School systems

[Wyoming53]

It used to be that school started the day after Memorial Day and went to the Friday before Labor Day.

Now, school starts the week before and runs to the week after.

Down in South Dakota, they started 2 weeks ago and will run til a week after.

The school year is growing and nobody has provided a reason. Course, I don't have kids in school anymore so I'm not directly involved, however, I have grandkids in school.

What are they doing in your area?

[isabel]

In our school district, in central california, summer break is 7 weeks long. Kids get an extra break in the fall (ski week) and extra days for the county fair.

7 weeks is a long time to this mom. We do lots of swimming, zoo, park, indoor playgrounds, and camping. The day school starts back up...I'm doing a jig:)

I don't know how my mom (4 kids) did a full summer. So 53...your area sounds like it is still pretty traditional.

Izzy

[Wyoming53]

When I was stationed in San Diego, the local elementary teachers threatened strike. Theier reasoning was that they graded a lot of papers at home and wanted to be compensated for their time. Not full hourly wage but something. Their reasoning was sound and the parents agreed. They were voted a 7% pay raise at the beginning of the year, that didn't even enclude the 3.5% cost of living raise. They earned it.

I guess they think people are stupid or that military people transfer and nobody would remember. Three years later, they threatened strike again. Their reasoning was that they graded a lot of papers at home and wanted to be compensated for their time. Huh? Didn't we go through this once?

The school board decided that from that point on, Wednesdays would be a half day for the students. That would allow the teachers, the other half day to grade papers.

The first week, the parking lot was empty at 1201. The second week, they couldn't leave the parking lot because there were over 100 parents standing in the driveway. When the Principal came out, I explained to him that they've conned us and the school board twice for the same thing. If this time is to grade papers, then they'll do it in the classroom because we already tried to allow them to grade them at home, and they lied and conieved their way into getting a half day off.

For about 3 weeks we kept up our blocking the driveway. Finally they got the idea and nobody tried to leave. After about a year, they were still holding. Every now and then a car would leave, but that could be attributed to going to the central library, getting supplies and that sort of thing.

With the schools here, they've extended the school year by 2 weeks. No reasoning, no explaination. Just curious if schools in your area were pulling the same stuff.

[the dufferz]

Year around school is an idea that has been batted around in washington for many years. When I was a kid school started after labor day, we had a few days off between then and Thanksgiving. Christmas (yes they called it Christmas) vacation started around dec. 17, the we had easter break, or spring break in March or April.

Now days they add multiple "in service days", end of quarter days, Mid winter break etc. It seems that school starts before labor day then ends in late June. I think they are slowly moving toward year around school.

[Wyoming53]

I wish they would go to year round. But year round is not what it sounds like. One place we lived in San Diego had Year round school.

3 groups. A, B, and C.

Each group goes to school for 3 months and then has one month off.

So group A would be Jan, Feb, Mar, then April Off. May, Jun, Jul, then August off. Group B would be Jan Off. Feb, Mar, April, May off. and so on.

So you ended up with 3 months off during the year just like you would normally, however, they were spread throughout the calendar.

It was kind of nice because we could plan a vacation at different times of the year, weren't slaved to Jun - Aug.

[kimbercuddles]

School in Navarre, FL, started August 20th and ends June 5th. They do have a few more breaks than we did when I went to school in Minnesota. I'm partial to having a long summer break because there are so many things to do in the summer that we love. If we would have gone to school year round in Minnesota, I would have gone stir-crazy...I lived for the summer...or at least July and August.