is just now pieced together by individual schools. This notion of year round school would obviously benefit all students academically, that doesn't seem to be in dispute, and in a city like DC that has widely varied test scores... it would seem to be a no brainer. Some teachers may not like it, though they'd either adjust or move out. And families too will have a shift. And although I wasn't a huge believer of this idea when my kids were younger and I stayed at home with them, I can now see how transformative this could be for ALL families, low to high income, to put our kids on a level playing field with the rest of the world. So I am getting behind this idea and I hope others will take a moment to really look at the other side of what we have right now, and what we could have...many many more achieving schools.

It's not obvious and it is disputed. Children who engage in enriching opportunities over the summer don't experience as great an academic loss as children who do not. Summer camp can be a far more worthwhile life experience than more time in the classroom.

Writin "all" in all-caps doesn't change that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would think if we ALL went to year round then the intercession camps, for one thing. would be much higher quality than what is just now pieced together by individual schools. This notion of year round school would obviously benefit all students academically, that doesn't seem to be in dispute, and in a city like DC that has widely varied test scores... it would seem to be a no brainer. Some teachers may not like it, though they'd either adjust or move out. And families too will have a shift. And although I wasn't a huge believer of this idea when my kids were younger and I stayed at home with them, I can now see how transformative this could be for ALL families, low to high income, to put our kids on a level playing field with the rest of the world. So I am getting behind this idea and I hope others will take a moment to really look at the other side of what we have right now, and what we could have...many many more achieving schools.

It's not obvious and it is disputed. Children who engage in enriching opportunities over the summer don't experience as great an academic loss as children who do not. Summer camp can be a far more worthwhile life experience than more time in the classroom.

Writin "all" in all-caps doesn't change that.

Yes but do you live in ward 3 or 4? If you don't, think for a moment what life is like for those families who do not have camp opportunities anywhere near like what your kids could attend. I'm saying if you live in DC you owe it to those families outside your ward to contemplate what their life is like with multiple low paying jobs and no chance for fun summer camps. Of course your child isn't having the same brain drain as others. Upper NW Is the exception. We are a huge city, and unless you look at that critically and understand how stuck those families feel, you aren't really understanding the issues they have with what to do with their kids in the summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would think if we ALL went to year round then the intercession camps, for one thing. would be much higher quality than what is just now pieced together by individual schools. This notion of year round school would obviously benefit all students academically, that doesn't seem to be in dispute, and in a city like DC that has widely varied test scores... it would seem to be a no brainer. Some teachers may not like it, though they'd either adjust or move out. And families too will have a shift. And although I wasn't a huge believer of this idea when my kids were younger and I stayed at home with them, I can now see how transformative this could be for ALL families, low to high income, to put our kids on a level playing field with the rest of the world. So I am getting behind this idea and I hope others will take a moment to really look at the other side of what we have right now, and what we could have...many many more achieving schools.

It's not obvious and it is disputed. Children who engage in enriching opportunities over the summer don't experience as great an academic loss as children who do not. Summer camp can be a far more worthwhile life experience than more time in the classroom.

Writin "all" in all-caps doesn't change that.

Yes but do you live in ward 3 or 4? If you don't, think for a moment what life is like for those families who do not have camp opportunities anywhere near like what your kids could attend. I'm saying if you live in DC you owe it to those families outside your ward to contemplate what their life is like with multiple low paying jobs and no chance for fun summer camps. Of course your child isn't having the same brain drain as others. Upper NW Is the exception. We are a huge city, and unless you look at that critically and understand how stuck those families feel, you aren't really understanding the issues they have with what to do with their kids in the summer.

I think people do understand those issues, but that doesn't mean they should therefore want to damage their child's development. What is helpful to one child in this situation is damaging to another. One size does not fit all. Not every school has to be on the same schedule.

[Anonymous]

This notion of year round school would obviously benefit all students academically, that doesn't seem to be in dispute

I don't think 11 months vs. ten months of prep for a still-in-the-works testing regime would benefit all students. Many students have access to much richer
learning opportunities out of school, as well as to more competent, targeted academic support. In high school, 11 months of dcps would be just sad on a college application.

It is clear that not all students in DCPS have access to these rich out of school opportunities, so their parents/guardians can decide to enroll their
Children in a year round school, or an academic summer program. Maybe the question should be: how can dcps broaden these summer
programs and make them more enticing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This notion of year round school would obviously benefit all students academically, that doesn't seem to be in dispute

I don't think 11 months vs. ten months of prep for a still-in-the-works testing regime would benefit all students. Many students have access to much richer
learning opportunities out of school, as well as to more competent, targeted academic support. In high school, 11 months of dcps would be just sad on a college application.

It is clear that not all students in DCPS have access to these rich out of school opportunities, so their parents/guardians can decide to enroll their
Children in a year round school, or an academic summer program. Maybe the question should be: how can dcps broaden these summer
programs and make them more enticing?

The idea that the only learning takes place in a brick and mortar school is outdated. Summer can be used for all types of enrichment if DCPS, DC libraries, the Smithsonian, and DPR planned it properly. Students could still be educated and fed but not at schools, children could be exposed to a whole host of things - this is the nation's capital for goodness sake, there is so much to see and do here.

[Anonymous]

So, to be clear year round school is a hit with folks because parents want to spend less on summer camp? That's the only pro agenda I've seen on this thread.
Now- tell me that schools are not babysitters & that you value teachers as professionals- not just a place to dump your kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No interest from my family!

Same here. We had June, July, August off when I was growing up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When my family lived in Europe, summer break was only 6 weeks long, but there were more breaks throughout the year. LOVED it! That model would be very welcome to some more sophisticated families!

Europe=sophisticated????

Read the post. Well travelled usually means sophisticated, worldly, etc.

Don't be so defensive.

[Anonymous]

Year-round school with a net increase of days would improve educational outcomes. The District needs to take some dramatic steps if we're going to ever start making a dent in the generational poverty and dysfunction we have.

It will also cost a lot more money and it's not clear that anyone, residents or the business community, has the stomach for that.

I'd support it for all students in PK-8th grade when you can make the most gains toward literacy and numeracy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, to be clear year round school is a hit with folks because parents want to spend less on summer camp? That's the only pro agenda I've seen on this thread.
Now- tell me that schools are not babysitters & that you value teachers as professionals- not just a place to dump your kids.

No, because there is some evidence that year-round school would be better for kids. Primarily by minimizing the summer brain drain that results in teachers spending September reviewing stuff the kids learned the year before. Also, I think that giving kids regular, but shorter breaks throughout the year would be beneficial. And, yes, it would be easier on working families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, to be clear year round school is a hit with folks because parents want to spend less on summer camp? That's the only pro agenda I've seen on this thread.
Now- tell me that schools are not babysitters & that you value teachers as professionals- not just a place to dump your kids.

No, because there is some evidence that year-round school would be better for kids. Primarily by minimizing the summer brain drain that results in teachers spending September reviewing stuff the kids learned the year before. Also, I think that giving kids regular, but shorter breaks throughout the year would be beneficial. And, yes, it would be easier on working families.

NP - "some" evidence is not enough, and does that evidence does not apply universally. The brain drain argument seems trotted out as a cover for people really interested in cost-savings (at the expense of tax payers) and convenience. And the brain drain argument overlooks the things learned during vacation time that aren't taught in school.