Episode 9: Should School Be Year Round?

We start planning for summer the preceding November, when my girlfriends start emailing me about what my kids are going to do the following summer. Because the sign ups start in early December here and some of these camps are really popular and you have to sign up right away in order to get a spot for yourself. And that's just a crazy time of year already with Thanksgiving and the holidays and, and to be thinking on top of that about six plus months in the future, it's crazy. And also you're not exactly sure what your kid will be into or what you'll want your kid to do the following summer. So you're just making your best guess. And that just seems insanely early for me to be thinking ahead. One of the challenges of summer is that each week is different during the school year you can get into a rhythm, you know, you have a routine. But during the summer every week's different. And when you have a whole team helping take care of the kids, my mother in law take care of the kids, we usually have a babysitter for the summer who helps take care of the kids on the days when my husband and I both work. And so that means each week conveying to at least three people and including the kids, so five people, what that week's going to entail. So you know, every, every Sunday during the summer I have mild panic because I need to not only figure that information out for myself and print out maps of where the drop off site is on this complicated campus, but then I've got to convey that information to three other people. So it's challenging.

Hi, I'm Diane Tavner.

And I'm Michael Horne.

Welcome to class disrupted Michael this parents experience took me back granted, been a few years since I've had to coordinate summer care for my son but I remember how stressful it was. I mean I used to count down the weeks for summer to be over and so we could just get back to our regular routine again. I mean I am well aware that our family was super lucky. We have resources, we have flexibility to manage different camps and experiences and it was still so challenging in so many ways. And you know, I think then about how it was when I was growing up and my family didn't have any of what we have and, and so my sister and I spent most of our summers without supervision. You know, while my mom was working, you know, the best case scenario we were playing board games and outside and the worst was we were watching TV all day. And you know, I've wondered for a really long Time. What would it be like if we had a more balanced school year? And what if we didn't have to take a typical summer break at all?

I know, Diane. Summer break is so problematic on so many levels, logistics wise, for sure. I mean, right now. And I don't know if this is the modern age of parenting or if it's been this way for many, many years, but we literally have had spreadsheets upon spreadsheets trying to figure out how to make it all work the last couple summers, let alone the current moment. And. But it's also problematic, equity wise. And obviously the pandemic has now created huge new problems with summer. Most parents don't have camps, they don't have childcare, they don't have school for their kids. But many still have to work, definitely.

And Michael, one of the many things I've learned from you is that what I had always been taught in all of my education courses and graduate programs about the reason why we have summers off was actually inaccurate. And for years I believed this idea that summer break came about because we as a country were an agricultural country and we had an agrarian calendar. And basically the kids needed to be let off in order to bring in the heart, harvest and plant or whatever they were doing in the fields, you know, But. But it turns out that's actually not true. And I didn't learn this until very recently, and the real origin seems to be quite disturbing to me.

Yeah, I mean, first, it's a common myth, right? Most people, when you ask them why we have summer vacation, they think, oh, agrarian calendar, that's just the way it's been and it makes sense for farming. But when you step back from it, you realize you're certainly not alone in those misconceptions. I had them as well. But the reality is, at. Until the Civil War, kids actually went to school year round. And summer break actually came about from the rising middle and upper class in American society. Wealthy and affluent families, they. They basically wanted to beat the summer heat, so they just pulled their kids out of school and took off to the countryside or to the beach and cooler climate because school attendance wasn't mandatory at the time. And so then there were all these empty seats in the summer, and legislators and labor unions essentially pushed for a more regulated summer break. And now we just treat it as, this is, the school is done.

I mean, I always thought that there was this component of it that it's like what we're used to and we can't, you know, change. And I was really disappointed that we hadn't had the ability to kind of modernize our school calendar, given all the evidence, quite frankly, about how it would be best for kids. But this, this new lens kind of blows my mind. And you know, Michael, when. When you look at it this way, summer break came from inequity and class differences and now it perpetu those differences. And just in this moment in time, that feels really unacceptable to me, you know, because while some kids are going to enrichment activities all summer, even just simply having an adult there with them, watching over them like my son did, you know, other kids, like when I was a kid are not. And it's pretty appalling that we haven't been talking about this more.

