Year-round school can sound intimidating. Those unfamiliar with the concept might imagine canceled summer vacations and math tests instead of days at the beach. However, in reality, year-round schools do not have students attend school more days, these schools simply operate on a different calendar with more frequent but shorter vacations. In this way, year-round schools, or schools with a balanced calendar, hope to avoid the negative effects of the summer slump and give students more opportunities to catch up with their classmates if they fall behind.
Although the concept is often debated, hundreds of schools and districts across the US have implemented a balanced or year-round school calendar. enthusiasts quote research suggesting benefits for both students and staff. In Washington state, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction recently launched the Balanced Calendar Initiative, which offers districts award funds to explore flexible scheduling.
Discussing some of the common questions and misconceptions that arise around the concept of year-round school or balanced calendars is important when considering implementing the approach.
1. Year-Round Schools Don’t Require More School Days or Ruin Summer
Like other students, those enrolled in year-round schools only attend the number of school days required in their state, which is typically 180 school days. Free time is structured differently. “Over the years, we’ve moved away from what’s called the year-round calendar, because when you say ‘year-round,’ parents and stakeholders think you go to school more than 300 days a year. , and that’s not the case,” says David G. Hornak, Ed.D., executive director of the National Association for Year-Round Education (NAYRE).
Rather than year-round school, the preferred term is a balanced calendar, as it more accurately describes how these schools operate. “Balanced calendar schools will typically start in early August, take a little time off on Labor Day, take a two-week break in October, a week on Thanksgiving, and the typical two weeks on vacation,” he says. Hornak, who is also Superintendent of the Holt Public Schools in Michigan. “They will take a week off in February, two weeks of spring break, and a week off on Memorial Day, and then they will be done at the end of June.”
There is variation between balanced or year-round schools on this calendar, but it generally follows that pattern. The main goal is to limit the length of any individual break, so in Michigan, for example, schools are not considered year-round if they have breaks that last longer than six weeks.
As for summer vacations, which are a welcome part of most people’s memories, they aren’t completely eliminated. “It’s a common misconception that there’s no summer vacation, but you still have summer vacation, four to six weeks,” says Tracy Daniel-Hardy, Ph.D., Director of Technology for the Gulfport School District in Mississippi, who recently implemented a year-round balanced calendar.
2. Year-Round Schools Can Reduce Summer Learning Loss and Have Other Benefits
Year-round schools and districts aim to reduce the summer slump and help combat learning loss. One tool to do this is to close the learning gap during the summer break. Another way is to provide regular opportunities for students who are behind to catch up. During school breaks, year-round schools offer what is called “intersession.” This is an opportunity for students to get tutoring and learn skills they may be lacking, it also allows more advanced students to explore certain topics more deeply. “Some kids need learning extensions and we give them during recess,” Hornak says. “Other kids need to be remedied and our move in the past has been, we’ll get it back in the summer. Can you imagine if someone starts falling behind in October, November, December and we say, ‘Well guess what, you have to fight another five months before we can help you. That’s just inhumane.”
3. Teachers agree more with schools throughout the year than you might expect
When the Gulfport School District began considering a year-round school, in addition to the student-focused benefits around retention and learning, it also hoped it would help reduce teacher burnout, Daniel-Hardy says.
Teachers who get summer jobs sometimes worry that a year-round schedule will take away their income by preventing them from getting summer jobs, but they have the opportunity to earn extra money by working over the holidays. “In fact, they can supplement their income from their own classroom,” Hornak says.
With a flexible calendar, teachers tend to take fewer personal days during the school year because they schedule dental appointments and similar outings for the various breaks that the flexible calendar provides. This limits reliance on substitute teachers, Hornak says.
4. You can still play sports, but there are unexpected challenges for school throughout the year.
A common concern is the impact on sports seasons, but year-round schools can still support sports schedules. Students may have games during recess. However, sports are not the only non-academic concern surrounding year-round schools. Childcare needs and the local economy must also be considered.
Because Gulfport is a heavily touristed coastal area, there were considerations around a year-round calendar that other districts might not have.
“We wanted the business and those involved in tourism to be in the conversation as well,” says Daniel-Hardy. It was only after addressing community concerns and hosting an open dialogue with stakeholders that the district released its full-year calendar.
In the Hornak district, only two schools operate on a true year-round calendar, other schools use a modified hybrid calendar. This is because the district’s infrastructure cannot support extended learning over the summer at some schools. “The lack of air conditioning is a real problem here,” says Hornak.
5. Districts considering year-round schools should talk to others who have already done so
School leaders considering a balanced or year-round calendar should consult with community leaders as well as staff across the district. “It’s really important to get input from all stakeholders,” says Daniel-Hardy. “Not just the teachers and administrators, but the director of maintenance, the finance department, the coaches, all of them, because what they do is directly affected.”
You’ll also want to talk to others who have implemented a similar schedule. “There are many reasons why families or community members say this won’t work. We don’t want this,’ and if there’s a question that a superintendent or leadership team can’t answer, it tends to undermine community trust,” Hornak says. “So we found that when you partner with a local expert, someone who has lived the balanced calendar, or someone from my office, we can navigate those questions and it allows the local leader to listen.”
