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Shorter Breaks Help Kids Recall Lessons
In Auburn, Ala., a push to move to a year-round calendar created an outcry and ultimately failed, partly because of high-school athletics.
"It would have put a vacation in the middle of the football season," said Chris Newland, a father of two who fought the change and a psychology professor at Auburn University. "You don't touch football here."
  Second-grader Maria Herrera sits down to finish her class work at Barcroft Elementary in Arlington, Va., Friday, June 15, 2007. Barcroft Elementary has year-long school calendar. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) (Pablo Martinez Monsivais - AP) 
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Newland said parents didn't like the idea of putting the younger kids on a modified schedule and leaving the older ones on the traditional calendar. That would make it hard to take family vacations and would be especially problematic in a university town, where families often spend entire summers off together, he said.
Schools that have a calendar like Barcroft's typically offer educational programs during the fall, winter and spring breaks. At Barcroft, about 80 percent of kids participate. The courses offered are often aimed at giving remedial help to those who need it, a common purpose of traditional summer school.
Many teachers at year-round schools believe providing remedial help after nine weeks of coursework is an improvement over the traditional model in which kids wait until summer school to get extensive help, says Duke University's Cooper.
In addition to helping struggling kids, the breaks at Barcroft include fun electives that aren't typically offered during regular school periods.
One recent program was devoted to wetlands, which second-grader Anthony Merica described with glee. "We made clay things," he said breathlessly. "We made clay turtles and lily pads for frogs. It was fun!"
Not all schools go to a year-round schedule to boost student achievement. Some do it because they have more kids than they can accommodate in a building. By extending the school year, they can rotate more kids through a building by giving them different schedules.
The traditional school calendar dates to a period when children were more likely to be needed on family farms in the summer, and before air conditioning made school buildings hospitable during hot months.
It took Hughey-Guy two years to implement the change at Barcroft. She said parents were skeptical at first, but most backed the change after they learned more about it.
All of Barcroft's teachers decided to stay, and in some cases the calendar has even been a recruiting tool.
"I was definitely excited about the calendar. I didn't want two-and-a-half months off with nothing to do," said new first-grade teacher Caitlin Miller. She says the longer breaks during the year have improved her teaching, "They are a chance to reevaluate how the year is going _ to stop, collect my thoughts and plan."
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On the Net:
Barcroft calendar:
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National Association for Year-Round Education:
