Susandoodles

The frigid, snowy, icy start of 2024 is causing havoc with the Missouri schools.  In three weeks and heading into a fourth, schools have not been in session with any consistency.

And what is happening?

Student growth is plateaued at best.  At the worst, student growth is sliding downhill just like the cars and trucks are with the ice on the roads.

As the Missouri legislature returned to work this month, one of the identified topics for discussion was the 4-day student week.  Now add to that the large number of snow days.  The school calendar is shrinking.  

And what is happening?

Student growth is frozen.

Having a masters in curriculum and instruction, having worked in public, private and alternative education; and now, watching my daughter’s current teaching experience and my grandchildren’s learning experience, I am alarmed.  

The drain to the student education must be stopped.

The first step is to review the school calendar.  Currently the standard is to have students attend school for nine months with various vacation breaks built into the calendar.  

Then there is the three-month break for summer.  But is that a real summer break because schools now offer summer school for at least one month of those summer months?

This traditional school calendar was designed to meet the needs of the agrarian culture when all family members were needed to work during the growing and harvesting season. 

The family farm has virtually disappeared, beginning in the 1970’s.  Yet the school calendar has not changed with the culture’s change.  The rural areas are filled with corporate farms and the farm family structure has changed.  

Agriculture as an industry has undergone many transformations, but the school calendar remains trapped by the mid-20^thcentury design.

And what needs to happen?

The school calendar needs restructuring to meet the educational needs of students and our society.  As a country committed to free education for each generation, we must consider that the priority—not only for the youth, but for the future of today’s global community.

Right now, Missouri legislators and the state’s Board of Education needs to make the decision that education is a year-round necessity.  

A year-round calendar can be developed with nine weeks of classes, followed by a break.  This creates five terms a year with varied breaks that allow more flexibility for families.  Just imagine:  9 weeks in class, 2-3 weeks off.  Five terms rather than four.  More time to learn.  More structure.  More consistency.

And what is happening now?

Nothing.  Make student growth a priority.  Go back to 5-day school weeks and create a year-round school calendar.  Let’s save the education of future generations.

Side note:  This is one educational argument and there are more.  Solid learning is built on repetition and consistency.  It cannot grow if there is a disruption in the process.  Ever since the pandemic, the educational process has been interrupted and sadly the toll is becoming evident by declines in the classroom.  Creating a solid, consistent calendar is one step in the right direction.