Year-Round Success Post Falls School Experiments With Non-Traditional School Year

Parents usually attend celebrations of Thanksgiving, Christmas and Memorial Day at their children’s schools.

But Independence Day?

By July 4, most children have stashed books, donned swimswuits and departed for vacation - mentally and physically. Only Harry Potter could make them pick up a book during the summer.

Not so at one Post Falls elementary school.

Prairie View Elementary is in the third year of its year-round school program. On Friday, parents of the 125 first- through fifth-graders in the program attended an Independence Day celebration.

Rows of red-, white- and blue-clad youngsters sang patriotic songs and explained the history behind the writing of the national anthem. They tossed red, white and blue items into a large cauldron, stirred them and magically pulled out an American flag. Excited parents waved to children and captured every moment on camcorders.

These children still have three weeks of school before beginning their longest vacation of the year. They attend school for nine weeks, then take two weeks off. The pattern is repeated three times before a six-week summer break.

They only make up 20 percent of the school’s 600 students. That means when their peers joyfully bolt out the door to begin summer vacation, they don’t join the party.

Parents seem pleased with the program, despite some grumbling from their children about school in the summer.

“We love it,” said Pam Lemburg, whose three children are enrolled. “It keeps the kids occupied throughout the summer months. They’re still in that learning mode when September comes.”

That continuity has become the battle cry for parents, teachers and administrators who back the program. The district initially looked at year-round schooling as a way to ease crowding, said Prairie View Principal Barney Brewton. But now Brewton is convinced the program promotes better academics than the traditional schedule.

“The whole idea of year-round is, it combats summer learning loss,” Brewton said. “We spend a lot of time in September reviewing. This way, by breaking it into smaller vacations, you remember a lot more and it keeps teachers and kids fresher.”

Nationwide, there are about 3,000 year-round schools, with a total of 2 million students, according to the National Association for Year-Round Education. Programs are offered in 43 states and the District of Columbia.

Post Falls’s year-round program exists solely at Prairie View. Brewton said he does not know of another year-round program in North Idaho. The district spends about $14,000 to cover transportation, food service and staff for the year-round program, said Sid Armstrong, business manager.

One class each, in the first through fifth grades, is year-round. Each class has a teacher. The students share music, art and physical education teachers with the rest of the school. In the summer, those specialists are hired anew or kept on.

Cathy Bruce has been a teacher for 28 years. Three years ago, she jumped at the chance to teach second-graders in the year-round program.

“It’s wonderful,” Bruce said. “They have lots of breaks and they’re ready to go when they get back. `The review time in the beginning of the year is hardly anything.”

This sidebar appeared with the story:

FAST FACT

Year-round schools

Nationwide, there are about 3,000 year-round schools, with a total of 2 million students, according to the National Association for Year-Round Education. Programs are offered in 43 states and the District of Columbia.