Year Round Schools and Shopping Spree :)
Several people have asked about the year round school schedule and how it works... Here's my explanation: {Please note: the dates are old - that's because this is an old post. Enjoy!}
It can be super-duper confusing, so let's start with the calendar. Here's the multi-track year-round calendar from my district for 2011-2012:
I'm on track 1, so anywhere you see red is when I'm in school with students. My workdays are during the track-outs (the white days - students are not in school). As you can see, each "track" has its own color, and there are always 3 tracks in at a time. Since we have 8 2nd grade teachers and 7 classrooms, we actually will be moving out of our classroom when we track out, and the teacher returning from their break moves into the classroom. The building's capacity is for only 3 tracks in at a time, so year-round schools actually "hold" one-third more students than a traditional calendar school.
Here are answers to specific questions I've been asked:
Do you really teach all year long? Nope. I teach 10 months, but they are spread out over a school year. I don't have 2 months off for summer, but I do have other breaks during the year. Students come for 180 days in NC.
What happens when school is cancelled for snow? When we have a snow day, the school is closed, even to teachers. We go for a short session on the following Saturday to make up the day with students, with no breakfast, recess, or lunch on Saturdays.
What? School on Saturdays? Really? Yep. It doesn't happen often in NC, but we all know that it's just a part of the year-round schedule. Students are dismissed early on those days, so we are only there for about 5 hours - not a whole day.
Don't you miss your long summer break? Not really. If you look back at the calendar, you'll see I had a 2.5 week break in September, a 4 week break in December, 3 weeks off in March, and the month of June off, too. Since I love to go to the beach at any point in the year, it works great for my family.
Does this eliminate the "summer slide?" It's really pretty cool, since my kiddos don't forget as much over a 3 or 4 week break as they do over 2 months of summer. We don't need to spend as much time reviewing the prior grade at the beginning of the year.
I know it sounds really confusing, but the truth is, I love this schedule! It's great to have a break every quarter, and I feel like I have a lot more quality time with the kiddos in my house!! :) You'll hear me complain a bit about clopening and starting in July, but it has its distinct advantages, too. Oh, and our paychecks come year-round, too! Our annual pay is split out over 12 months, so we don't have to scrounge to pay bills over the summer - sweet!
Happy Saturday!! I'm going to get outside and enjoy this beautiful NC weather.
 |
| FAQs About Year-Round Schools from a Teacher |
 |
| A Sample from 2011-2012. It still works similarly. |
Here are answers to specific questions I've been asked:
Do you really teach all year long? Nope. I teach 10 months, but they are spread out over a school year. I don't have 2 months off for summer, but I do have other breaks during the year. Students come for 180 days in NC.
What happens when school is cancelled for snow? When we have a snow day, the school is closed, even to teachers. We go for a short session on the following Saturday to make up the day with students, with no breakfast, recess, or lunch on Saturdays.
What? School on Saturdays? Really? Yep. It doesn't happen often in NC, but we all know that it's just a part of the year-round schedule. Students are dismissed early on those days, so we are only there for about 5 hours - not a whole day.
Don't you miss your long summer break? Not really. If you look back at the calendar, you'll see I had a 2.5 week break in September, a 4 week break in December, 3 weeks off in March, and the month of June off, too. Since I love to go to the beach at any point in the year, it works great for my family.
Does this eliminate the "summer slide?" It's really pretty cool, since my kiddos don't forget as much over a 3 or 4 week break as they do over 2 months of summer. We don't need to spend as much time reviewing the prior grade at the beginning of the year.
I know it sounds really confusing, but the truth is, I love this schedule! It's great to have a break every quarter, and I feel like I have a lot more quality time with the kiddos in my house!! :) You'll hear me complain a bit about clopening and starting in July, but it has its distinct advantages, too. Oh, and our paychecks come year-round, too! Our annual pay is split out over 12 months, so we don't have to scrounge to pay bills over the summer - sweet!
Happy Saturday!! I'm going to get outside and enjoy this beautiful NC weather.
