traditional vs year round school calendar (Raleigh: middle schools, camps, pros and cons)
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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Are all elementary and middle schools in Wake County going to year-round calendar? And, is it mandatory or can you choose between year-round or traditional calendar? Is it like a lottery? Is it only in Wake County or in all of the Raleigh area?
I don't know the answers to your questions, but I would love it if someone could point me to a website that explains how year round schooling works. I don't have children nor do I have an opinion on the issues one way or the other, but I have never heard a clear expalnation on how year round solves the overcrowding issue. How does going to school year round creat more space in the school? If someone could explain this I would greatly appreciate it as I would love to understadn this issue better.
jsantig - all schools are not going year round in Wake County. At least, not yet. You can check specific schools at www.wcpss.net. Depending upon where you live, you may have the choice between a traditional and a year round school, in which case, you would apply to your year-round school kind of like a lottery. Some of the areas that have experienced very rapid growth have converted the schools to mandatory year round, and in those cases, you don't have a choice. You can check a particular address at the wcpss.net.
Year round school eases overcrowding by dividing the students into 4 separate tracks. These different tracks go to school basically 9 weeks in, 3 weeks out, so at any given time, 1/4 of the students are not in school. Each time a group "tracks back in", they move in to the classrooms occupied by the students tracking out, so the school has a higher capacity. Here's a link to the calendar, where the tracks are color coded:
http://www.wcpss.net/Calendars/2006-07/06-07-year-round.pdf (broken link)
Nope not all the schools. Two of mine will be in middle school by next year which will be traditional while my youngest will be year round which just quite simply stinks!
From what I understand, if your base school is year round, you can apply to a traditional schoool that is in your "node", if you look up your address on the wake county public school website, and look at your student assignment, then you will be given your base school and your "option" school.......
I could be wrong about this, but I thought since they are changing so many elementary schools (and fewer middle schools) to year round that parents would have the option of applying to a traditional calendar school if their base was year round, and vice versa.
Regardless, it does make it difficult when you have kids on different calendars!
We've had year round schooling here in Indianapolis for awhile. My son attends school beginning in August, based on trimesters rather than semesters. I belive the schools in NC have different 'tracks' within a school so that all students arent there at the same time. Here, we just have all year round schools and the option to go to a traditional calendar school. I actually like the year round, more frequent breaks, less teacher burnout (I'm a parent of a kindergartener and a teacher myself) although it can be harsh a parents work schedule in arranging care for kids during the breaks. Most of the time though, the school will have camps or activities or direct you to sponsors who can still provide enrichment over breaks. I would check the wcpss.net site because there is a FAQ's on year round schooling in NC. If you dont see it, PM me and I will send it to you as an attachment.
We've had year round schooling here in Indianapolis for awhile. My son attends school beginning in August, based on trimesters rather than semesters. I belive the schools in NC have different 'tracks' within a school so that all students arent there at the same time. Here, we just have all year round schools and the option to go to a traditional calendar school. I actually like the year round, more frequent breaks, less teacher burnout (I'm a parent of a kindergartener and a teacher myself) although it can be harsh a parents work schedule in arranging care for kids during the breaks. Most of the time though, the school will have camps or activities or direct you to sponsors who can still provide enrichment over breaks. I would check the wcpss.net site because there is a FAQ's on year round schooling in NC. If you dont see it, PM me and I will send it to you as an attachment.
There are tons of track out camps and things to do while the kids are out...and I am sure there will be even more as more schools go year-around.
I didn't mean to hijack this thread, but thank you to all who helped explain how year round schools increase capacity. As a person who is not yet a parent I never understood how it worked, but now it is starting to make some sense. Sounds like there are pros and cons to both sides. Glad I don't have to worry about it for now!
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