I couldn't agree with you more. And I think that it's just that we're all just so used to it that we haven't thought about much about how it could be different. Right. So, I mean, we have entire industries have sprung up around summer vacation. We have camps, classes, resorts. You know, there's towns where I am in New England that basically only exist for the summertime because it's summertime only businesses that we have. And so there's this huge vested interest for many in keeping summer break just the way it is.

Yeah.

So that's the why of it and that's how we got here. But now that we're here, let's talk about if parents actually think it works. I mean, are we outliers here or is this something that might be done better? I think who we should turn to, Michael, is Mira Brown. She's the executive director of Prepared Parents, which is a nonprofit that supports parents in doing what we all want to do, which is to raise our kids to live happy and fulfilled lives. In Mira's work, she's in touch with parents all over the country and she's hearing about what works for them and what doesn't. And she's a parent herself of a two year old and a six year old. And I think we can both appreciate in this moment in time, like how challenging that is. And so, you know, I wanted to check in with Mira to see how she manages it herself. And then also, you know, both in the regular year and during this time of COVID but also, you know, what she's hearing from other parents. So let's check in with her.

I think there's like evening in January or sometime this winter that I think is so vivid in my mind and I think it would speak to so many parents experiences of summer. And so we were Sitting at the kitchen table. It was probably close to midnight. I mean, we were exhausted and we had spreadsheets in front of us. You would think we're doing like financial planning. In some ways we were. I mean, but like, no, we were literally carving out our summer week by week, trying to figure out. And this is pre Covid, right? So trying to figure out, when am I traveling, when is he traveling? You know, what camps are available, where should we send our kid, how much does it cost? I mean, we had a spreadsheet minute by minute, basically, like week by week of summer. And then in that you're also putting in, okay, when does this camp open its registration? And when does this, you know, or whatever it might, you know, it might be, and we were just like moving puzzle pieces around is essentially what you're trying to do to fill, to fill your summer. Not all camps are all day. So if you're a full time working parent and a camp ends at 12 or 1, it's not really that helpful. You just have to leave your job to go pick up your, you know, your kid and bring them home or whatever it might be, and then figure out how to cover an afternoon. So the wish camps are all day or after, have extra for pay, right after school programming. Ascent after school, meaning after camp programming. And then how do you stay within your budget? What's too far away? There's some great camps that are 45 minutes away. As a working parent, how do you drive 45 minutes to both directions to drop off one kid here, another kid here? I mean, and then if you have multiple kids, multiple kids, you're thinking about all of their individual needs. And so it was just, that night was so exhausting. And at the same time felt this crazy pressure as a parent because some friend, we were new to Austin and some friends had sent us their spreadsheets because every parent has the summer spreadsheet. So I've learned the last two summers. And again, it was all of these camps from, you know, sports, nature, robotics, coding for young kids. Not like heights with young kids. And I was looking, they had like literally slice and dice their kids time into all of these passions and interests and camps and things that they were what was going to be enrichment versus fun. I mean, it was like. And they were sending it to me to be nice. And I so appreciated it. And yet I felt so much anxiety because I thought about my son who had had an extremely tough school year, who doesn't do well with transitions and going from like camp to camp to camp to Camp, you know, like every week learning new expectations and new rul with a new group of like. And also commuting every. I was like, I can't. How am I going to do this? But then I felt this pressure. Well, am I leaving him behind? Which sounds so silly when you're thinking about summer, you're like thinking about literally eight weeks of the summer. But am I leaving my kid behind if I don't give him the Legos and the exploration and the robotics and the nature and this and that, and then this, that. That night is just such. And they're so much as a parent wrapped into. Because summer has essentially just become like this extension of this race you're on as a parent. You feel it all year round with what extracurricular your kids are in or, you know, what you're exposing them to, what experiences they have. And it's starting younger and younger and younger where parents are really stressed about how do I fill the time and how do I make sure that my kids are getting the best of the best if they can afford it? And if you can't, you're trying to fill eight weeks or whatever it might be of the time with how am I going to patchwork family members, friends to watch my kids and make sure they're safe because I still have to work.

