Traditional or Year-Round?

I'm sure we all love our three-month long breaks in the summer. Who wouldn't want not having to worry about procrastination for three months? However, do we actually need three months to recover? I bet you're probably wishing that this break would last a little longer. I, for one, feel like I need more time to sleep for next week. Students need that extra two weeks during winter and spring breaks instead of summer breaks to not feel burned out in the middle of the year. Because of this, I think that the year-round school calendar will be more beneficial to high school students and should not be removed from the district.

The winter and spring breaks are crucial points in a high school student's year. The semester is about to end and finals are coming. Much pressure builds up for a typical student at these times of the year and the breaks are important ways to relieve it. However, two weeks may not be enough to gain all of the sleep lost from the previous months. Without enough time to recover, a student can crash in the most important weeks in the year. The year-round schedule provided a month off for these two breaks, compared to two weeks in the traditional calendar. The balance would be only one month off in summer for the year round calendar. The year round calendar would be much more beneficial to high schools because students would have enough rest during breaks and not lose as much information during the three-month long summer break.

In a recent decision, the school district decided to remove the year-round calendar from SDUSD schools. Many elementary schools will be forced to switch over to the traditional calendar in the next school year. In my opinion, the year-round calendar should of at least been tested on high schools before being scrapped. Balanced breaks would have created a more positive attitude for all of the students that need rest. The three-month summer breaks always did seem to long for me and I would gladly use some of it now if I could.