In order to combat “summer learning loss,” the Loudoun County Public Schools School Board is considering adjusting the LCPS academic calendar to a year-round schedule. Currently, LCPS follows a traditional schedule with short breaks during the school year and an extended summer break. The year-round schedule would upend this, reducing summer break in favor of longer, more evenly spaced breaks throughout the year.
The change wouldn’t be immediate; if adopted, the year-round schedule would be phased in over multiple school years, with the first official phase-in year being 2028-2029.
The purpose of the schedule shift is to limit the learning loss experienced by students over the long summer break. This loss is demonstrated by the common stagnation or drop in test scores compared across the spring semester to fall semester. Traditionally, school districts have combatted this trend by offering summer programs to limit the learning loss that comes with summer break. But these summer programs usually have low enrollment, with only a small percentage of eligible students participating.
LCPS wants to take combatting summer learning loss a step further with the year-round schedule. But it won’t have the effects they intend. A long summer break provides students and teachers with the opportunity to fully unwind from working for nine months straight, offering some much needed rejuvenation. Summer break allows students to come back to school in August with a fresh mind. Usually, by the end of summer, students find themselves itching to get back in the classroom to follow a structured schedule and connect more often with friends.
If students are deprived of a traditional summer break, they will be unable to experience the full recharge of a long break. For many students, it can take multiple weeks for them to fully recover from the stress of the school year. With a year-round schedule, students will be forced back into the classroom after only just unwinding from the school year. These smaller breaks will make the school year feel never-ending.
A long summer break also offers a more definitive transition between grades or even between schools. It would be jarring for an 8th grader to graduate and go into high school only a few weeks later. Without a summer break, the distinction between different grade levels feels less significant and less special, especially for high school seniors. The summer provides students with a space to mentally prepare themselves for entering a new school or a new grade; if deprived of this opportunity, students will feel overwhelmed with the transition.
Removing the long break also makes the transition between school years more difficult for teachers. Many teachers use their summer break to create lesson plans for the upcoming school year, especially if they are teaching a new class. With only a few weeks to plan, a year-round schedule doesn’t provide ample time for teachers to create meaningful plans, removing any hope for relaxation as teachers rush to prepare for the next year.
Teachers also use the summer to attend professional development courses, including certification to teach AP and IB courses. As the IB program grows in LCPS, more teachers will need to attend these training courses, especially at schools where the program is in its first couple of years in operation. Some also attend master classes over the break and work to acquire new degrees.
If LCPS were to adopt a year-round schedule, there would be no time for teachers to attend professional development. Most importantly, LCPS will be unable to support the IB program if there’s no time for teachers to get certified to teach the courses.
Some LCPS teachers commute from other counties to teach in Loudoun. For teachers with children, this would mean that the school they teach at would be on a different schedule than their child’s school, complicating child care and vacation scheduling for the families.
Many teachers also use summer break to purposefully schedule surgeries that require a long recovery to avoid missing months of school. If these procedures now had to take place during the school year, teacher absences would increase. This would increase demand for substitute teachers, ultimately driving a substitute shortage.
A year-round school schedule would also disrupt traditional summer activities for LCPS students. The schedule would prevent students from participating in summer sports programs that operate during school hours. The new calendar would also leave the fate of school-year sports in limbo. Coordinating schedules with school districts following a traditional calendar becomes more complicated. The more consistent breaks throughout the year create breaks in the sports season that would damage teams’ team unity and flow in the season.
Aside from sports, shortening summer break limits LCPS students’ ability to participate in summer camps or other college or sports summer programs. The Virginia Department of Education’s Residential Governor’s School runs during the summer, offering students experience in areas of interest and providing them experience living and learning on a college campus.
Many students also participate in summer job-training programs or internships in order to gain workplace experience to build their resumes, particularly if they are interested in entering a trade.
With a year-round schedule, LCPS students would be prevented from participating in opportunities like this. But programs like Governor’s School or summer internships won’t halt or adjust to LCPS’ calendar adjustment. LCPS students will be deprived of opportunities while students in other counties retain access to them. This would put LCPS students at a disadvantage in college admissions or the job market in comparison to other Virginia school districts.
Vacation time would also be affected by a shift to a year-round schedule. With a shorter summer break, it becomes more difficult for families to plan vacations around school and parents’ work schedules. Less days of summer break means less days to make scheduling work.
Aside from students and teachers, adopting a year-round schedule would cost the school district more money. Keeping a school open all year increases utility bills, especially for summer air conditioning. Construction and renovation that would normally take place over the summer to prevent disruption to the classroom would now have to occur during the school year. There is no clear source of the extensive additional funding LCPS would require to change the calendar.
Regardless of all the reasons students would suffer from a year-round school calendar, there isn’t sufficient evidence that proves the academic advantages of year-round schooling. There aren’t any significant studies that prove the benefits of adopting the different calendar. But there is evidence of the failure of year-round school in specific districts or at specific schools.
Hamilton Elementary of the La Crosse district in Wisconsin adopted a year-round schedule in 2013; unlike how the schedule change would operate in LCPS, this was not a district-wide schedule change, so other La Crosse schools remained on the traditional schedule.
After almost ten years of year-round school, Hamilton Elementary will return to a traditional schedule. When the calendar was changed, 68% of students zoned for Hamilton opted to attend another school, with 55% of those who opted out citing the schedule change as the reason. The elementary school hasn’t experienced a notable improvement in test scores or student behavior, raising the question of the necessity of the year-round calendar.
If LCPS were to implement a year-round schedule, similar problems would arise that did at Hamilton Elementary. In such a competitive region for college admissions, it’s vital that the county provide students with every opportunity possible to succeed, especially when placed up against other Northern Virginia counties that would continue to follow a traditional calendar.
LCPS students are incredibly lucky to have so many opportunities at their fingertips, whether they’re provided by the county or the state. If the district were to adopt a year-round calendar, these opportunities and the wellbeing of LCPS students would be jeopardized.
