Switching to a Year-Round School Calendar

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In the United States, most schools still use a ten-month calendar that was developed when our country’s students needed school off to help with harvesting (Palmer). Trimble Local Schools Superintendent Kim Jones says, “year-round schooling is the notion of getting away from the old agrarian calendar...which was formed up around the planting season. Students were out of school from April until harvest to work in the fields,” (qtd. in Hapka). Under the agrarian system, most United States students are in school for nine to ten months, and get a two- to three- month summer vacation. However, the United States is no longer an agricultural-based society, and students have no need to take a three-month-long, unnecessary, not to mention disruptive break during the summer months; instead, the United States should switch the school systems to a year-round calendar. The phrase “year-round” scares students and parents alike. Some argue that students attending school year-round will get so burnt out that the new schedule would be counterproductive. However, the term “year-round” is misleading. Students would not go to school non-stop twelve months out of the year. Instead, students would attend in blocks separated by short but frequent breaks (Hapka). The National Education Association gives insight to the block system: 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. The usual holiday breaks are still built into this calendar. Two other ways to organize a school calendar are the 60-20 and the 90-30 plans. Perhaps, the most important facet of year-round education is how it is implemented. If United States schools were to shift to a year-round ca... ... middle of paper ... ...of the United States school system. Works Cited Baird, Pressley. "Elementary School Pushing for Year-round Schedule." StarNewsOnline.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. Cooper, Harris. "Duke Today." Duke Today. Ed. Sally Hicks. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. Ermak, Lisa. "Local School Districts Consider Year-round Calendar to Fend off 'summer Slide'" Holland Sentinel. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. Hapka, Agnes. "School All Year? A Conversation about Restructuring the School Calendar." The Athens Messenger. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. Palmer, E. A., and A. E. Bemis. "Research Spotlight on Year-Round Education." Rss. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. "The Pros and Cons of Year-Round Schools." Scholastic.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2014. "Year-Round Education Program Guide." - Multitrack Year-Round Education (CA Dept of Education). N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.

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