Teaching Life

On April 22, the Chicago Board of Education voted  to have more than 25% of Chicago’s elementary schools to be year round. What this means is that students will still have a 170 day school year, but summers will be shorter and breaks will be spread out throughout the year.  This is very similar to how District 49 in Colorado Springs, Colorado does it and they eventually got used to it.

The opponents are concerned about juggling schedules around and getting child care throughout the year. Summer camp allowed parents to continue to have child care in the summer when children were not in school. The schools offer a variety of schedules, or “tracks” based on different calenders. This can be overwhelming for parents trying to manage schedules. If each school will have different tracks, this can become burdensome for parents with children in different grades or schools.

The proponents support it because it allows for less gaps in the student’s education and more retention of information. Like any new change, there will always be some stresses involved, but I think eventually the community will adjust. In Colorado Springs, the surrounding child care facilities have adapted to meet the needs of the parents.

The teachers love the schedule because multiple short breaks seem to offer a better cognitive rest and recovery time than one long summer. This likely applies to students as well.  Having these type of schedules does not leave the students and teachers exhausted by Christmas break. In addition, the two week Fall break allows less expensive and less crowded vacation time for families.

In the long run, I think this is a good idea. Eventually, when it is spread throughout the city of Chicago and the state, and the rest of the country, employees will be forced to be accommodating and child care services will have to rearrange their operating hours.  However, it may seem inconvenient for awhile, I believe it is in the best interest for the education system, and most importantly the children that deserve an effective and quality education.

Additional articles on Year Round Schools: Pros and Cons , Opinion Article From a Mom