lumbee

Fri, Dec 9, 2011 : 2:41 p.m.

Where is AAPS going to get the money to fund such a huge undertaking??? Our schools are already suffering from budget cuts. I am not against a balanced calendar but where is the money going to come from??? If AAPS is serious about using a balanced calendar then roll it out through out the whole district. Why is it targeted at Scarlett and Mitchell??? Does AAPS feel like the lower income schools will put up less of a fight ? Maybe not have any input???? How about proposing the same balanced calendar but using only Tappen and Burns Park schools as your starting schools. I hardly doubt there would have been any discussion on the matter. It would have been dropped like a hot potato. All the schools need to be treated equally with the same benefits and regard to our children. I thought AAPS was interested in bridging the racial gap when it comes to discipline. If you set two schools apart who both have a higher population of minorities,how is equality justified???

apples

Fri, Dec 9, 2011 : 2:14 a.m.

It will be o.k. as long as families have a choice. There are many families who are gone the entire summer. You can learn many ways not only in the classroom. I am not in support of year round schools. I've visited these schools and I wasn't impressed by the data.

say it plain

Fri, Dec 9, 2011 : 12:51 a.m.

Hmm...I've heard from so many of the (high test-scoring) Europeans I know that the American school year is so very short, why? I look at some internet-search info on length of school year around the world, and it seems that all the countries I look at where the students "do well" on international comparisons of achievement/learning have *at least* 200 days of school, sometimes much more than that! Seriously, why would we expect that fewer school days, and generally *much shorter* school days, should turn out kids who do as well in any of the subjects taught in school?! We somehow fail to believe in the one belief that probably correlates best with actual academic achievement--that the more time one spends practicing/engaging/learning something, the better they become at it. All we need to do is be willing to believe that and I'd bet we'd see improvement *for all students*. Why is it so hard?!

Klayton

Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 7:45 p.m.

I am totally in favor of the balanced calendar. As an educator and parent, this makes more sense to me than the old farmers calendar that we still use today. More time for Project-Based Learning and authentic activities (less stress over time for MEAP---since there will be more academic time and less brain dry time). I'm certain there would be plenty of camp opportunities during the 3 weeks off for working parents. Please bring us into the 21st Century!!!

Edward R Murrow's Ghost

Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 7:36 p.m.

That there's a &quot;test gap&quot; in the AAPS there is no question. So one of three things must be true: a) Something about the way the schools do business in not working. b) Something about what is happening at home is not working c) A combination of a) and b) Because the schools cannot control b), and because it is only the schools who are being held accountable, it seems that the solution must come from the school district. If that solution is &quot;imposed&quot;, then so be it. That there is learning loss by ALL students in the summer there is no doubt. <a href="http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_pric/is_200305/ai_1210958620/" rel='nofollow'>http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_pric/is_200305/ai_1210958620/</a> Why this apparently obvious if potential solution is so objectionable is beyond me, but the outcry over it should tell us all that true school reform will never happen if this simple change is so difficult to make. Good Night and Good Luck

Wondering

Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 5:18 p.m.

@Christy S-- Volunteering in our children's schools is a terrific idea! And figuring out how to have enough time and energy when a child isn't in school and a parent isn't at work so parents can spend some quality time with their own children one-on-one or in a small group is a great idea too! :))

jns131

Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 4:43 p.m.

I really need to know who balanced the calendar for this year. We have 3 weeks off during the Xmas holiday. Who on earth came up with this one? We always go back two days after New Year. Now we are going to have squirrelly children and an extra week in June which sucks. Lets limit the holiday time and get out early. My word not looking forward to 3 weeks off.

Usual Suspect

Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 4:08 p.m.

Why do they jump right to the assumption that the problem is how many days there is teaching going on, not WHAT is being taught?

Sallyxyz

Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 3:56 p.m.

Another concern I'm not hearing discussed is the reality that the school buildings in A2 are not adequately air conditioned in the classrooms. I've been in classrooms in May and early June with hot summer temperatures, and everyone was sweltering. It is not possible to just use a couple fans in July and August in classrooms that are not properly air conditioned. Summers in Michigan are getting hotter, not cooler, and upgrading the air conditioning has to be part of the plan before any summer classes can be held on a regular basis.

Ned Racine

Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 3:55 p.m.

Do we really need TWO Spring breaks and a 17 day Christmas/Holiday break?

Christy Summerfield

Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 3:23 p.m.

