Back to school? "Not I," said LeAnne Bristow

Earlier this week, I was in full panic mode. My turn to blog was coming up and I had no idea what I was going to blog about. Then, Amy Vastine and Carol Ross had a lovely post about going back to school. When I commented that I taught at a year round school, Carol was interested in what I thought about it and suggested I blog about it sometime. I wonder if she knew I was blogging the next day and needed a blog topic?

I looked it up and was amazed that only about 10% of schools in the country offer a year round schedule. When I first started teaching at a year round school, I hated it. I missed my summers. But after eleven years of teaching at a year-round school, it’s finally starting to grow on me.

Traditional school schedules usually run from around the beginning of September to the end of May, with a small break for Christmas and the traditional Spring Break. This calendar was established over a hundred years ago when many students needed to be home during the summer months to help on the family farm. 

Family farms have sadly gone away, mostly, but the traditional school calendar has become ingrained in our being. Year-round school operate the same number of days, they just break it up differently. For example, I started back the last week of July. While you are shopping for back to school supplies, I am assessing students for report cards. 

The best part is, I am only a few weeks away from fall break. Two glorious weeks of freedom. In Arizona, this is particularly wonderful because, let’s face it, it’s just too darned hot to do much in June or July. But October? It’s cooling off, but not too cold. No crowds anywhere (everyone else is at school) and at the end of the break, I return to school refreshed and ready to work. We already have a trip to the White Mountains planned, where we are determined to help our very girly granddaughter learn to fish.

And before I (or the students) get burned out, it’s time for another 2 week vacation for the winter break. And spring break gives us one last hoorah before the weather starts to get too hot again. Of course, we get a longer break during the summer. We get eight weeks off between sessions. And come on, be honest, how many parents are dreaming of sending their kids back to school loooonnnnnggggg before summer vacation is over? 

Advocates say that retention is higher when students don’t have long breaks between grade levels. Each of our 2 week breaks offer an intercession for students who are struggling. They also claim it’s a more efficient use of school property without buildings sitting dormant for such long periods of time. Additionally, students adjust better with shorter breaks.

While I personally like my year-round schedule, there were some issues. When my children were in school, we couldn’t go on a trip or do anything fun during fall break. Football season was in full swing and while our school was on break, none of the surrounding districts were and football waits for no one. So my son still had practice every day and we still had games on Friday nights. During spring break, my daughter’s track schedule and my son’s baseball schedule prevented us from going out of town. 

Another concern is that I teach kindergarten. Just when I get them used to school rules and schedules, the little darlings get to go home to their mommies for two whole weeks. Coming back after fall break is sometimes as hard for them as the first day of school. (Thankfully, by the time winter break rolls around, we no longer have any issues.)

But my BIGGEST problem with the year round schedule is this. Almost every year, the National RWA conference begins on the same day that my students return to school. UG! Principals tend to frown on teachers who ask for the first couple of days of school off. And could you imagine taking your precious five year old to school (many of them are four because our cut off is September first) and the teacher not being there?

So when RWA announced that they were moving up the 2018 conference by over a week, I jumped for joy. Yeah! I can go! I can go! So if any of you have any pull with the RWA board, go ahead and let them know that I need that to be a permanent thing. I’m sure once they figure out who I am, they’ll be happy to oblige. Right? No? **sigh**

LeAnne Bristow writes sweet contemporary stories set in small towns because that's all she knows. With only 13 people in her graduation class, she still thinks that places with more than 3 stop lights qualify as cities. The places she writes about may be small, but the stories are full of emotion. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook to hear her musing on small town USA. And if you get a chance, give her a holler. She loves to hear from readers and writers. You can also contact her through her website or drop her an email.