Saturday, July 07, 2007

Support School Calendar Choice

Well, I’m here to provide the “Support Traditional” side to the entire Year-Round conversion situation.  Before I go any further, I’d like to clarify that while I support the traditional school calendar for my family,  I am certainly not anti-Year Round.  I just feel that the school calendar should be a FAMILY choice.  I wouldn’t tell someone which calendar is best for their family, and I don’t think someone should be able to tell me which calendar is best for mine either.

I’m a parent of 4 children in the Wake County school system.  We chose our current house due to it’s proximity to a 3 school “campus”.  The Elementary School, Middle School, and High School are all physically connected, and we walk to and from school on a very regular basis.
My main concern with the year-round conversion is that by converting our Elementary School to a year-round calendar while leaving the Middle School and High School on a traditional calendar, my family will be split.  (I’ll have 2 at the elementary school this year and 2 at the middle school)  We are a very close family and enjoy doing things together AS A FAMILY—-this includes “big things” (such as vacations) and just as importantly it includes the little “everyday activities”.  I feel fortunate that I can stay home with my children, and we stay very busy doing things together.  We enjoy the long summer, and stay so active that my kids don’t experience “summer boredom” that I hear about.
Just for a little background information, when our elementary school was initially on the conversion list, many of us didn’t take it seriously because of our unique 3 school campus setup.  Our Middle School was on the initial conversion list and then taken off, so we just assumed that the Elementary School would never be forced to convert. 
A small group of a few concerned and committed parents grew into a huge group of concerned and committed parents who set out to show the School Board that we did not NEED to convert to a year-round calendar to handle the growth in our area, and we also did all we could to prove that we did not WANT it.  To see 450+ people at a PTA meeting raising their hands in opposition of the conversion was a pretty AWESOME sight.  But in the end, because there was no Plan B, the conversion is going through.
I was not involved in the Wake Cares lawsuit, although I have a great deal of respect for those in the Wake Cares organization.  Like me, they felt that their suggestions, solutions and options had fallen on deaf ears.  They felt compelled to fight the conversions for all of Wake County’s families, which I greatly appreciate.  Unlike me, they were willing to take the next step—-I was not willing to subject my family to the ridicule that they have unfairly received as a result of their efforts.  As we all know, Wake Cares was successful in the courtroom, but the conversions are still being forced on the 22 schools.
I feel that the school calendar should be a CHOICE.  I am certainly not afraid of change.  I actually think that change can be a good thing when it’s something you have chosen to do.  Making the actual change from traditional to year-round is not threatening in the least.  I have moved 13 times in my life, and change does not bother me at all.  I just do not like being forced to have my children on different school schedules, ESPECIALLY when I know that the conversion of our school did not have to happen.  It will be interesting to see actual enrollment numbers once school gets started.
A few of the different arguments FOR the conversions came to mind as I left our “Meet the Teacher” day on Thursday.  Those who were pushing so hard for the conversions mentioned that they “don’t want their children eating lunch as late as 1:30 in the afternoon”.  Another argument was that “children should have class inside the building and should not be forced to have class in modular and mobile units”.  WELL, my daughter will be eating lunch at 1:40 PM AND my son will have class in a modular—-and this is WITH THE CONVERSION.  These things did not bother me before, and they still aren’t an issue.  However, these 2 arguments were used as being “unacceptable” and supposedly the year-round conversions would solve those problems.  Obviously, this is not the case at our school—I’m curious to hear about the other 21 schools forced to convert this year..
If you dig enough into the research, you can find LOTS of studies that “prove” a traditional calendar education is superior to year-round.  BUT, you can find just as many studies that “prove” a year-round education is superior to traditional.  Honestly, it all depends on what you are trying to “prove”.  In my opinion, it comes down to what is best for YOUR family, and only YOU can make that decision. 
We’re moving forward, and for the sake of my kids I have to be positive about the year-round schedule.  Regardless of whether I think it’s good/bad or right/wrong, in 2 days I’ll have 2 children in school and 2 still on summer vacation.  I’m not thrilled about it, but I choose to remain cautiously optimistic for my children.
ANY THOUGHTS???
(I’m sorry for the long post.  I’ll do my best to keep future posts much shorter.)