It think it's time we all begin to pay more attention to the basics of life. One important basic is the education of our children. Perhaps this economic bust has given us a chance to pay attention to what's really important. Now, rather than two working parent families living in larger than necessary houses with lots of fancy gadgets, I'm reading more about families that are downsizing or making due with their smaller homes when they had thought to move up. So one parent isn't working anymore--I certainly realize there are families where both parents are out-of-work. But let's look at Ann Arbor. I think an extended school year is a terrific idea. Why should school buildings sit empty for for more than 2 months a year while so many kids are left to fend for themselves. The wonderful summer playground groups have been done away with. I imagine more parents can no longer afford summer camp or country club membership or tennis, swim or golf lessons or sports, music or theatre camps. So many adults in Ann Arbor have a wealth of talent and knowledge. If one parent is out-of-work, he or she can volunteer in her/his kid's school. Teach computer lab, teach a foreign language, teach choral singing, teach music, dance, teach an instrument, teach art, teach theatre arts, teach public speaking, teach creative writing &amp; other kinds of writing, help kids in elementary &amp;/or middle school put out a school newspaper, mentor kids, help kids with math, reading or science, facilitate a support group, teach kids about nature. So many ways parents can help. And, extend the school day so parents who work full time don't have scramble for after school care for younger kids, or just give older kids a key to the house. Give kids free time during the school day so they can go outside or go to the library to read or learn how to do research. Parents, help in the library. Break up the school day but lengthen it to working hours.

Christy Summerfield

Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 3:23 p.m.

It think it's time we all begin to pay more attention to the basics of life. One important basic is the education of our children. Perhaps this economic bust has given us a chance to pay attention to what's really important. Now, rather than two working parent families living in larger than necessary houses with lots of fancy gadgets, I'm reading more about families that are downsizing or making due with their smaller homes when they had thought to move up. So one parent isn't working anymore--I certainly realize there are families where both parents are out-of-work. But let's look at Ann Arbor. I think an extended school year is a terrific idea. Why should school buildings sit empty for for more than 2 months a year while so many kids are left to fend for themselves. The wonderful summer playground groups have been done away with. I imagine more parents can no longer afford summer camp or country club membership or tennis, swim or golf lessons or sports, music or theatre camps. So many adults in Ann Arbor have a wealth of talent and knowledge. If one parent is out-of-work, he or she can volunteer in her/his kid's school. Teach computer lab, teach a foreign language, teach choral singing, teach music, dance, teach an instrument, teach art, teach theatre arts, teach public speaking, teach creative writing &amp; other kinds of writing, help kids in elementary &amp;/or middle school put out a school newspaper, mentor kids, help kids with math, reading or science, facilitate a support group, teach kids about nature. So many ways parents can help. And, extend the school day so parents who work full time don't have scramble for after school care for younger kids, or just give older kids a key to the house. Give kids free time during the school day so they can go outside or go to the library to read or learn how to do research. Parents, help in the library. Break up the school day but lengthen it to working hours.

Beth

Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 3 p.m.

I cannot believe that this is still on the table, and that they are even thinking of expanding it to more schools. Where is the money going to come from? Salaries, utility bills, busing, adding A/C (a necessity!) - AAPS can't afford any of these extra costs. And neither can they afford to lose the funding from the children that will leave the district if the balanced calendar is instituted at just a few schools. There was a groundswell of opposition to this last year, but it seems the school board and administrators aren't concerned with what people actually want. I've said all along that if AAPS wants to try this they should make Mitchell/ Scarlett a K-8 magnet school that is open both to any student in the district (like AA Open) and possibly even to students to outside the district if there is space available. Reassign the students in the current Mitchell and Scarlett areas to other schools and let everyone CHOOSE to attend there. The balanced calendar will not work unless parents buy into it. If you force families at just a few schools to move to this calendar, you will lose many of them. Some will transfer to other AAPS schools with space available, but others will leave the district entirely. My children will potentially attend Scarlett, and I want no part of this. Of all the parents of current 6th graders I know that went through our elementary school, all but one family chose to attend somewhere other than Scarlett - either St. Francis or a different AAPS middle school that had space. The one family at Scarlett is on the wait list at Tappan. Another family is pulling their younger children out now to attend South Arbor - not because they don't love our elementary school, but because they're so afraid of what will happen at Scarlett. So AAPS has already lost money thanks to this crazy scheme, and things will only get worse.

smokeblwr

Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 2:17 p.m.

How will the children of Ann Arbor have time to work the fields during the summer if they are in school?!?! The harvest will suffer let me tell you.

Gramma

Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 2:15 p.m.

