Summer is so long and it’s the worst for kids and parents.

[Anonymous]

For working parents, summers suck.

For kid of working parents, some of that stress bleeds over. We are not having lazy morning and lounging by the pool and taking excursions. We are cursing the stupid camp schedules and arguing over who can leave work at 3:45 to make pick up in time.

I would be perfectly content with a shorter summer. But I also hate being hot and summer is a busy season for me at work, so I know I'm biased.

However, plenty of people love summer, so this post is just not quite on target. Even though there are those of us who agree!

[Anonymous]

I’m a parent who loves the summer, and I have two teachers in my family, both of whom look forward to summers off. You don’t speak for everyone OP, not parent and not teacher. And certainly not kids!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Speak for yourself. My kids love summer. We have gone on vacation. They have done a few camps. We go to the pool. I don’t work though.

Super helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You need to reevaluate your life if you don’t love ten weeks off. Speak for yourself. Some of us have figured out the balance.

Maybe you’ve over leveraged your big DC life. Get off the treadmill. How many summers left until you die?

Who has 10 weeks off every summer, other than teachers?

[Anonymous]

Summer is fine for us... but we have plenty of money to pay for camps and vacations and have helpful family members who are eager to take our kids for a week at a time to do fun things and our jobs are flexible enough to handle the odd drop off/pick up times. So yeah, not sure how relevant our experience is to what "should" be the schedule.

[Anonymous]

I hate coordinating camp schedules, sniping with DH on days when we have meetings and camps don't start until 9 a.m. and kids need to be picked up by 4 p.m., or paying even more money for someone to pick the kids up or take them in the morning. I hate feeling bitter/FOMO toward stay at home parents or that my kids are somehow getting the short shrift because their parents work. I remind myself it's the reality for the majority of families even if I feel alone sometimes in our cush little bubble.

But I am not so corroded by cynicism to wish away summer. I still love vacations, evenings and weekends at the pool, longer days, lighter traffic, summer tans, so many things about the season.

[Anonymous]

Both of my neighbors are teachers and both would likely quit if school was year round. My dad was a teacher and loved his summers. So, it's definitely a mixed bag so far as teachers are concerned.

My son is at a year round school, but summers are more laid back. Our director says she has to offer her elementary teachers the summers off or she can't hire anyone (she needs to be "competitive" with the school district). So, the summer teacher is the teaching assistant from the rest of the year.

As a parent, it's nice to not have to hustle to find camp for my kid, but now that he's a little older we actually are keeping him out of school for nearly 6 weeks on purpose -- just to let him have some space to breathe. My husband and I both work, but I work remotely and he is a professor and doesn't teach in the summer.

I can see pros and cons to each way, but if we moved to year round school as a society I do think that summers shouldn't be "mandatory" in the same way that Labor Day - Memorial Day is. It's nice for families to have the flexibility to take vacations.

[Anonymous]

I work in a school for years and have never met a teacher who didn’t love summer vacation. Sooo many more teachers would quit if they were forced to give that up!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WHO benefits from 10 weeks off in summer??!

Not teachers: we would much prefer a year round schedule with frequent breaks.

Not kids: it’s too long without friends and work

Not parents: it’s too long to find childcare

It’s just crazy long. Why has the USA not adopted a year round schedule yet?

Most parents go on vacation in summer when kids aren't in school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WHO benefits from 10 weeks off in summer??!

Not teachers: we would much prefer a year round schedule with frequent breaks.

Not kids: it’s too long without friends and work

Not parents: it’s too long to find childcare

It’s just crazy long. Why has the USA not adopted a year round schedule yet?

I know several teachers who say the reason they keep teaching are July and August off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Both of my neighbors are teachers and both would likely quit if school was year round. My dad was a teacher and loved his summers. So, it's definitely a mixed bag so far as teachers are concerned.

My son is at a year round school, but summers are more laid back. Our director says she has to offer her elementary teachers the summers off or she can't hire anyone (she needs to be "competitive" with the school district). So, the summer teacher is the teaching assistant from the rest of the year.

As a parent, it's nice to not have to hustle to find camp for my kid, but now that he's a little older we actually are keeping him out of school for nearly 6 weeks on purpose -- just to let him have some space to breathe. My husband and I both work, but I work remotely and he is a professor and doesn't teach in the summer.

I can see pros and cons to each way, but if we moved to year round school as a society I do think that summers shouldn't be "mandatory" in the same way that Labor Day - Memorial Day is. It's nice for families to have the flexibility to take vacations.

Wait, I don't understand the year round school. He has a teacher aide teaching the curriculum during the summer part of the school year? Then when 5th grade or whatever starts in the fall, the real teachers show back up?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WHO benefits from 10 weeks off in summer??!

Not teachers: we would much prefer a year round schedule with frequent breaks.

Not kids: it’s too long without friends and work

Not parents: it’s too long to find childcare

It’s just crazy long. Why has the USA not adopted a year round schedule yet?

I know several teachers who say the reason they keep teaching are July and August off.

And most of June.

[Anonymous]

It's totally the best, and I say this as a full-time working mom.

Many of my family members are teachers, and they LIVE for summer. They deserve the time off. They can't just take vacations on a random October week like I can.

For my kid, who had a DUD of a year at school, he is LIVING for summer camp, making new friends, getting to PLAY all day, spending weekends at the pool, traveling to see friends & family...

I would not like having to take off and search for random camps for several weeks throughout the year. I also don't think it's good for kids, who need time to build routines & relationships.

[Anonymous]

DCPS tried a year-round calendar in select schools in the late 2010s in Wards 7 and 8. A couple of the main goals were to close the achievement gap and provide a place for kids to go year round. After 3 or 4 years they abandoned it I believe because of two main reasons: one) kids would just not show up during the summer anyway and two) they had trouble retaining staff for the year-round program. 

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m shocked that your school doesn’t have air conditioning?! What?

I'm from rural midwest and none of the schools are air conditioned.

Wow