The Taunton school system will not have February vacation under a new calendar the School Committee adopted Wednesday night for the 2013-14 academic year.
“In the past four years, we’ve had two years with six snow days,” Superintendent Julie Hackett told the Taunton Gazette. “Each year we’re getting closer and closer to July.
It seems to me the larger question is, shouldn’t the number of schools days per year and/or the number of hours per day, be expanded? We’re competing with the rest of the world, where more learning hours are prevalent.
No, Newton should not eliminate February vacation, and we should not have kids spending longer days or more days in school. Kids need different types of learning experiences.
This is the rare time when I completely agree with Mike. Kids today are being asked to spend developmentally inappropriate amounts of time on school and homework, especially in the early years, and not allowed enough time to play and be kids. This was one of the myriad reasons we ended up homeschooling mid-way through elementary school.
The scapegoat of some is the length of the school day and year. More time is better. They pay no attention to what can be done within the time assigned to a school year. They want to get rid of summer vacation and, now, winter vacation.
February, April and Summer Vacations are something that create experiences and memories for families that are invaluable. If you think the Chinese and Indian education system is ideal then send your child there. It’s ruthless. It’s not a childhood. Let children be children and America can still compete with the rest of the world. Just concentrate on what we do in between the lines that we currently play.
@Kim. Amen
Strictly from a financial perspective, I presume that keeping schools open — and heated– for one extra week in February would be more expensive than canceling April vacation.
Not advocating for either, just saying.
@Greg, if you read the article the superintendent in Taunton surveyed the community about their preferences and the decision was based on that data.
Taunton is not extending its school year or school day, but rearranging the schedule to better handle snow days. I was surprised to see that the state prohibits extending the school year into July. And in Taunton their teacher contract prohibits them from starting school before August 29. Putting four days back into the schedule has helped them resolve these difficulties.
Yes we should get rid of February break. They just finish with December break and then it’s another break, and then a mere 2 months later it’s another one. Kids do not need all these vacations. Most families I know cannot afford to be jetting off every couple months, and many jobs don’t provide that much time off anyway. It is yet one more way our school schedule is a burden on working families.
Adding days back in February or April ensures that they are real learning days. Days at the beginning or end of the school year tend to not be very productive.
Massachusetts Student Learning Time Regulations establish the minimum number of days and structured learning time which the City of Newton must provide to our children. Newton satisfies but never exceeds those minimum standards required by the state.
In the mid-90’s or so, Newton proposed a calendar that eliminated Feb. vacation but dropped the proposal was dropped when a significant number of parents and HS students protested that the change would interfere with several scheduled activities. As I recall, parents and students expressed concern that the calendar change would affect athletic and extra-curricular activities. I had, nor have, a horse in this race – tell me when to show up and I’m there – but it’s probably best to realize that this issue may be a more contentious discussion than it first appears.
Well, that was a mess. The first “dropped” should have been dropped.
Lisap, would you be privy to if there are school districts in Massachusetts that do exceed the minimum number of days and structured learning time as established by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts?
@Joshua Norman, No, I am not privy to that information and have never sought it from the Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education. If that information is available I believe the DESE would have it. If you’re interested in tracking it down this link should help get you started: http://www.doe.mass.edu/news/news.aspx?id=6682
The DESE does conduct periodic reviews of public school districts and I will post the link where you can see Newton’s 2007 review. They do specifically examine whether the district is meeting the minimums for structured learning time, and in 2007 Newton’s Springboard program missed the mark rather significantly as it only provided 765 hours of structured learning time. Newton North just missed the 990 required hours, and the DESE found that the structure of the K programs resulted in some students receiving less instructional time than their classmates. In addition, Newton’s practice of dismissing seniors 12 days before the end of the year did not pass DESE review.
http://www.doe.mass.edu/pqa/review/cpr/reports/#N
The state standards are really irrelevant, until the point where they impact funding. 10 more hours of “structured learning” doesn’t mean anything in the context of a school year. It’s the quality, not quantity that holds value. This is why I’ve argued for years that the state has done nothing but dumb-down the quality of education in Newton’s public schools. They set minimum standards that are easily met, which become THE standard of measuring education. Newton schools will never be great again, until we take back local control of our school system. I know that’s not a popular opinion, but it is my opinion.