Teachers are no longer allowed to be creative in their teaching. The only thing that matters is how children fare on standardized tests. They have to teach a standardized curriculum in a standardized way. This does not allow them to individualize anything to meet the needs of individual students. All the paperwork time involved takes away from time the teacher could use to form more personalized relationships with her students. Special teachers take students out of class, which disrupts their time spent in class as well as makes another transition for fellow students to cope with. In the 50's, creativity was not valued. Everything was focused on rote memory. Then the Russians put up Sputnik. Suddently, creativity became the emphasis and our space and science programs quickly surpassed the Russians. Now we are back to rote learning for standardized tests. In the 60's and 70's, the government learned that creative people will also challenge governmental decisions. The schools were forced to go back to training robots. Corporations no longer had to pay property taxes meaning less money for schools. Teachers were blamed for the effect on the students. We need to decide what we truly value and evaluate our schools on that. Then, maybe we already have.

cette

Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 2:14 p.m.

Deb Mexicotte mentioned many reasons why this probably won't fly. And it won't matter one whit if people don't address why the kids aren't doing in class currently. SillySally talks about the tyranny of the disruptive child. I bet. So address that first. There are kids who would do well with a summer academic component, and that, believe or not, can come through Rec and Ed programs.

xmo

Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 2:04 p.m.

Why does &quot;the United States lags behind a number of other countries academically.&quot; Maybe we should be importing foreign teachers, who will work for less but give a more academics instead of the over priced non-producing teachers we have!

Carole

Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 1:57 p.m.

What we really need to do is to go back to the basics of reading, writing, and math. Of course, art, gym, and music are extremely important and marvelous learning tools as well. If one can't read, write or do math, one cannot go on to sciences, and other topics.

Wondering

Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 1:49 p.m.

Should we ask our schools to do better with the great majority of our children's time that they already have before they ask for more and we agree to give it to them? I agree that children doing well academically may very well enroll in other educational options, if more time is taken from their lives without a substantial improvement in instruction. Children learn not only from formal schooling--they also learn from being mentored by important adults in their lives, from being outdoors, from playing with peers, from structuring their own time. I understand that holidays can be a problem for working parents--but we parents should not consider our schools a babysitting service. Such an attitude demeans the role of formal education, and does not serve our children well. Yes, the US has not fared well for quite a few years on standardized test scores relative to much of the rest of the developed world. But, we have fared quite well on various measures of creativity/out-of-the-box thinking, which is not nurtured well in institutional contexts. The balance that we have traditionally had in our educational system between more informal enriched &quot;home&quot; time and formal school time, with additional options offered for those who for some reason are not able to provide the &quot;home&quot; time, has in general served us well. I think to suggest that formal schooling should provide ALL of the educational opportunities for our children is to abdicate very important parts of the parental role. Institutions are simply not very good at nurturing emotional/attachment development or creativity/out-of-the-box problem-solving--both of which will be essential to survival as our world becomes more and more complex and interconnected. What children gain from close one-on-one mentoring relationships with family members and other substantial long-term adult relationships is extremely difficult to provide in an institutional setting--as has been demonstrated time and gain throug

jcj

Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 1:39 p.m.

If you have a child that has to eat lunch at McDonald's every day. The last thing you want to do is send them there for breakfast and dinner! So why would you want your child to spend more time with teachers that don't teach them!

squidlover

Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 1:35 p.m.

Despite the majority of parents who would be affected by this balanced calendar voicing their opposition to the idea, the school board seems committed to making it happen regardless. So many potential problems with it (increased costs, parents competing to get the same time off of work, Rec and Ed scheduling, etc...). Sure, it's great that we all would like to improve the academic performance of our students. However, increasing the number of school days in overcrowded classrooms where many students are already underperforming isn't the answer. As has been opined many times on this subject, it all begins with the families. Also, volunteer work is invaluable if you want to make a difference.

jcj

Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 1:35 p.m.

&quot;New Superintendent Patricia Green, who joined the district in July, has not taken a position yet on the balanced calendar concept.&quot; Has she taken a position on ANYTHING! She draws a nice salary without ever being heard from!

jayjay

Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 1:20 p.m.

