Most schools right now have a 10 month school year, but some school districts in the country have started to consider changing into a year round school calendar.

A year round school year would mean that students would go to school for a set period of time, then they would have a 2-4 week break. They can go 45 days then 15 days off or go 60 days and then have 20 days off. With this schedule, students would no longer have a three month summer break, but instead they would have periodic breaks throughout the school year. The United States has had year round schools since the 1900s and they first appeared in urban areas like Chicago, Boston and Detroit.

In theory, a year round school calendar would help students retain information better since there would be no long breaks during the school year. In this way, the schools would still operate 180 days in year, but it would just be more spread out. While a year round school calendar may be beneficial for some students, it won’t be for the majority.

For me personally, any break longer than a week causes me to lose information that I have learned. Smaller breaks might cause students not lose as much information as they would on summer break, but any prolonged break will cause students to lose information from the school year. Students will also lose information whether or not they are off school or not. By the time tests and finals come around, students end up relearning all the stuff they forgot during the term anyway.

Year round school will also make it harder for families to plan time together. The students will not have a three month break to plan vacations or spend time with family. Families in different counties will also have conflicting break schedules. This will cause them to have less time that they can spend together.

Instead of going to a year round school year, I think schools might want to consider adding another break within the school year. This would make summer shorter, but not make the school year all year. While a 12 month school calendar is a good idea, it will be too big of a change for most people to endure. The general population is used to having a three month summer and most do not want to give it up.