TEMPE, AZ — While it feels like kids just got out of school for summer break, one month from Monday, several districts will start classes again.
More districts are moving to a year-round calendar model. That means the summer breaks are shorter, but students and staff will have two-week breaks in the fall, winter and spring.
“It is a shorter summer break, but we’ve taken the opportunity this past year to look at all the factors we can do to help our community,” said Michael Minghine, the assistant superintendent for administrative services for the Tempe Elementary School District.
The Tempe Elementary School District, Kyrene Elementary School District and Tempe Union High School District have worked together since the 2021-2022 school year to come up with a plan for the year-round calendar. Both the elementary districts feed into the high school district.
“I think we've provided an opportunity with all three districts to look at it differently and hope for better student outcomes for our kids. That's the goal,” said Minghine.
He tells ABC15 that there are benefits in academic achievement, being able to provide more enrichment activities as well as helping give staff more professional development.
The three Tempe districts are following in the footsteps of several other East Valley districts that are already on that schedule. This includes Gilbert Public Schools, Higley Unified, Queen Creek Unified and Chandler Unified.
While some of those districts have been on that schedule for years, Gilbert Public Schools just recently made the change last year.
Kerri Glover, an English teacher at Desert Ridge High School and the Gilbert Education Association president, says she’s seen a bit of a difference.
Glover says that as a teacher, it’s been very beneficial. For some teachers, it’s difficult for them to make personal appointments during the school year. Having that extra time during the breaks is helpful.
The goal for districts, though, is to also make sure it’s beneficial for students.
“I think it was a benefit for students academically, but we'll see. Gilbert is surveying and we're going to take two years' worth of data and see,” she added.
According to the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, research showed that students on the year-round schedule did do slightly better in academic achievement.
One issue at hand is the “summer slide” as students take their break. In the year-round model, students would have about two to three weeks less of summer.
“There was a little bit less of the forgetting how to be in school kind of vibe that we saw from kids,” said Glover.
Gilbert Public Schools conducted surveys with parents and staff about changing the schedule prior to doing so. According to a board presentation, parents were more in favor of the traditional schedule in 2018, showing those surveyed preferred it 52% to the 48% who wanted the year-round model.
However, over the years, more parents preferred the year-round model. In 2020, the survey showed parents preferred it by 50.5% to 49.5%, but in 2023, 75% of parents surveyed wanted the year-round calendar.
In all three survey years, teachers in Gilbert favored the year-round model.
“They [teachers and parents] felt like academically, students had a little more continuity because there wasn’t quite a longer break,” said Glover.
As the Tempe districts start the new schedule in a month, it will remain in place for the next three years. They’ll continue to work together and see if it’s working.