I cannot for the life of me understand why so many people think that adding to the school calendar will resolve the issues with US schools. It simply will not. I get the impression that once again people are looking to check off a box on some stupid form to show that they have done something. When will people start to think out of the box. I have lived outside the US on numerous occasions, and I have seen different school systems. One of those, in a Latin American country, clearly shows that time in class is not a predictor of success. I knew two young ladies who came from the country in question, came here with questionable English capability, and because of that, it was suggested that both be held back a year. They did not even come from a city in the country where the schools had the most resources or newest gadgets or anything. Long story short, both quickly mastered English and before Christmas were both first in their classes. Most everyone I know that comes from that country has done very well in the US schools, actually grading out better than their supposed level in the US school. I will leave the country unnamed because it will only cause other arguments, mostly about the disparities in the country itself. By the way, the school calendar in the country is about 185 days and the days are 5-6 hours long. But guess what -- the day is spent in class and any extracurricular activites are personal and not school based. Probably the biggest difference I can offer -- the schools are allowed to foster creativity and not uniformity. Class sizes do vary and a lot more responsibility is put upon the shoulders of the student and their parents. There is help and tutoring for those that cannot keep up and indeed wish to learn. There are recovery days at the end of each semester for those that did not pass immediately. They can make up their work, and if successful they do pass. And those that pass initially can actually get out of school early.

A Voice of Reason

Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 1:16 p.m.

Address the teacher quality and curriculum issues first. Stop ignoring the elephant in the room. Not sure the 180 days are used well in the first place. Why would another 60-70 days make a difference? Iowa is giving teacher's more pay for outcomes and teaching at difficult schools. I do not think our school board has the answers.

EyeHeartA2

Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 1:09 p.m.

You don't suppose those selfish teachers will want extra pay for the extra 40 days they are asked to work do you? I imagine the utilities will be just as selfish and expect to get paid for the electricity for AC and the like? Then the selfish bus drivers will expect pay. Along with the selfish gas distributors to fill the tanks. I understand we are a little short on funds? Perhaps our new $245k/year gal out to figure out that part before adding more expense.

dotdash

Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 1:09 p.m.

Why is the balanced year seen as a punishment for Scarlett? I think it's a great thing, and wish we had it at our school. British schools have always had a summer term, which tends to be a bit less academically rigorous and with plenty of outdoor sports. The goal is for kids to maintain contact with their academic selves, not descend into endless days of video games while parents work.

Usual Suspect

Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 12:47 p.m.

One quick, easy move would be to get rid of the mid-Winter break. It's a waste. And it's not one of the breaks we have to coordinate with the rest of the county, so it's an easy move. Also, if teachers didn't have to spend a month teaching to prepare for the MEAP but instead had that time to teach to the curriculum, there's another 20 days right there.

pbspirit

Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 12:47 p.m.

As a parent of 2 AAPS students (and one on the way) I am TOTALLY in favor of year-round schools throughout the district. I agree that a 9 weeks on, 3 weeks off schedule would enhance the quality of education. There would be less &quot;brain-drain&quot; during the long summer holiday, but plenty of time for family vacations and just plain down time.

justbob

Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 12:34 p.m.

Wow...an actual quote from our well paid superintendent. As a parent I am not opposed to the concept of a balanced calendar and the potential academic benefits that might result. I am, however, very concerned with the costs of such a move. I was also under the impression that AAPS has recently been working to align its calendar with other districts in the county as part of an effort to consolidate some services for cost savings. The balanced calendar proposal might end up working at cross purposes with this.

sh1

Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 12:27 p.m.

Research shows you can improve student's learning with a year-round calendar by reducing the length of breaks but making them more frequent. (A popular model is nine weeks on, three weeks off.) You don't have to add days to the year.

Silly Sally

Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 12:26 p.m.

There they go again. Tinkering with education, doing anything but concentrating on the basics, which are the building blocks or foundations for everything else. Many of these were sidelined years ago in favor of &quot;new math&quot;, sensitivity training, and other feel-good classes. Then there is the tyranny of misbehaving students, who disrupt classes and far too often tying teacher's hands. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) does little but create tons of needless paperwork for teachers that they must do instead of instructing. The AA Board of Ed is more concerned with racial differences in learning than ensuring that all students learn, or can get help if they need it regardless of race. Deb Mexicotte and Patricia Greene, Get back to basics. We can't afford your new scheme

Jim Mulchay

Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 12:20 p.m.

More school days ought to lead to more classroom hours and more hours being taught; I'd think that would require increased operating and teacher costs; That would seem to be the stumbling block - unless there is more money coming from somewhere. The goal is commendable;

Basic Bob

Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 12:12 p.m.

This will result in the complete abandonment of these schools by the community in their own self interest. Private schools, charters, and schools of choice are looking better every day. Which is OK because AAPS has already written off Mitchell and Scarlett students and families as substandard to more affluent (and hence more intelligent) parts of Ann Arbor. For all those who believe our public officials should be color blind, you should be highly offended by their plans to impose a &quot;balanced&quot; schedule on the concentrated minority population.