The “Water Cooler” is a feature on Claycord.com where we ask you a question or provide a topic, and you talk about it.
The “Water Cooler” will be up Monday-Friday at noon.
Today’s question:
With the summer vacation only lasting two-months, many in the community are discussing the possibility of local school districts one day moving to the year-round schedule.
According to the National Education Association, in the updated system, schools operate 180 days per year, but they stretch out the 180 days over the entire year and take shorter breaks between each term. The most popular form of year-round education is the 45-15 plan, where students attend school for 45 days and then get three weeks (15 days) off.
QUESTION: Would you like your child to be on the year-round schedule, or do you think the kids should get a couple of months off in the summertime?
(note: local districts are not considering this at this time)
Talk about it….
19 comments
It’s fine the way it is now. I sure would like to have summers off from work, though. I guess I should have been a teacher.
If you think teachers get “summers off”, you are sadly mistaken. This is an urban legend that refuses to go away. I witness this first hand EVERY year.
year round school had been around for ages. year round school started in 1989 at my high school. I do not know when it ended at my high school.
If you ask me how year round school work here the answer. they go by the track.
My school district had a 4 months of school and 2 months off.
Track A is Jan, Feb off of school. Back to school March April May and June. July and August Off. School start again in September, October, November and December.
Track B is March and April Off. School start May, June, July and August. September and October Off. School start again November, December, Jan and Feb.
Track C May and June Off. Start school July, August, September and October. November and December off. School start again Jan, Feb, March and April.
Difference District have Difference set up I believe. There are summer session to keep students going to school rather than to sit around at home all day for two months or so.
I remember my school district had a law that if you are caught for wondering on campus during your two months off for no reason than you are fine for $1,000 because there loitering. Unless you have summer session, sport practice. You need a reason to go on campus if you are on your two months break.
Keep the kids with 2 months off in the Summer.
Pookie
Unfortunately, that what students been fighting over to get the summer they all wanted Track A However, they are stuck what they got. Unless you are in special Education than you qualify for what track you want.
Kids need to be kids and to have the summer off. Parents usually take their summer vacations during this time, so are they going to pull their kids from school and miss that learning time, and how are H.S. kids going to make up a failing class if school is iin a regular session to graduate on time
Would parents just adjust their vacation schedules to times when there are school breaks?
I agree with you.
Many years ago now, the school district experimented with staggering the vacation times. It happened to be the one year we had one child at Concord High, one at El Dorado, and one at Mountain View Elementary; none had the same schedule. So our family had no vacation at all !!!
Parents in the district went into orbit, and that was the end of that gambit.
.. yes – year round… until – Calif scholastics / academics get up off the bottom of the country… Calif used to be #1 in the country – last I saw Calif was 48th – an absolute failure considering how much we spend on education in this state.
It use to work so well. However more importantly now is what they teach and if they teach. I hear the waiting lists for private schools are very long.
I went to year round school for 6th grade in the early 70’s. As a kid I loved it. I never got that
“I’m burned out” feeling about school. We went to school for 45 days and then took 15 days off. The summer was an extended period of time but not as long as it is now. At the time siblings were all placed on the same track. From my experience year round school is a good thing.
It would help get our children up to speed….me thinks. We’ve lost some in this pandemic we’re in.
Whatever will teach them HOW to learn as well as WHAT to learn.
This would never work in our area ..
The MDEA would never allow this … they would claim it is discriminatory, racist, make it political, or something to prevent it from happening …. Now, if we could dissolve the public unions, like the MDEA, maybe our kids could get a quality public education, maybe … but at least they would have a better shot at it!
If I could afford it, my children would be in a private school. Unfortunately, i live and work in the bay area, drive a 10 year old car, so no real ‘extra’ income to spend on private education.
https://www.unionplus.org/blog/union-made/eight-reasons-thank-unions. No further comment needed.
Would parents just adjust their vacation schedules to times when there are school breaks?
I like the use of “methinks”. Also, I prefer children to have the option of a season away from school to explore other interests, and return in the fall with a long for the very thing they wanted out of in June.
Nope, students benefit in myriad ways having summers to experience alternate activities and pure fun. Whatever “catch-up” is required is 100% on teachers, administrators and their cretin enablers…they should use the summer to be prepared to hit the ground running with improved skills and plans to help their victims when school resumes after summer.
The entire time I was in school we got three full months off in the summer.
I think this extended schedule is more about teacher paychecks than the good of the kids.
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