Chicago Tests a Year-Round School Schedule
Some of Chicago's public elementary school students better brace themselves for an all new kind of fun this summer: They will be spending it in school. And we're not talking about the summer school that students are sent to for remedial purposes.
The Chicago Board of Education recently voted to put more than a quarter of elementary school students in the nation's third-largest school district on a "year-round" schedule. The concept might sound like a grueling punishment, but proponents say the switch will lead to better student retention of knowledge and less time being spent playing catch-up in the fall, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
Parents aren't so sure. They say a year-round calendar will complicate their attempts to juggle family schedules and child care.
Although the new calendar year for the 132 schools making the change will be different, it is not exactly radical. Students at the year-round schools will spend 170 days in the classroom and get to leave in mid-June—just as their traditional counterparts do. But the new school year will start up again during the first week of August, rather than around Labor Day, and will include frequent short breaks throughout the year.
Chicago public schools CEO Ron Huberman is sticking to his guns. "As Mayor Daley has said time and time again, we must use every tool at our disposal to better educate our students," Huberman said at a news conference at Smyth Elementary in the South Loop neighborhood, one of the schools that is switching to the new schedule. During the speech, he noted the potential safety benefits of year-round school, saying that the new calendar could keep children "out of harm's way."
The National Association for Year-Round Education says there are about 7,000 U.S. schools—mostly elementaries—on a year-round schedule. And the group says more inner-city schools are going year-round.
What do you think? Is year-round schooling truly an educational tool that leads to learning rewards? Or is it a make-believe panacea that does more harm than good?
Tags: public schools | teachers | education | education reform
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no to year round schooling
In my opinion I work my butt off at school so I am more than ready for that long summer break.I am in 4H so i take a market hog to fair, and that takes up A LOT of my time. I am never bored over the summer, it's just as packed. If they would make year round schooling mandatory I would have a huge overload. Kids are going to forget what they learned no matter the length of time they are on break for. Especially kids that are not interested in school, makeing them stay longer will not make them enjoy it more. Also, my family loves taking vacations over the summer, year round schooling would ruin that. Anyways schools that are on year round schooling haven't shown improvement in test scores, so what proof says that year round schooling is truly beneficial and not just a waste of time? Schools that do have the year round schedule will have to go over 4 reviews throughout the year instead of just one after summer break. Summer programs (4H camp, church camp, etc.) would suffer from year round scheduling. Some students even have summer jobs, and year round schooling would make that virtually impossible. As well there are some older schools that do not have air conditioners, so that would be nasty. I say that summer break was made for children that had to work for harvest, so why break tradition even though technology has advanced?
dont extend school
if we extend school kids will drop out
year round schools
I am currently a freshman at a [rivate school in Illinois. I think that year round school would be awesome. it would boost our education and make it easier to compete with these other countries. we would have more of a chance to take different classes IF we didn't have a whole bunch of short breaks throughout the year. personally, i think that it is ridiculous. i want to be able to get the best education possible and take as many classes as i can without going into overload. i love the idea of school year round minus the frequent breaks.
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