Saying Goodbye to Summer Break
By Siddharth Belegere
If there’s one thing students love about school, it’s not going to it—specifically: summer break. As finals wrap up and the workload winds down, students strap in for nearly three months filled with vacations, internships, and summer programs. However, many schools around the country have sought to change that by replacing summer break with shorter breaks throughout the year, an approach widely known as year-round school.
Though year-round school is still relatively uncommon, it isn’t new. The initial idea of a year-round school schedule emerged in the 1970s as a way to deal with rapidly expanding student populations. With different sets of students attending school at different times of the year, schools could more easily accommodate them as opposed to them attending all at once. Despite catching on and reaching a peak of 6% of all schools in 1997, the popularity of year-round schedules steeply declined to about 2.5% by 2018. As it stands today, about 3700 schools in the US have implemented some form of year-round school, opting to split their year into multiple school segments as opposed to having long summer breaks.
The benefits of year-round school are clear. 20% of students surveyed in a Chicago year-round school program experienced a substantial increase in academic performance, while scores for the rest of the student population remained the same. This occurs largely because year-round schools avoid the phenomenon of the “summer slide.” Since summer break is so long, students forget much of what they learned previously. It’s estimated that up to 20% of math and 27% of reading gains are typically lost over summer break. With a year-round schedule, content remains fresh in the minds of students who carry it with them to the following year.
Year-round school also helps fight another persistent issue: overcrowding. Across the country, excessive numbers of students in classes have become a problem. Currently, an estimated 52% of schools are at or over their designated capacities, with one quarter greatly exceeding allotted space. In New York City alone, 300,000 students are in overcrowded classrooms, hampering their learning and reducing individual instructional time. As teachers deal with more students, they have less time to aid students individually, especially those who struggle with the material. With a year-round schedule that cycles students throughout the year, smaller groups of students could take classes at different times, avoiding the negative impacts of an overcrowded environment—as a more controlled number of students would be present on campus at any given time.
The Case for Summer Break
By Grace Wang
As the spring months approach, many students are already thinking about summer break. The widely anticipated break is so much more than just a time to relax: it’s essential to student life.
Summer break originated in the late 1800s. Previously, older students took time off school to help their families with planting and harvesting. Because of this, schools began incorporating a summer break, so students wouldn’t have to take time off school. Today, although the days of harvest are no more, summer break has remained an integral part of the academic experience.
First, this months-long vacation is crucial to those traveling far away. Nobody wants to pay thousands for a twenty-hour flight just to return a few days later. For people who aspire to travel, whether for fun or to visit relatives, summer break is one of the only times to make the trip. Additionally, because learning is the most effective when it’s hands-on and interactive, traveling and experiencing different cultures is a key way to gain knowledge about other nations and cultures. Having more cultural understanding has been shown to reduce biases and increase empathy for others. Without a summer break, students have less time for these experiences.
Additionally, the school year is a busy time. Schoolwork often piles up, causing the balance between schoolwork, extracurriculars, and relaxation to become extremely precarious for many students. Because of this, students often lack time to explore their interests outside of school and academia. Summer break provides students with unstructured time, finally allowing them to focus on their hobbies. Although many argue that smaller breaks across the school year allow for the same thing, longer breaks are better at allowing students to recharge and spend time on what they enjoy. Although a one or two-week break is nice, students are still forced to worry about upcoming schoolwork, preventing them from getting the proper relaxation they need.
Being able to relax and truly take time off is integral to the well-being of students. Vacations drastically improve the mental health of students, decreasing the chances of burnout. A study by the American Psychological Association finds that 57% of people feel more motivated and less stressed after a long break, with 68% returning with more energy. Students need summer break to return to school as their best selves, ready to take on the new school year.
Finally, it’s important to consider the perspective of teachers. In the current system, teachers are already overworked. The average teacher works 53 hours a week-–that’s seven hours more than the average worker. Removing summer break means one less break for teachers as well. It takes away time they could spend with their family and loved ones. And it puts more stress on them because they lose much of the valuable prep time they have for their classes. Instead, they would be forced to draft up schedules and teaching plans while facing the ongoing pressure of teaching. This would affect not only the quality of their teaching and lessons but their well-being as well.
Burnt-out teachers and students never make a happy or effective school. Summer break plays a vital role in ensuring that the delicate balance between school, work, and relaxation can be met.