Editorial: Longer school days

The Bozeman School District task force that’s looking into changing the school calendar for Bozeman’s 5,800 students and have year-round school or a longer school day.The task force, made up of nearly 40 teachers, parents, principals, and community representatives, met Monday night at Willson School. Members split into six smaller groups to tackle key topics.

One group will research alternatives to the traditional calendar, with its long summer vacation. Tami Phillippi, president of the Bozeman teachers union and a member of the task force, said there are so many possible alternatives to look into.”

In comments parents said at last month’s meeting, some task force members said the current calendar is based on tradition and farming schedules that no longer make sense in the 21st century. Yet another member commented, “I like the calendar, don’t mess with it.” Some said summer breaks are too long and “short-changed kids.” Some teachers worry their students may not be safe or even well-fed over summer vacation. Long summers were called tough on single parents.
On the other hand, some commented that students want to work summer jobs or participate in summer activities, and some teachers rely on summers to take classes that let them grow professionally and improve their pay.Superintendent Kirk Miller thanked everyone for dedicating their time to trying to find out what’s best for the community and “best for student learning.”
Bruce Grubbs, School Board vice chair, said after the meeting that the School Board decided to look into changing the school calendar because its focus is on student achievement and making sure all students are college- and career-ready by graduation. Grubbs said “We’ve read about other countries with longer school years.”Lei-Anna Bertelsen, a parent and former teacher, said she had a very positive experience teaching in a year-round school district in San Jose, Calif., 20 years ago. The school year was divided into trimesters, with three months on and one month off.
“The kids did not lose, because their breaks were shorter,” she said. “Having a month break was great. You could refresh” before returning to teaching.

After reading the editorial answer the questions below in the reply section of the blog.

1. What is the thesis statement of this editorial?

2. What facts support the thesis statement? List at least three facts.

3. What facts illustrated the opposite (against) view of the thesis staement? List two.
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5 thoughts on “Editorial: Longer school days

  1. 1. summer vacation is to long.

    2. there are so may alternatives to look into.some summer breaks are to long it short-changed kids. its the best for student learning.

    3. i like the calender dont mess with it. the caleder is bsed on tradition and farming its the 21st century now.

  2. The thesis statement is have a year long school or a longer school day.

    the facts that support this is that the school year was based upon farming   schedules and based on old tradition. another fact is that long summers are hard for single parents. the last one is that some teachers think that students are not well fed or safe over summer vacations.

    one is that some kids want to work over the summer. they also want to participate in summer activities. the last one is that teachers want to take summer courses to become a better teacher.

  3. The thesis statment is The Bozeman School District task force that’s looking into changing the school calendar for Bozeman’s 5,800 students and have year-round school or a longer school day.

    Facts that support the thesis statment are long ago the school scedule is based on an old tradition and farming scedules that no longer make sense in the twenty-first century.  Some teachers worry their students may not be safe or even well-fed over summer vacation. Long summers were called tough on single parents.

    Some commented that students want to work summer jobs or participate in summer activities. Some teachers rely on summers to take classes that let them grow professionally and improve their pay

  4. 1. Longer school days aqnd Year Around School

    2. Current school year based on old tadition and farming Schudles that no longer apply in 21st centry 2. some teachers feel their arwe short changing chlidren in opther words not enough educations. 3.Teachers worry that kids will not be well fed or safe during the summer

     3.. students nay want to take summer jobs or join summer activiteis and teachers can take courses to become better teachers 2. Having some time off you can refresh and return to school.

     

     

     

  5. 1.The thesis statement is, "Summer vacation is to long."

    2. Some kids like school. They dont like the "short-changed kids."

    3. Many kids want summer jobs. The teachers want to take classes to improve their teaching and to improve their pay.

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