Under Year Round School

A nineteenth century poem titled "The Prelude" reads, "When summer came, it was the pastime of our afternoons/ But now, to school Return'd, from the half-yearly holidays"(Wordsworth 56-58). Summer has long been connected to leisure and playtime, and as a result, during the rise of education, a distinguishable feature on the calendar was no school during the season, meaning that school ran for only nine to ten months in a given year. In 1904, a school in Indiana became the first to operate "year round", or without summer off. Regardless, the system did not receive much attention until 1970, when administrators aimed to relieve overcrowding and better accommodate working families, finding it to solve these issues(Pedersen 12). Since then, the

Most schools which operate year round have adopted the balanced or 45/15 calendar, which switches between nine weeks of school and three week breaks. Other schools use the similarly structured 60/20 or 90/30 calendars which simply lengthen both the learning periods and vacations(Chittom 2). As simple as each plan seems, none preserves the mental health of students. “It only takes about 3 weeks for stress to start creating more lasting problem such as depression and decreased motivation in teenagers,” notes Dr. Sofia Jalilie, a pediatrician in the Bay Area, during an interview. Because of rigorous academic expectations, along with pressure for grades, choosing colleges and a future career, the high school environment can be considered stressful. As shown by three popular systems, year round calendars give students a resting opportunity only, at minimum, after six weeks, which, from Dr. Jalilie's words, is enough time for the students’ brains to be damaged. This effect on students reveals a disadvantage of the year round system because in high schools, mental health and student stress are already large concerns. Meanwhile, supporters of year round calendars claim that they aid students by preventing summer learning loss, the popular theory that students forget most of the information learned in the prior school year during summer break(Von Drehle). Those who believe in the term link no summer to better academic performance. However, in a comparison of test scores throughout North Carolina, a school with diversity in its school calendars, "achievement scores were no greater among students from year-round schools as students from traditional schools"(Chittom 4). Standardized tests are considered one of the best ways to compare students. The year round schools' failure to be superior shows summer learning loss to be inaccurate and demonstrates that making students attend