Friday, July 11, 2003

Year-round school starts back Monday

College Park Elementary School and Parklane Elementary School will return to classes on Monday for the first day of their 2003-04 school year. Both schools are year-round schools.

Year-round schools provide students the same 180-day school year as traditional schools but have a calendar that is spread throughout the year to provide more continuity in learning.

Students attend nine weeks of school, followed by a three-week break and intersession, which operates similar to summer school for enrichment and remedial learning. The students then have a summer break of six weeks.

Research indicates that year-round schooling improves students' knowledge and curriculum retention by providing shorter, but more frequent breaks, in the school year instead of one longer break during the summer months.

College Park Elementary became the first year-round school in Georgia in 1991. Parklane Elementary, which became a year-round school in July 2002, is in its second year. Parklane plans to have a Parent Pep Rally at 7:30 a.m. on Monday to greet students as they get off the school buses and welcome them back to school.

The first day of school for the remaining schools in Fulton County is August 11.