Wednesday, March 13, 2002
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Wednesday, March 13, 2002 |
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Adopt Calendar 1 to help kids' learning, family time Let's adopt a school calendar that makes educational sense for everyone. The Fayette County Board of Education has an opportunity to positively impact our children's ability to learn by adopting Calendar 1 for the 2003-04 school year in its upcoming vote, March 18. The difference between a 10-week (calendar 1) and an 11-week (calendar 2) summer break is minimal. Although one week less summer vacation may save a little relearning time in the new academic year, the real bonus Calendar 1 offers is the additional number of breaks spaced throughout the year, especially the fall break. These additional breaks will provide timely remedial opportunities for those who need it, and a mind-refreshing burn-out-respite for everyone. Aside from the fall break, the breaks in both calendars fall every five to seven weeks. Without the fall break, students and teachers will be in the classroom a mind numbing 15 weeks without a break. Ouch! The board has expressed a concern that the September break will be problematic for the 20 percent of students who participate in extracurricular activities. Contrarily, winter and spring breaks don't seem to pose a problem even though the same percentage of students would be participating in these activities. Also, there is no reason that extracurricular activities could not continue during the fall break. For the aforementioned academic reasons, a September break after seven or eight weeks of class would be ideal. That leaves another seven or eight weeks until the Thanksgiving break. This would give an opportunity early in the year to address remedial concerns, and provide a beneficial break for 100 percent of the student population. Additionally, the fall break would provide an opportunity for quality family time. Imagine a family vacation at a time of year when you would not be competing with the rest of the world. Let's do something right for our kids. Ten weeks vs. eleven weeks in the summer is not the issue. Extracurricular activities are not the issue. Learning is the issue. Let's adopt Calendar 1 and provide an early opportunity to address remedial concerns, give everyone a refreshing break, provide for some quality family time, and avoid that mind-numbing 15-week stretch at the start of the year. Let's start making academic sense. John Riley Fayetteville
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