I know you talk to parents all across the country who have really diverse circumstances and far fewer resources than we have. How do they experience summer, you know, and how do they. How do they think about it? How does it make them feel? What do they do?

It's really stressful. Again, I think summer is that stress of, oh, gosh, summer's coming. How do I fill that time? That's what I hear a lot of, how do I fill that time? How do I make it work? And I think at the same time, parents also, whether they experience it or not, like, there is a part of you as a parent, I've heard this a lot. I heard it a lot in the wintertime. I should say, pre Covid that you kind of want some carefree time for your kids. You want them to breathe a little, you know, have some fun, play, you know, be kids. And as parents, we're so funny sometimes, too. Like, you don't want them to be lazy and you don't, you know, and so you also are struggling between. When you. When you have even just a little bit of options, you know, you're struggling between those two things. And parents have come, and I think this is what's been so hard lately. With COVID right is parents have also become rely on the community pools and the recreational centers and the library and the places that kids can go to be safe. Right. During the day when parents are working, especially older kids especially, and sort of the city sponsored camps and things that are affordable. And when you don't have those options or you don't get into that option.

Right.

And that's really stressful, hard. But we have heard that summers are particularly hard, especially for those that don't have a lot of options because you do end up relying on either, you know, community events and, you know, and organizations and things like that, or family and friends who can pitch in and help and that, you know, and sometimes that's great and sometimes that doesn't feel very good either. Especially when you know that there are kids who are in the Lego and the coding and then it's like you're depriving your child somehow something you can't give your child, something that other parents are able to give their kid. And then are you leaving once again? Are you leaving them behind? Are you giving them something that they need to succeed? Are you? You know, and taking on that pressure for eight weeks out of the year also is really hard, you know, for parents. And so it's just, it's a time I think of. Of intensity for those who, you know, can't, who aren't able to sort of supplement via camps and such.

What you're describing reminds me of something my husband and I often talk about is, you know, we wake up in the morning and we think to ourselves, well, am I going to be a bad dad, spouse, employee, you know, friend? What am I going to be terrible at today because it's not possible to be good at everything that I'm supposed to be good at.

It's so true. And you know, something that's interesting that I hadn't thought about because I have little kids, parents who have older kids. In some ways this is a little bit more stressful too. We've heard from parents lately, actually that for middle and high school there just aren't as many options of like really quality good. And yet that's a time where that's really needed for kids especially, I mean, middle schoolers, right. And think about just how important that is for them to be engaged in places that they feel loved and secure and safe and all of that. And high schoolers. And so you would think it gets easier, I think, as kids get older. But what we've heard from parents is it gets harder and parents really worry about those summer months and they want to give them what they need during that time. And, oh, by the way, that's where the pressures of the, like, college resume somehow start also already, because during the school year, you know, another thing we've heard is that there isn't the time. You know, a lot of schools don't have cut back on art and all of these things that allow kids to have exploration of passions and interests and things like that. So when do you push that? A lot of parents push that to the summer. But if you don't get those opportunities, then again, am I leaving my kid, you know, behind?

Can you tell us a little bit about what you are doing with your family and your kids this summer?

Yeah. So this summer is obviously unique. We are. For the first part of the summer, we had our kids home and we had to figure out how to fill our time, quite frankly. And in some ways, it was great. It was a relief because there were no zooms. I didn't have to worry about fighting for my kid to get on, you know, to finish his classes or anything like that. We could just b. I didn't have the pressure of teacher, mom, employee, all of these things that I think we've all felt very, you know, critically over the last couple of months. And so it was great. And then now how do I fill the time? Because, right. Like, camps were so closed, daycares were closed. We didn't want to go to the playground, community pools, libraries, all of these things that you take advantage. And oh, by the way, it's Texas and it's 100 degrees outside. It's hot and it's humid, and the kids don't want to actually be outside. And so as much as you can, like, entice them with, like, the sprinkler. And then daycare and camp opened mid to end of June, and we had to make a really hard decision whether to send our kids to camp and daycare and sort of put them back. Right, put them back into camp and daycare. And it was really hard. And I thought about how intense the spring was and how stressful our house was and how much my son missed his friends and kids and just being with other kids age and honestly, work, like we need. My husband and I needed to work. So we sent our kids back into daycare and camp, and it was great for a couple weeks so far. And it was great. I mean, for Gabriel, I mean, honestly, he's a different. He's a different kid. Monday through Friday, he smiles again. He honestly hadn't really smiled like a real big smile since March. But then we had just recently two kids test positive in my son's daycare, and reality hit, you know, home, very close to home. And we're just making day by day decisions right now until school starts in mid August for us.

