I grew up in the same county where I now teach. That wasn't too long ago but year-round schools didn't exist until I was maybe in middle school? I think that's the first time I heard about one. So, naturally, I went to a school that used a traditional "start in late August, end in early June" calendar.
When I first started working after college, I actually worked in admissions for two independent schools both on traditional calendars. (side note: I've never actually encountered an independent school on any other calendar but I'm sure one must exist somewhere). I worked year-round but summers were still more relaxed, we worked fewer hours per day and got to rotate having Friday afternoons off. When I started teaching, I was a teacher assistant while I applied to graduate school and worked on a traditional calendar. Ditto for student teaching.
However, when I was applying for full-time classroom teaching jobs last summer year-round schools kept popping on my radar because at the time I was substituting full-time to make ends meet until I found a regular job and so during the summer, I was trekking out to all the year-round schools. The county I work in is a large one, the largest school system in the state. There are about 50 year-round schools, mostly elementary and middle with one modified-calendar high-school (don't ask - you should see the list of possible calendars on the county web site). Initially, the year-round calendar was introduced here to ease over-crowding during rapid growth. My county was adding thousands of new students each year (and did so right up until about 2007 or so when the recession started) and they kept up with that growth by using multi-track year-round schools. In these schools at any one time 1/4 of the students are "tracked-out" or not in school so the schools can hold about 20% more students than a traditional calendar.
To make a long explanation shorter, I ended up taking a job last summer at a year-round school, although my school is all on one track. I won't even begin to try and explain the reasons behind that because they're not that interesting. I am returning to that school and to 4th grade this year and I'll start my pre-school workdays next Thursday with school beginning on July 30th.
There are lots of people for and against year-round and traditional calendar schools. A friend and fellow teacher tweeted about this article about the arguments for and against year-round schools. Although where I work, they were introduced to ease overcrowding there have been some studies that show students benefit because they're never out of school for longer than a month. Other studies, cited in the article, don't show those same gains and still more studies found the gains in some students (particularly those with high-needs and disabilities) but not all.
Given how different children are from one another and schools are from one another, I think it's going to be difficult to compare schools even if they seems statistically similar. There are so many factors at play that isolating the one variable of school calendar is not easy and I suspect studies will continue to find mixed results.
So, here's my take as a teacher in a year-round school. As a first year teacher last year, it was ideal in many ways. I had breaks every nine weeks or so that let me recharge my own batteries (both mentally and physically) and let me catch up or even get ahead on what I needed to do. I was able to do a lot more in my first year than I think I would have on a traditional calendar because I had time to do things like write book club reading guides when I was tracked-out. From a student standpoint, I think they benefit as well. Just when we're all tired and cranky, there's a break. Everyone comes back refreshed and ready to learn but it hasn't been so long that all routines and knowledge have been forgotten. All of my parents seem to really like it as well - a schedule with breaks other than summertime allows for family vacations that might be difficult in the summer. For example, I had a family who was originally from the Middle East. They spent our winter break in the Middle East visiting their family, which is a lovely time of year there. July, on the other hand, is brutal. I should mention that our families all choose to be on a year-round calendar - even if you're assigned to a year-round school there is always a traditional calendar (and at least one magnet school) option. So, my parents liked it and many of them have had multiple children go through the school.
On the other hand, I also see some benefits to a traditional calendar from a personal standpoint. Frankly, there are a lot of great opportunities for teachers in terms of continuing education and travel that are only available during the summer. Many that I would like to participate in are longer than just a week (such as National Endowment for the Humanities summer study programs or Fulbright Teacher Scholarship). I also see now, after a year, that this summer track-out is the only one in which I've fully been able to disengage from school mentally. As a new teacher especially, I need that mental break. Teaching in intense and extremely complex. I love that about it - it was part of what drew me to the profession - but it also means my brain needs time to refuel. When this summer started, I realized my brain was sort of expecting that and didn't totally get it. I've done my best to avoid work during the past two weeks in order to give myself the break I know I need. Also, and this is an aside, the year-round schools are pretty far from where I live (and I love where I live so I'm not willing to move) and my commute is over an hour each day. So, would I consider transferring to a school closer to home with that most likely meaning a traditional calendar? Very possibly.
So, what most people ask is: are our test scores better? are they on traditional? I don't know. I imagine it's probably comparable. I think the most thing in any system is to assess what's best for children and families from all standpoints, not just test scores. People are always going to be divided in their opinions over what's best for their children and their family as a whole so it seems to me that having some options is not a bad thing. I know as a teacher it's nice to have some options as well. I know many teachers who swear they couldn't imagine being on a different calendar than they are now - who absolutely LOVE one or the other. For me, the jury is still out - I've committed to another year on year-round and we'll see where things take me after this.
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