Reply to August Start for Private Schools (to build in a snow day reserve)

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Maybe it is the better weather after all!

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-west-coast-ivy-league-hook/
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It may be the case that being free of weather-imposed disruptions does sustain a certain continuity, and that that continuity, whether of learning, practice, rehearsal, does positively affect proficiency or even mastery of a subject or activity.  Since we travel to school, we lose that continuity of education in the particular subject we are studying, say chemistry, when weather days intervene.

Take, as another example, youth baseball.  The very best teams in the country generally play in states where the weather is only slightly more amenable to practicing the sport outdoors, all year, with minimal disruptions.  Thus you see that Florida and California consistently place top teams. https://www.baseballyouth.com/rankings

Did amenable weather perhaps promote a learning environment that helped Stanford and Berkeley to rise from relatively new Universities to some of the country's very best, as much as other factors?  And weather days arguably do not impact colleges and universities as much since the students and faculty live on, or close to, campus.

We cannot, of course, change the local weather, and we seem unable to get our local governments to invest in proper winter planning, resources, equipment, and employees to clear the roads, sidewalks, and parking lots in a timely manner.  Therefore, the question is how can we build in educational advantages locally to compensate for the effects of bad weather days?  Should we add some days to the school calendar, apart from the built-in snow days, at the beginning of the school year?  Should we tack on an additional 25 minutes to the typical school day?  Should FFX County do away with its Monday half-days?  Should we shorten the winter and spring breaks by several days?

I don't know the answer, but I think that it is a discussion worth having, given all of the weather days that the past few winters have brought this area.[/quote]

You are manufacturing a problem.  If you really cared about continuity you'd send your kid to an international school that uses the British system.  It's the 3 months off that's the problem (ameliorated somewhat for rich people who can buy enrichment), not 4 isolated snow days over a 4 month stretch.

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