A year-round school system can come across as daunting to one hearing the idea for the first time. Students and teachers alike cherish the warm months of not having to worry about school and having a long, relaxing break. However, several education systems are altering the length of the school session to be all twelve months of the year.

Students especially would rather have a three-month summer break every year, but going to school all year could be more beneficial. If that was the case, students wouldn’t have to worry about retaining information and there wouldn’t be a need for the beginning of every school year to be solely review. It would allow for more learning and less time to forget information.

The National Education Association says that the most popular form of year-round school follows the 45-15 plan. This entails students going to school for 45 days and then having a three-week (15 day) break before the cycle continues. Other plans that have been used are the 60-20 and 90-30 setup.

Having a year-round school system would greatly benefit teachers as well since salaries would be raised. Teachers are currently paid on a nine-month salary that is spread out over twelve months. If they worked in school all year, they would be given a twelve-month salary instead. On the other hand, this could be one of the main reasons holding schools back from a year-round system because they don’t have enough money to make that change.

Currently, many students are overworked from school and the constant fast-pace style. If the 45-15 plan was introduced, breaks would be much more frequent. This would allow students to not be so drained in the middle of the school year when there are no breaks present.

Another point to consider is that a twelve-month school year would benefit low-income families. Over the summer months, it is hard for low-income families with little kids to afford babysitters, summer camp, etc. Going to school all year would lessen the summer expenses while keeping kids in school and away from trouble.

The current school system was designed for a different century of a different time, so it doesn’t make sense why it is still being used in modern society. The origin of the current system comes from the fact that students would help with agriculture on the farms in summer. They didn’t attend school in the summer to help their parents grow crops during a pivotal season in agriculture. The evolving world should also have evolving systems to match it.

The idea of a year-round school system could be just what many schools are needing. Having an open mind about a new situation is critical to understand it. Overall, a twelve-month school year would show success for students and teachers.