Schools Children Summer Year Offer Year Round Early Late

Normally, American schools are "in session" (holding classes) from September to June. Children have the summers "off" (not needing to go to class; on vacation). In the past, this was because children needed to work on their family's farm. Over time, having a long summer vacation became an "expectation" (something that people think should happen and assume will happen).

Sometimes, however, schools choose to have an "extended" (longer than normal) school year. This might happen because there were too many "snow days" (days when a school is closed because there is too much snow on the ground for children and teachers to go to school safely) and the children need to "make up for them" (recover those days) in the summer. Other schools have an extended school year because they don't think the "typical" (normal) 180-day school year provides enough education. In these schools, the summer break might last only one or two months.

Some schools offer "year-round" (all year) education. Year-round schools are not very common in the United States, but they do offer several "advantages" (benefits). Some people believe that children forget too much of what they have learned during a long three-month summer vacation. Year-round schools, which have shorter vacations, are able to teach more because they don't have to re-teach things that are normally forgotten each summer at schools following a traditional calendar. Year-round schools also offer advantages for the parents, who have to work all year round and have difficulty finding "childcare" (someone to take care of their children) during a three-month summer "break" (vacation).