I think it’s dumb that the typical time to take leave in the US is like, the summer or around Christmas time. It’s either too damn hot or cold during those times of year, man.
We should change things so that we take off during spring or fall, especially restructure school semesters to make that happen, that’d be great.
May 1 should be the new years imo, that way we start things off with dandelions.
Year-round school FTW, IMO.
Ten weeks on; two weeks off. With the occasional “leap week” to keep things “in sync” with the calendar . . . Ides of March and all that.
We’d have to solve poverty first, since there’s currently a bunch of school systems with no AC.
I taught at a school in Cleveland that basically does this. About 9 weeks on, 3 weeks off (one of which is PD for teachers), 5 weeks for summer. There were people in the district central office that didn’t want schools like that to exist, so it was like pulling teeth at times trying to be supported.
Then of course the state doesn’t realize that schools like that are a thing, so testing season happens at the start of Q4 instead of toward the end. So everyone is like, well what the hell do we do for 8 weeks now? Kids are checked out at that point, and often stop coming when traditional schools let out anyway. Adults are checked out because it’s Cleveland and you’re checked out from day 1 because of how bad it is.
I personally liked that model, but both systems have their pros and cons. (The main con is that it messes up internship timing.)
I went to one such school, in the south where AC is almost necessary.
My school, at the time, had a dress code that forbade shorts. During one particularly hot stretch (this was before that school system would close or go to half-days for very hot weather), several of us guys were displeased with the unfairness of girls being allowed to wear skits not shorter than 2 inches above the knee, while boys were expected to wear pants. So we borrowed some skirts (er, we “embraced our Scottish heritage and donned kilts”), and deemed the slight improvement in comfort worth the ridicule.
This only works when BOTH kids are on year-round 
Yeah, there were a number of elementary schools in places we lived while the kids were little that did year round school, though not all of the elementary schools ???. But the secondary schools (Jr. & Sr. High) were all the standard late August to late May schedule (around Labor Day to around Memorial Day).
a million hurdles in place blocking yr rd school, despite it likely being a super good idea. the current agriculture-inspired calendar is so entrenched.
My wife is a teacher. She thought that was a good idea. Kids lose less during vacations. I didn’t know anybody actually did it.
LAUSD had been doing it, but I cannot find any current info on how many year-round schools in LAUSD there are. wiki says three in 2012-13.
First brought on by a lack of facilities and an unusual lack in the use of school facilities in Summer. Then, number of kids dropped and more schools were built, so schools went back to traditional.
More searching finds Corona-Norco (short for “North Corona”) has year-round.
I think logistics are the real hassle with year-round schools:
For an isolated community in the boonies struggling with not enough facilities and too many kids? Sure. 1000+ school district like LAUSD? No thanks.
This popped up in my searches:
Excerpt:
The proposal seemed simple: Change the length of winter vacation in Los Angeles public schools from three weeks to two. Students would have the same number of school days without losing so much learning momentum.
But the school board’s recent decision to alter winter break and all it affects — the rhythm of lives and coveted time off — has provoked outrage and legal action, and also highlighted the important question of when children should be in school, how effectively time is used and how much say parents and teachers should have over it.
The calendar debate is not limited to Los Angeles or to the length and timing of breaks. Educators in several states, including Michigan and Florida, have explored year-round calendars with shorter but strategically spread out breaks to maximize learning. And in L.A., parents are still complaining about the mid-August start time, when the weather is the hottest and many families want to extend summer activities and travel.
For some, the three-week winter pause has provided an opportunity to recharge and spend time with family. For others, the extra week brings on child-care hassles, potential learning loss and an extended period without pay for low-wage, hourly school workers.
Can’t please everyone.
Best solution might be alternating two weeks and three weeks each year with. See, everyone is equally unhappy!
you left out
5. many teachers enjoy the extended break provided by the traditional calendar
Notice that all four of your items involve coordinating with other districts that use the 9 month calendar.
If year-round became the “normal” calendar, that wouldn’t be a cause of complaint for year-round.
Only if the “off-cycle” times are aligned.
You are correct, but that is a HUGE “if.” One that will not ever be true, barring an autocracy.