Send this page to a friend -- Email the Editor

BY Caroline Kornegay

Year-round schools are a source of wonder for some parents, trepidation for others and curiosity for many.

Parents involved in the program often praise it, but many families are unfamiliar with the schedule. Some students donít like the idea of giving up a three-month summer vacation.

Under the year-round schedule, students are in school for four nine-week periods with three-week ìintersessionsî in between.

ìIt creates a wonderful balance between the hectic schedule of learning and quality family time,î says Dana Costanza, who is a Southern Pines Primary parent.

About 575 students are enrolled in the year-round program at Southern Pines Primary and Southern Pines Elementary Schools and Academy Heights Elementary School.

The principals encourage parents to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of both schedules as they relate to the childís learning style and the familyís schedule. The principals say the year-round schedule might not be for everyone.

Janice Mann, principal of Academy Heights Elementary, suggested during the 1996-1997 school year the idea of a year-round school schedule in Moore County. Academy Heights is the only school in the county that operates entirely on a year-round schedule.

Nine years ago, the timing was right, Mann says, because the county was building three new middle schools ó Southern, West Pine and New Century. She knew some reconfiguration of grading patterns would be necessary.

ìI began to research programs, and the year-round schedule was very popular at the time with several in operation in Wake County,î she says.

To get a firsthand look at how a year-round school operates, Mann, a teacher and a parent visited schools in Wake County. She also solicited the assistance of Principal Hank Richardson from Hoke County, where all schools were, at that time, on a year-round schedule.

ìI asked Hank and one of his teachers to take part in an open forum here for parents to ask questions, and we had over 500 people in attendance,î Mann says.

Academy Heights, located in Taylortown, was called Pinehurst Elementary at that time. The name was changed to Academy Heights Elementary School, and the school opened its doors to 300 students in grades K-5 at the beginning of the 1997-1998 school year.

According to Mann, the experiment was a success from the very beginning.

ìWe saw positives in so many areas, and it proved to be very popular with both students and teachers,î she says.

More teachers requested positions at the new school than Mann had available.

Dual-Track Program

At the same time Academy Heights was about to open, Southern Pines Elementary Principal Burgin Beale says some parents began talking about giving other schools the option of offering year-round programs.

The school system held its first open forum to determine if there was enough interest to offer year-round programs in other parts of the county in 1998-1999. The results showed that the parents in the Southern Pines area seemed to have the greatest interest.

A dual-track program was created at Southern Pines Elementary.

This year, Southern Pines Elementary has two year-round classes in grades 3 through 5 and one class in grade 6.

ìParents also asked that we include the sixth grade, and, in 2002-2003, we had enough students to offer a combination fourth- and fifth-grade class and one sixth-grade class,î Beale says. ìWe already have enough students signed up to have two sixth-grade classes next year and have some students who have shown an interest in a seventh-grade class. With sufficient interest, we could offer a seventh-grade class next year, as well.î

Beale says there were some concerns expressed in the beginning about the year-round program becoming a ìseparate schoolî and whether appropriate racial and academic diversity would be present.

ìThat has not proven to be a concern,î he says. ìWe function as one school ó the same bell schedule, the same curriculum offerings, and all students have the same opportunities. Also, we are pleased to see that our minority participation has increased each year.î

Gives Parents a Choice

Southern Pines Primary Principal Mary Scott Harrison also says she has been pleased with the year-round schedule.

ìAfter the year-round program was started at Southern Pines Elementary, it just made sense that we should offer it at our school,î she says. ìWe talked with our Advisory Council, our PTA and the districtís Leadership Team about the idea. We decided to offer parents a choice of the year-round program or the traditional program beginning with the 2002-2003 school year.î

Harrison says the response was very positive with three kindergarten classes, two first-grade classes and one second-grade class in the year-round program that first year.

This year, the school has two kindergarten classes, three first-grade classes and two second-grade classes. Not all of the students are from the Southern Pines area.

ìAbout 30 percent of the students in our year-round program are from outside the Southern Pines attendance area,î Harrison says. ìWe have students attending from Aberdeen, Pinehurst, Whispering Pines, Vass, Carthage, West End and more.î

The school system has an open enrollment policy that allows parents to apply for their child to attend any other school in the county as long as space is available and they provide transportation.

But Academy Heights cannot accept students from outside the Pinehurst attendance area because of limited space.

Southern Pines Primary and Southern Pines Elementary still accept students who live outside the Southern Pines attendance area.

All three principals agree that the main purpose of the year-round program is for parents to have a choice.

ìIt suits some familiesí schedules better and is better suited to the way some students learn,î Beale says.

ìThere are those who prefer the year-round schedule, but there are also those who prefer the traditional schedule,î Harrison says. ìThe whole purpose is to give parents a choice.î

Superintendent Susan Purser says she doesnít rule out the possibility that a year-round program could be offered at other schools in the future.

ìIt has definitely been a success at Academy Heights,î Mann says. ìIt works, and itís still popular. It gives parents an alternative to the traditional schedule, and itís great that they have a choice.î

Many See Benefits

Teachers who work in the program also say they enjoy the year-round schedule and see many benefits to it.

ìItís wonderful for students and teachers,î says Valerie Costello, fourth-grade teacher at Southern Pines Elementary School. ìI like the continuity of the learning process. Very little review is necessary when students return after only a three-week break.î

Krissy Yoder, a fourth-grade teacher at Southern Pines Elementary, says she was pleasantly surprised, when her first class of year-round students returned to school in July.

ìThe students were excited to be back, and we moved right into fourth-grade work,î she says. ìThere was very little review that was needed.î

Shelia Marion, a kindergarten teacher at Southern Pines Primary, taught in the traditional schedule for 24 years but says she prefers the year-round schedule, which she has taught for the past three years.

ìEach nine weeks provides a convenient block of time in which to teach,î she says. ìYou know what you have to do, and you get the work done. Of course, overall, itís the same amount of time as the traditional schedule, but teachers, students and parents really enjoy having the three-week breaks in between.î

Wendy McCravenís child is a fourth-grader at Academy Heights who has been in the year-round program since kindergarten.

ìThe nine-week blocks of time are more suitable for my daughter,î she says. ìShe has goals that she sets for herself, and they are much more attainable in a nine-week period. Itís a block of time that has a foreseeable end, and sheís never bored on this schedule.

ìI also have a son in middle school who was in the year-round program from the second through the fifth grade, and he misses it.î

Students feel they arenít as bored during the summer.

ìWhen I am at home for a long summer, I get bored,î says Jimmy Mitchell, who is a student at Southern Pines Elementary. ìThis way, I stay busy.î

Parents wanting to enroll their children in a year-round program can call Southern Pines Primary at 692-8659 or Southern Pines Elementary at 692-2357, or to stop by the schools between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday to pick up an application packet.

More information is also available on the school systemís Web site at www.mcs.k12.nc.us.

Caroline Kornegay can be reached at 693-2484 or by e-mail at ckornegay@thepilot.com.