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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

I'm the PP. I also posted earlier in the thread that my child goes to one of these schools and was the person who mentioned that the teachers I've spoken with are excited to add more field trips and more expeditionary learning-type projects. We started school the 2nd week of August, and I have noticed that my child's grade has done a lot more "walking field trips" this fall, which takes them out of the classroom, gets them moving, and definitely augments that shamefully limited recess that DCPS allows for. [b]It also seems to have allowed her teacher to do more individualized instruction, which has been helpful in that students who are reading above grade level are not forgotten while the teacher spends extra time on the kids who are struggling.[/b] The expeditionary learning stuff seems to be taking the form of "enrichment clusters" for everyone, and there are field trips built into that. My child is in a baking cluster right now, which means they are baking in school and will be visiting some local bakeries to learn about baking as well. I'm not sure how long this one will last, but after that, there will be another one, with another subject. I went to a school that integrated this kind of learning, and it was really wonderful.

I don't know that "pilot" means that this model will be moving to the whole system. I don't know that it will work in the whole system. Certainly schools in upper NW do not have a problem providing enrichment for kids during the 180-day school year and those families have the means as well as the inclination to "prioritize summer" in the ways that a lot of posters are saying that they do. As for the argument that there should be mandatory summer school for kids who need it instead of extended year, I don't know that I agree with that. [b]For me, the extended school year is as much about community as it is about instruction, which is why I think it's great that they're doing additional field trips and projects. I went to summer school one year, and it wasn't like "school" so much as "boot camp." Having the year-round model at schools where MOST of the kids need the additional instruction allows that instruction to happen in a less boot-campy way.[/b] They are still doing specials. They are still doing field trips. They are still doing regular classroom stuff and if that is "classwork" sometimes, that is fine with me. Summer school seems like a really great way for it to be classwork all the time, which doesn't seem like a good way to foster a love of learning.

I also think that it's reasonable to keep in mind that the kids who attend these schools aren't getting enriching summer experiences. I don't know what attendance at DCPS's summer school is like, but if the teacher up thread is any indication, it's nothing like what we have going on, which involves kids staying with their cohort, continuing to learn as they have done all year. I personally find this better, but as I mentioned earlier also, it's 2.5 months into the year for us. I can say that fall break was good in that we were able to travel and there was camp at school for people who didn't/couldn't take the week off. I don't know that we'll be doing that for all the breaks, but it is definitely something that the school is discussing.[/quote]

I am PP (and not any of the other PPs since your post). Thanks for taking the time to share your perspective, I appreciate it. It's good to hear that you are having a positive experience overall and I take your point about community. That's important to me too and would be an argument in favor of extended year over summer school.

I am particularly glad to hear that you think that this is enabling more differentiated instruction. That's very important and if that is truly a benefit of extended year then DCPS should commission some research on that and broadcast the results loud and clear because this for me would be another argument in favor of extended year. It is true that we can use the long summer for enrichment (and we do), but that is not as good as an increase in differentiated instruction throughout the school year. Because the hours spent in school are so much more numerous than the summer hours.

Unlike some other PPs I am not interested in private school or a move to the suburbs, so experiences like yours will be encouraging for me if and when our school adopts extended year.

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