White Water University(IA)

Personally, I think all schools should be year round, but that is speaking from an educational standpoint.

Well as a teacher, I'm glad you are not in charge or make the decisions regarding DESE and (US)DOE guidelines.

I grew up in NJ but have a lot of family in Iowa. Trying to attend family functions was always challenging because I wouldn't get out of school until the end of June while the Iowa folks had finished a month before.

End of summer was the same deal. I never went to school before labor day but my Iowan counterparts would go back sometime in August.

I've always heard that the big reason most Iowa schools haven't gone year-round is that they would all have to be upgraded with air conditioning for those HOT Iowa summers. As is, many buildings do not have AC and dismiss class early whenever it gets too hot.

^That and the fact that there are a lot of farm families still out there that depend on their children to help them with the crops. YRS would not work in Iowa or MOST Great Plains states.

The biggest complaint I have about YRS is that it is not cost effective and honestly there is little proof that YRS is more effective than the traditional set-up.

Anyway, back to WWU - I say AL buys the slides and moves them up to the park for a NEW waterpark. ;)

I have never heard the "farm families" reason before, but it is a great point.
Your water park plan sounds good to me. A water park could be a great source of funds for Adventureland.

Farm families is the whole reason school was not year round in the first place.

But, unfortunately, the "farm family" is a rapidly shrinking demographic. More and more family farms are become corporately run agribusinesses that depend less on the family structure.

So I wonder how much of the midwestern school schedules are based on current need vs tradition.

The data for year-round schooling is all over the map, and in my opinion, most of the studies are poorly designed. Almost every study out there concludes that we need more controlled studies with accurate data, yet this argument has been going on for at least 2 decades now...? We use it (year round) in Las Vegas at some of the elementary schools, and it is my understanding that there has been no change in test score data.

Of course, the administration changes the tool (test) every 3-5 years so as to make sure there are no reasonable comparisons to be made. Sometimes methinks that they really do not want accurate data. Hmmm?

Anyhow...year-round schooling is a hot charged political debate with many competing interests. I've found that those teachers/adminstrators that enjoy the perk of summers off tend to preach against year-round schooling (put me in this camp) while those teachers/administrators that enjoy the added pay that comes with increased contract hours will preach the mulitple benifits... It really has nothing to do with students and performance...it is all about unions/time off/ pay/etc...

P.S. I just think the tradition of summer vacation is good for the kids...but what do I know?

*** Edited 11/30/2005 3:41:47 PM UTC by Jeffrey R Smith***

I think that learning in an unstructured environment can every bit as valuable as formal classroom instruction--provided that "unstructured time" is more productive then hanging around the mall! But thanks to the way we've built modern society, where are kids supposed to go besides the mall (and even that they are dependent on somebody to drive them).

Now, many of them get Six Flags season passes. ;) *** Edited 11/30/2005 7:02:54 PM UTC by Acoustic Viscosity***

But the most important thing with year round school is...

Who is going to stand on the platform and say "We hope you enjoyed your ride on <insert ride name here> and enjoy the rest of your day at <insert park name here>?"

We'd be down to weekend only parks. If we want kids to learn more, let them go 8 hours a day-- from the Wednesday after Labor Day to the Thursday before Memorial Day. Rest of the summer it's behind the Dippin' Dots cart and the Whack-a-Mole stand. :)

Most summer activities are available to kids today...Little League/soccer/swimming pool/etc! But it is up to parents to get kids to/from these activities and to take an active interest (ie stay/watch/participate). Anyhow, there are a lot more activities than just the mall avaiable if you look.

P.S. My son is not even 2 yet and his mother and I have him in little kickers (soccer) and will soon start gymnastics...so on and so forth! There is more than enough healthy activities available with just minimal parental effort!

I guess I'm old fashioned in thinking that some fun time in the summer is part of being a kid. I certainly do not promote mall/Six Flags baby sitting as the alternative to old fashioned parenting. By this, I mean that it falls on the parents to insure that their children are involved in healthy activities and to not accept a summer of Playstation and fistfighting at Magic Mountain...!

I could go on a soapbox about misplaced values we seem to have developed as a society, but...I'll just stand by my assertion that summer vacations can/should be a fun time for children...there is no reason this should not be the case. If you are too busy to raise your kids without the school system taking over baby sitting duties, well then I dare say...don't have children... :-)

my point was similar to that. "Productive" doesn't have to mean organized activity, but free time to wander and explore, build forts, go bike riding, etc.

But that's harder to do for some kids because they don't have a lot of places to go. I lived next to an abandoned golf course when I was growing up. but now there's houses built there. I don't know what kids in the neighborhood do now. All they have are backyards which aren't far enough from the prying eyes of parents and the schoolyard which most parents won't let their kids go to because it requires walking on 50 feet of road that doesn't have a sidewalk (wtf?).

I grew up in Pleasant Hill until 8th grade, I know what you mean. Wander/explore, forts, bikes etc were usual activites for us kids. Been back often and have seen development remove things that hinder it but luckily places do still exist though they might have to bike a little more if their houses aren't in the right places though. The highway took away my favorite spot :/

I see where you guys are coming from...sort of sad to hear. They did the same thing to the creek (crick) I played in as a child. Removed all the trees and built some homes...