Year-round school keeps some kids learning in the Summer

Some Iowa kids will be going back to school this summer, but not for summer school. Seven elementary schools in Iowa have switched to year-round schooling and a state official predicts the number of year-round schools will continue to rise. Capitol View Elementary in Des Moines is one of the schools changing its schedule and principal Marcia Johnson calls the program a “Continuous Learning Calendar “Johnson says they have chosen to cut the 12-week summer break in half and provide more breaks during the year because research shows that after six weeks away from school, kids begin to forget what they’ve learned. Johnson says the best part about the year-round program is not having to spend as much time reviewing what the students learned the previous school year. Year-round schools run 180 days – the same number of days that other Iowa schools convene. Capitol View Elementary will resume classes on July 22nd, with a three week break in September and October. They have the same breaks for Christmas and spring break but have extra days off through out the year. Capitol View has not had to make curriculum changes or purchase new material to accommodate the calendar change. There are four schools in the Des Moines Public School District that run on the year-round schedule: Moulton, the Downtown School, River Woods, and Capitol View. The other year-round schools in Iowa are Armstrong Elementary in Bettendorf, Irving Elementary in Indianola, and the Children’s Village at Hoover in Davenport.