As most districts across Michigan prepare
for a state-mandated post-Labor Day
start to the school year, some have already
been in session for several weeks. Others
are never really out of session.
Although not common, almost 500
year-round schools can be found in about
three dozen states, including Michigan,
at the elementary, middle and high school
levels, according to the National Association
for Year-Round Education.
One such school, Alexander Macomb
Academy in Mt. Clemens, a conventional
public school north of Detroit, has been
in session since Aug. 14. The K-6 school
conducts classes until the third week in
June, giving students about six weeks off
in the summer, compared to the more
than two months students in most schools
receive.
“Being off so long in the summer can
lead to what is called ‘learning loss’ because
the kids forget so much,” Macomb
Academy Principal Sharon Gryzenias said.
“Even with the shorter time off here, we
give the kids packets that are grade-appropriate
with books, flash cards and a writing
journal. Things to keep them thinking.”
Gryzenias said the school also has
a subscription to StudyIsland.com that
students can access from home. The site
provides games, tests and other activities
in a variety of subjects, including math,
science, history and foreign languages.
Aside from a longer school year, Macomb
also has a longer school day. Students
there attend for seven hours and 45 minutes,
an hour more than other elementary
schools in the district.
“Having a longer day means the teachers
can get everything in that they need to,”
Gryzenias said. “They can really get deep
into a topic.”
Gryzenias said students get at least 90
minutes a day of English/language arts,
plus 60 minutes of a specialized class, such
as physical education, science lab or art.
The unique approach is working,
Gryzenias said. With a 70 percent minority
student population, including several who
are low-income, the school has achieved
Adequate Yearly Progress every year, and all
teachers on staff are rated “Highly Qualified”
under federal No Child Left Behind
Act requirements.
“All of our third and sixth graders were
above their state averages in every category of the MEAP,” Gryzenias said. “I would highly recommend this for anyone. It’s made an enormous difference for
the students.”
Gryzenias said the longe r
days, and more of them, can be a bit
difficult for kindergarten students, who
attend school for a full day.
“During the first semester, they think
it’s a pretty long day,” she said. “They usually
have a rest break in the afternoon, but
in the second semester that gets phased
out. There’s just too much for them to
do.”
Because Macomb is in session 200
days a year, it is considered a year-round
school under Michigan law, and thereby
not subject to the post-Labor Day law.
Other year-round schools are in session
virtually year-round, with shorter breaks
spread between sessions. At two elementary
schools in Highland’s Huron Valley,
students attend four sessions of 45 days
each, with 15 days off in between.
“The year-round students attend the
same number of days, use the same curriculum,
same text books, it’s just split
differently,” Highland Elementary School
Principal Bruce Bendure said.
Both Highland and Kurtz elementary schools have year-round and nine-month
students within the same building.
“It can be tricky, but it’s a popular
choice among parents,” Bendure told MER,
referring to Huron Valley’s participation in
Michigan’s school choice program. “We
have neighborhood kids
who come here and
do either track,
and we also have
school choice by
parents across the
district.”
Bendure said
the students have
recess and lunch at
the same time, and
all fifth graders go
to yearly camp at the
same time.
“It’s not as delineated as you might think,” he said.
“We have it aligned so everyone has the same major holidays,
in-service days and breaks.”
For year-round students at Highland
and Kurtz, a typical school year goes from
late August to late October, mid November
to mid February, early March to mid May
and mid June to late July, with breaks in
between.
“Very few teachers leave year-round
once they get into it,” Bendure said. “And
once families get involved, they tend to
stay through it.”
Bendure said the year-round and ninemonth
programs are aligned such that a
student should be able to transition from
one to the other without much trouble.
“There is the issue of learning loss, but
I think that can be overstated,” Bendure
said. “Some students need more remediation
than others after any type of break,
but I think parents who would make the
choice of year-round tend to be involved
anyway.”
Bendure said that parental involvement often means keeping the kids busy
with reading and other learning activities
during the mini-breaks.
Whether it entails summer reading
programs and on-line learning such as
what is used by Macomb Academy, or
filling in mini-breaks with unique educational
opportunities, conventional public
schools in this regard are following the
example set by home-school parents for
many years.
Bendure said Huron Valley’s plan is to
consolidate the two year-round programs
into one school that operates solely on a
year-round calendar.
“We’re trying to be cost effective,”
he said.
About 3,000 year-round schools operate
nationwide, with half of them in California.
There are 30 year-round schools
in Michigan, according to the National
Association for Year-Round Education.
“The west and southwest can’t build
schools fast enough,” Bendure said. “When
you have multi-tracks, you can get 33 percent
higher capacity.”
In year-round education, multi-track
means more than one group of students
using the same building at different times.
A building designed to accommodate 750
students, NAYRE says, can hold 1,000
students with four tracks of 250 students
each. The school still has 750 students at
all times, with one group, or track, always
on break on a rotating basis. A single-track
is when just one group of students uses the
year-round program. Variations of both
kinds of tracks can include a 45-15, 60-20
or 90-30 split.
Opponents of year-round schools
point to a lack of data that shows better
academic performance, as well as the effects
on family calendars, summer tourism
and the lack of air conditioning in many
older buildings.
“Some people are just really stuck
on that summer vacation,” Bendure said.
“But other families love it. They can go
somewhere in the fall and not battle the
crowds in the spring.”