When thinking about year-round schools, people think about the absence of Winter Break, Spring Break, and summer vacation. However, the term 'year-round' does not refer to no breaks; it actually means an increased number of shorter breaks. For example, instead of going to school for months at a time and yearning for the next break, year-round students have a break every 45, 60, or 90 days, as there are many different ways of arranging the year-round calendar. In fact, there are actually two different versions of the year-round schedule, single-track and multi-track. Single-track is where all the students are off at the same time, and multi-track is where students are on different 'tracks' and some of them are off, while others are still in school. The single-track version of a year-round calendar (which is the version this piece will refer to) is a better way of organizing our school days for various reasons, including that it benefits students of all walks of life.

First off, students have a tendency to forget the material learned before, so that when students come back from a two or three month break, teachers are required to review material, which can be time-consuming. In a year-round school system, teachers "spend a day, maybe two, reviewing" according to Chris Pultz, a year-round third-fourth grade teacher at Trailblazer Elementary, compared to a traditional school which could have up to the first month be review. Secondly, schools have the option of providing intersession classes during the breaks they have, which is the equivalent to summer school. Robert Smotherman, superintendent of the Bardstown City School District in Bardstown, Kentucky says, "Instead of waiting until summer school, you catch him in October and you've got a shot at getting him back on track." Obviously, a student who gets help earlier on in the school year is more likely to understand the material that is taught later.

Third, with a year-round school system burnout is not as much as a problem, because of the evenly spaced breaks. Additionally, as there is less stress in the environment, acts of violence, such as fights, also decrease. Hilo Intermediate School, located in Hawaii, says they owe the year-round school system for their decreased number of fights, which was 68 in the first quarter, but quickly dropped down to a mere five. This may be particularly important in urban schools with all the violence surrounding them with exposure to graphic television and movies.

Furthermore, the year-round school system also significantly benefits English-learners. Principal Colebank of Nautlius Elementary School located in Lake Havasu, Arizona says, "Many of our English as a second language students were not exposed to English during the summer." It makes sense that English-learners who are not exposed to English for a full three months are much more likely to lose their English skills than English-learners attending a year-round school with shorter breaks. Principal Jill Brogan of Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School in San Diego, CA says that among her Hispanic students that make up 82% of the school population, there was "a massive difference."

Of course, with shorter breaks there is inevitably no more summer vacation. However, summer vacation was established as part of the traditional schedule because early on we were, for the most part, an agrarian nation. Now that we have progressed pass that we should no longer keep a traditional schedule as there is no reason to do so, and there are so many reasons to change. To quote Mr. Ballinger, executive director of the National Association for Year-Round Education, "No educator would design a calendar these days with eight to 12 weeks of vacation at a time—that would be stupid." Long ago were the times that children needed to lend a hand in the fields, these days, children can possibly seen as a burden during summer vacations, as they need to be kept occupied. This problem would also be solved by the year-round system as students could choose to be part of an intersession class during the breaks. Not only would intersession classes be the only option for students at a year-round school, but certainly summer camps would change to better fit the schedule of our progressing needs.

Critics of the year-round school system argue that schools need air-conditioning during the summer which can be pricey. However, as the saying goes, "If there's a will, there's a way." This statement is supported by the James Rutter Middle School, in Sacramento, California; their school starts "at about 6:50 am. or so, and ends around 1:10," says Mr.Vale a seventh grade mathematics teachers at the James Rutter Middle School.

There are many flaws with the traditional schedule and the year-round school system solves many of them. The year-round school system is fitted to our needs as a society today, with educators constantly being pressured to raise test scores, the increasing amount of violence in our nation, what better choice is there than the year-round school system? In addition, the year-round school system addresses the fact that we are indeed, a land of immigrants. We should not be clinging childishly to an antiquated system, especially when we have such a marvelous alternative.