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I have a few years to get this concept with my 2 year old,but I grew up with teachers as parents so I am lost. I know that it is on 9 weeks off 3, and there are track-out camps, but what I don't get is:
1) do the schools provide programs for the off days for free?
2) do you have to pay for the off time program? (obviously 1 & 2 are almost the same question)
3) how is this beneficial?
I am looking North Durham and we were given 2 school options : easley and eno valley which apparently are trad. & year round options- one for each.
I am VERY new to this so go easy on me. I did a keyword search but couldn't get specifics.
I have a few years to get this concept with my 2 year old,but I grew up with teachers as parents so I am lost. I know that it is on 9 weeks off 3, and there are track-out camps, but what I don't get is:
3) how is this beneficial?
It is (allegedly) beneficial to students by shortening the gaps between learning periods. Instead of having 3 months off during the summer within which to forget half of what they learn, their breaks are shortened to a few weeks, so they forget less and there is less "start up" time to get going again.
Some families also view it as a benefit that they get to do family vacations during non-peak times of the year, so destinations are less crowded and rates may be lower.
It is beneficial to schools because it increases the school's student capacity by 25%, by using the school facility year-round instead of just 9 months of the year.
1. Absolutely not! Schools of course never provide free programs for any day off--summer, winter break, traditional calendar, year-round, etc. That would be entirely unaffordable for them.
2. Yes. There are lots of programs in the area catering to the year-round student but of course you'd pay for these "camps" just as you'd pay for any summer camp.
3. This allows the schools to get more students in each grade without increasing class size as much as they'd have to otherwise. It's not put in place to be beneficial to parents (although some do like it). It's put in place b/c of overcrowding in certain areas. Hence the reason it is only the areas which are growing very quickly/are overcrowded (Wake County for example), and not the more stable areas which have a stable student population (Chapel Hill for example).
Track out programs are not free (and not offered in schools as far as I know, but maybe ther eare some that I don't know about). They're just like summer camps, only during the school year. You pay for them during the off days just like parents who pay for child care over the summer.
At any given time there are only 3 out of 4 "tracks" in the school. The other track is "tracked out". You'll see on July 7th tracks 1,2 and 3 start but track 4 is white therefore "tracked out" not starting school until July 27th when track 3 "tracks out". My younger child is in a WCPS pre-k and is on track 4. It is nice to have shorter breaks throughout the year IMO than to have one big on in the summer.
are they (the track-out camps)reasonable? It's hard to imagine expecting evryone to do this...but I guess I'll just go for a traditional school.
It's the exact same thing as working parents paying for childcare all summer, the break is just divided up differently. But if you have a choice in the matter, I would just pick whatever you think will work best for your family!
What would you do for your child during the summer? Would you have to pay for care? If so, then I actually see year-round track-out camps as preferable - you spread the expense out over the year, instead of all at once. Either way, it's about 12 weeks of care/camp.
Now, if you would rely on a high school or college student, or traditional-calendar teacher to care for your children during the summer, year-round can mean a greater expense, as those types are not available during non-summer breaks.
I personally love year-round, but after a year of really experiencing it, do see some of the drawbacks that I didn't think of beforehand. Most of the are related to the multi-track system in Wake County, though, and the challenges of having relationships with people on different tracks - the single-track year-round schools (where all students/teachers have the same schedule) sound like a dream to me, and I think that's what Durham has.
Definitely look on the sites of the schools to get the nuts & bolts of teh schedule. Here is my experience of year round in Wake:
If your child is behind, in wcpss the school may provide a week of intensive tutoring during any given track out period. We did ntoget that service but I know many families that do. It will have an innocuous name - at my kids' school it is "Panther Academy"
The drawbacks for us with year round are
1. We have a kid in high school, which is traditional calendar- it is hard to have to still wake up early for one but not the others!
2. After school extra curricular activities run on traditional calendar so you do not really get a full "vacation" from your normal school year schedule, and school based extras usually run on the track 4 schedule. That is fine if you are track 4. Needless to say we are nto track 4! For instance, for my son to participate in choir, I had to bring him to school 2x a week during track out, and the concert was during track out.
3. After 3 years my family back north still does not Get It that the kids are not off all summer but are off a month at Christmas!
Now for the good stuff:
1. Academically the kids do not lose ground over a long break
2. We are track 1- I love that they are off in September (it is beautful here then!) and we can go to the beach and other places at "non-crowded" times.
3. Not as many 3 day weekends ... the learning is more cocentrated. And just when you are about to "lose it" & need a break from homework & all, you get a very restful break.
are they (the track-out camps)reasonable? It's hard to imagine expecting evryone to do this...but I guess I'll just go for a traditional school.
What do you do with your children during the summer and holiday breaks? The school doesn't provide child care at those times, why would you expect them to do it for year-around?
You can find track out camps in many price ranges.
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