Year-Round School

Tonight in the class I am taking we had technology implementation presentations. The assignment was simple: take a broad technology (whether device-based, software-based, or process-based) and come up with a plan for diffusing the technology through your district or organization. A big focus was on systemic change and including the community stakeholders in the process. My presentation was on the need for digital citizenship and online ethics in the elementary grades.

One classmate did a presentation on year-round school. (Year-round school is considered a technology because it is based upon improving human performance through research and changes in practice.) I've heard of year-round school, and in the back of my head I know it is probably what is best for kids. We all talk about summer-loss. It comes up A LOT in the fall when we see kids reading levels drop by one or two grade levels or more. We all talk about how kids no longer know basic math facts after summer, and how getting into the grove of writing is challenging. The first month of school is getting back into the swing of things. I also have a gut feeling that down the road it is something that might become mandated.

I also can't help but feel selfish when I think of my summer vacation. During the school year, my personal needs take a backseat to the needs of my students and the needs of my district. This usually comes at a cost of sleep, social events, and frequently even eating and using the restroom. Teachers don't always get to eat lunch during lunch. But summer is different. Summer is when I take classes I'm interested in. The past few years I have had the opportunity to participate in the summer invitational at Red Cedar Writing Project where I live the life of a writer for four weeks. Summer is when I get to catch up on much needed sleep, start working on my pile of "to-read" books, and actually get to plan ahead for my teaching. Most importantly, summer is when I get to spend my days in air conditioned comfort when it gets really hot, a luxury I don't have on hot days at my non-air conditioned school.

But her presentation surprised me. She had taught at a year-round school, and had been reassigned to a traditional school. I couldn't believe what she was hearing: the traditional school was too exhausting! In Caledonia where she teaches, the year-round school still has the same number of school days that I do. However, those days are spread across the calendar year. My big concern of needing a summer vacation to recharge? They still get one. And it's surprisingly long! They still have traditional vacations: Christmas break, a two week spring break, and the summer vacation. But they also have two "intercessions:" the entire week of Thanksgiving, and a whole week in the middle of February. Her biggest rationale: with year-round school, January and February are very exciting months of the year because kids are fresh from Christmas break, the snow outside is still pretty exciting, and they look forward to Valentine's day followed by a winter intercession. In the traditional school year, January and February are the longest, bleakest, most depressing months of the year. Isn't that the truth...

Now I'm thinking that if my school had air conditioning installed, I'm all for it!