Written by Cynthia Bolin
While Year-Round Education (YRE), also known as a balanced school calendar, is not typical, it is an alternative way to construct the academic calendar that offers benefits to both Hedgerows staff and families.
Typical traditional and some year-round academic calendars have around 180 days of instruction. The traditional academic calendar, of course, is divided into nine months of instruction and three months of vacation during the summer. Balanced school calendars break these long instructional/vacation blocks into shorter units. The most typical instructional/vacation year-round pattern is called the 60/20 calendar (60 days of instruction followed by 20 days of vacation and the second most popular is the 45/15 calendar. There are numerous other possible patterns, but they are not as common. The Hedgerows uses the 45/15 calendar which means approximately four nine-week programs followed by three weeks of vacation with a total of 181 days of programming. This schedule allows Hedegrows staff to have one week prior to each term to plan enrichments as well as prepare thematic and academic materials for the coming term.
While older studies have shown that YRE has a small advantage over traditional academic calendars when looking at overall learner achievement, in particularly the reduction of academic loss due to the phenomenon know as “summer slide” (Kneese, 1996; Serifs, 1990), other academic advantages are being explored in the post-COVID world. For example, schools have found anecdotal evidence that having shorter blocks of academics with longer periods of vacation in between has had a positive effect on both staff and student mental health. Both report lower stress levels by having regular breaks throughout the year. In addition, the curriculum can creatively incorporate seasonal learning. This is an important aspect of The Hedgerows philosophy of a learning ecosystem.
While the year-round schedule is different, it doesn’t actually increase the burden for childcare for most families. Students are in school for the same 180 days with parents needing to find childcare during off times. This schedule just spreads out the need over the year. The only time families seem to have difficulty with YRE is if they are also tied to the traditional academic calendar because of having other children in or parents being employed at traditional schools . Families have actually found that having the option to plan vacation time more creatively, during typical “off-season” times to be a huge advantage.
The Hedgerows chose to follow a year-round schedule for very specific reasons. (1) We believe that “summer slide” is a very real phenomenon for some children and by having instructional days balanced out through the academic year, it is easier for learning issues to be addressed quicker, versus having a “summer school” mentality. (2) When students and staff are able to have regular “down time,” stress is reduced. When there is less stress, more learning is able to happen. And (3), at The Hedgerows, seasonal learning is a part of our academic philosophy. Community is just as important as academics and having the opportunity to learn in nature throughout the year allows children to experience richer seasonal learning.
Resources:
Kneese, Carolyn Calvin. “Review of Research on Student Learning in Year-Round Education,” Journal of Research and Development in Education, v29, n2, p60-72, Win 1996.
Serifs, David. “Year Round Education: A Closer Look,” Resources in Education, Dec 11, 1990.