School calendar

School districts are trying to mitigate students pandemic-related learning loss by switching to year-round calendars. But experts remain wary.

The district plans to take an approach similar to Greenwood 50 and has scheduled two-week breaks and a few extra days of lessons. They see the extra breaks as a way to give weary students and teachers a rest. In fact, prior to the pandemic, he said use of the calendar had been in decline. Graves said the ability of the year-round calendar to improve academics depends on whether and how well districts use the additional breaks for remediation. Participating students and teachers will have to give up some or all of their breaks for the extra classroom time, which could counter efforts to prevent burnout. But Graves said because the time out of school remains the same — breaks just occur at different times of the year — switching to year-round schooling doesn’t lead to gains. The district decided to start the new schedule in 2021. Greenwood scheduled three remediation days during the first week and invited about 2,000 struggling students to attend. Since the modified calendar has only been in place for one year, Glenn hesitates to declare it a complete solution for Greenwood. Any academic benefits are likely to hinge on whether and how well districts use the extra time for remediation during the school year. Following the break, all students and staff return to school, and the cycle repeats. Districts have remained loyal to the traditional calendar despite strong evidence that students lose ground each summer, forcing teachers to revisit old material at the start of every school year.