Year-round school does not mean students go to school every day of the year. There are a few ways that students can keep learning over the summer while still enjoying a summer break.
The first is for school districts to change their school calendars to follow a year-round schooling schedule. Currently, just 4% of school districts in the United States follow a year-round school schedule, which typically includes four nine-week marking periods with three-week breaks between marking periods and a five-week break in the summer.
The other way for students to attend year-round school is to enroll in a summer school program. Where schools with a year-round school calendar offer continuous learning as part of their core curriculum, summer school programs are focused on specific subjects or courses taken over the summer. Summer school courses are just like regular school courses but condensed into a shorter timeframe – typically a six-week semester instead of an 18-week semester.
It’s easy to confuse year-round school, summer school programs, and dual enrollment programs. Year-round school and summer school extend learning into what is traditionally considered summer vacation. Dual enrollment is where a high school student is enrolled in both high school and college classes at the same time, including during summer breaks.