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Summer, a time when students can let back, hang out with friends and work and focus on sports. Summer, also a time when education is neglected and content from the previous school year is often forgotten. While a three-month school-free period gives students a chance to relax and release classroom-related stress, it is excessive and hinders the importance of retaining knowledge. A restructured school year, a shortened summer break, would benefit students and continuous learning.
It is inevitable that over a prolonged break, academic skill and achievement will decline. This questions the purpose of the curriculum if much of it will be erased from one’s brain after they no longer require it for tests and grades. Teachers often spend the final weeks of the school year preparing students for their succeeding class, commonly math classes. Well, the following year, teachers again for the first few weeks of the school year spend time reviewing material from the previous year, meaning in both classes, time is spent and wasted due to summer forgetfulness. School years with a small summer break would have a smooth transition into the next year. This would mean less preparation time for teachers, and they could teach the content fresh.
While I am in support of year-round education, that does not come without conditions, and I do not support adding additional days to the school year. The easy, and more likely solution would be condensing summer break into approximately a month and redistributing those remaining vacation days to inside of the school year, which is a viable option. The structure that I would most support would be four-day school weeks with three-day weekends. This practice has been implemented in schools internationally and in the United States, and I believe it would lead to less academic burnout and a stabilized school environment.