All right, Diane. So Mira has confirmed for me that I'm not the only parent that a long summer break really is not working for. But the other piece that's hugely important here is the students themselves. When we look at whether they're well served by summer break, the answer, from my perspective, is a resounding no. I mean, for a long time, educators have obviously been concerned about the quote, unquote, summer slide, the idea that kids lose their academic gains over the summer months. And yes, there's currently an active debate about, among researchers right now about whether that's actually the case or not. But what I think no one would disagree with is that students are certainly not learning that much of what gets tested on standardized tests. And so summer break certainly isn't helping in that respect. And I guess on top of that, given what, you know, we've talked about our skepticism around those standardized tests in many cases. The other part of this, though, is that many students from upper and middle income families, they're getting a ton of enrichment in the summer that lower income families just do not have access to. And this enrichment, I suppose it might not get measured directly, although I do imagine it shows up on reading tests, given they're actually really tests of background knowledge. But. But it's just an incredible additional level of inequity, Diane, that's built into the system that isn't measured or really understood deeply.

Yes, Michael, and it's inequity on reading and those types of tests, but it's so much more too. You know, one of the most dangerous summers for students is when they graduate from high school. Kids work incredibly hard to get into college, and then in the summer summer, there's a significant drop off from the kids who say they're gonna go to actually show up and enroll and attend in the fall. And the reality is so many kids from low income families become adults in that summer, and they get jobs, and then they're faced with having to move, leave their families, a gigantic college bill and, you know, all of these other challenges that they're facing, and so many choose not to go, which, you know, makes sense from a personal perspective, but is just another version of that summer slide. And that loss, you know, on the flip side, listening to Mira and so many other parents like her, they're just doing what's natural. They're putting all of their time, energy and resources into trying to use summer as the very best opportunity they can for their kids. And you know, this is what every parent wants and does for their child. But there's no way around the reality that the people who have more money, more time, more connections, their kids get more opportunities. And so, you know, we can talk about this from a super negative perspective and a really this is harmful for kids perspective. But the reality is this is just one more opportunity. It's a giant opportunity gap, and it's an opportunity where we can actually do something about it. And as we always say, we're all about the hope here, Michael. So I just want to, before we get too down on this, like, suggest that there might be some hope.

Well, I think, and it's an important point, right, because I think we're not trying to take away those opportunities from those families and students that have it. I don't blame them at all. And I think it's really important that they do what's best. But we can also create a lot more opportunities I think you're pointing to, for those who otherwise would be left behind. And so, so, you know, the question is how to shape that and the challenge I think that we face. And so I'm going to step away from the hope for a moment, but we'll get back there. Is that given these problems, we at the same time can't deny that the idea of a more balanced school year, it does bring a lot of opposition. And I think partly that's because people have a romanticized notion of summer break. I mean, you know, think of obviously all the pop songs devoted to summer. But, you know, I'll also be the first one to confess, like, I have really strong nostalgia around my summers working, playing tennis, all the things that I did, and school that's more year round. It just feels like such a big change. Like even just to say it, right? Forget about the actual logistics, just saying it sounds like such a big change, such that I can. I can completely get why people would see this as a loss. But here's your point that you started to drive to. And I totally agree that there's actually so many gains possible too, if we can flip our perspective, right?

And this is where I start to. The designer in me starts to get really excited because, like, to clarify, a more balanced school year would not mean no time off in the summer or no time off.

So I can still get my vacation.

Yes. And in fact, I would argue in a better way. You know, there are school districts around the country right now, and for many years there are school districts in Charleston and West Virginia, you know, Michigan, who are already doing a version of this. And, you know, what it looks like is generally, you know, or one way it can look is like 4/4 of 9 weeks or so with 3 or 4 weeks of time off in between. You know, let's just pause there for a moment. Like, how great is that? Maybe you're able to do stuff when the whole planet isn't trying to do stuff at the same time, you know, and if I put my teacher hat on, I see a ton of benefits to this schedule. One of the key features of a teacher's life is how exhausted they are at the end of every school year. And we kind of joke, but you literally need the entire summer just to recover. And with a more balanced school year, it doesn't have to be that way. You run hard for a period of time and then you take this, this break, you reflect, you are able to sort of rejuvenate and be able to come back. And, you know, the, the pace is more reasonable and it's just a. Such a logical way to think about doing things.

So that sounds pretty nice, Diane. But the more balanced school year also has some other benefits too, I think, because, you know, we've been talking obviously about the need for personalization in pretty much every episode we've done in this podcast, and I think it helps to look at it like this. I mean, Imag imagines that schools are essentially community centers where kids, of course, they're focusing on academics using a mastery based system, but they're also given the space, time, and opportunity to pursue other things that they're interested in, and that there's a range of supports around them, depending on their needs from a family and child perspective. And you can imagine a kid who's mastering his or her work and then wants to take the time to explore filmmaking, right? And he has the flexibility now to do this in that space. Or perhaps he needs some supports that aren't readily available in his home life, and the school can provide that. And I always remember, I hearken back to my middle brother, I remember him distinctly telling my youngest brother that summer is where you really get to invest in yourself and develop something you're passionate about. And the more I reflect on that comment, Diane, I just say, why doesn't that happen in school itself? I mean, it's crazy that we don't do that. And under this kind of a model, it could. Right. And the children who need more time on the academics, and they, of course, would have the time and space to do that, but essentially you'd be creating a much more flexible system that is much more available with much more opportunity for all students.

Michael, as you know, at Summit, we actually do something like this. You know, we have not yet figured out how to do this throughout the summer, but during the school year, we basically have a blueprint for how this works. And, you know, our students engage in expeditionary learning, and they do two weeks at a time, they do it four weeks during the school year, and then they're on sort of their academic work for about a six week period in between, and they go back and forth. And it serves very much the similar purpose that we're talking about. It is one of the major attractions for students, for their families, for teachers, for everyone who works in our schools. And so I just. I have such a clear vision of how this can be such a powerful model for. For schooling.

I totally agree. And one of the things that's always struck me about it is, you know, one of the things that could get lost without summer is those opportunities to have sustained work experiences. Your model allows you to do that. And as you know, like I talk about it all over the country, because I love that you all do this. And I. I mean, I look back at my own experience right now, and I would say I'd honestly take the video production and screenwriting or botany expeditions that you offer if I could today, right now. And it just seems like that type of a structure that you've built is really well suited to help us meet the challenge we face now with the pandemic. If we want to be spreading out the number of children in a certain building at a certain time, for example, it's only logical to expand the time that you have to make that work. And. And I think that a lot of schools would be looking to a similar model as they plan for next year. On top of which, it would also give schools a lot of opportunities to start using these next couple months as a way to prototype different approaches to learning as they prepare for the fall.

It's so true. Michael. I can't say that as a leader of schools, pandemic planning is easy. This may be one of the hardest things that I've ever done, but it absolutely helps to have more time and flexibility to work with. And, you know, there are a couple of things at play here. There's the heat of this moment with the pandemic and what's the right way to approach the school calendar, given the crisis? And there's the long term, where, as we've said again and again, a long summer break just keeps us stuck in an inequitable system. And the answer to one might just be the answer to both of them, right?

I think that's right. I mean, we have to address that equity piece, not just as it pertains to summer vacation, but, Diane, to all the things that we've taken so much for granted in education that really do not serve everyone. And we can build a better system that serves everyone better, not with a compliance mentality or something like that, but that creates opportunities for all children to learn. And when we do that, the alternatives that we've been advocating for in this podcast make all the more sense. And so I'm excited to dig into that more next week on our final episode of Class Disrupted. Thanks for joining us. Thanks for listening. And thanks to our awesome crew making this all work, Jenna Free, our writer Steve Chigaris, our producer and Nathan James helping us with publicity and graphics. We'll see you next time on Class Disrupted.