Answers: School calendar

Next fall, Iowa City elementary school days will be 30 minutes longer; junior high and high schools will start earlier in the morning. What is the ideal school schedule and why?

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Won't that play havoc with families? Also with the buses? It should be the same hours for all students.

Mary M.

West Branch

I strongly disagree with the idea that more time spent in school will result in higher student achievement.

I believe that most of the clamor for longer school days (and years) has more to do with politics and a number of other factors (such as attempting to make up for an inadequate home life).

Student achievement is dependent upon the desire of the individual student to learn and the student's commitment to put in the necessary effort to achieve success; not upon the amount of time spent in a classroom.

Children need time to rest, recreate, and experience life outside of school.

To me, the ideal school day would run from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.. That would provide plenty of time for instruction and interaction.

John R.

Belle Plaine

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FROM FACEBOOK

' Cyndi R.: I think it should be September to early May. They should go at 8 a.m. and get out at 3:30 p.m.. It's sad that kids don't even have time for fun anymore. My sixth-grader gets one recess a day and has since last year. I had three recesses a day until seventh grade! Kids need time to unwind during the day. My third-grader says she barely has time to finish her lunch. Schools put way to much pressure on kids in my opinion.

' Mary S.: I was very disappointed that they did not adjust the starting times to later for the middle school and high school. Studies show teens do better academically with later starting times. Elementary should start the earliest, followed by middle school and then high school. There is so much research out there - do schools even consider the research?

' Todd V.: It wasn't so long ago that school traditionally ran from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. We didn't have things like 'early release days” or 'planned snow days”.

' Mike T.: Eight hours daily, might as well get them use to the real world.

' Sabrina W.: Elementary schools should start earlier than secondary. Small children get up earlier and will be checked out by the end of the school day. Teens biologically fall asleep later at night and therefore need a later start time to get enough nighttime sleep.

' Amy C.: Year round! Kids would still get breaks but they wouldn't forget all they have learned! The first few weeks of school wouldn't need to be spent reviewing!

' Rebecca V.: None of this early dismissal one day a week nonsense!

' Sidney T.: Ideally, elementary would start at 8:20 a.m., secondary 8:40 a.m. and high school 9 a.m.

' Christopher O.: My kid doesn't need 10 days off at Thanksgiving, another 10 days off at Christmas and another 10 days off in March. Perhaps if we took those three weeks back, my kid wouldn't be in school until the middle of June. Oh and this 10 minutes earlier and 10 minutes later stuff to make up for snow days is ludicrous.

' Billi D.: I envy home school, wish I had the patience to do it. You can get all the 'learning” done within four hours. The extra is just wasted time. I think afternoon is crucial play, read, anything your child is interested in.

' Heather S.: Elementary students wake earlier than high school students, so a later start may make more sense for them, but what happens when they wake up in the real world after high school? College doesn't start at 9:40 and neither does the new job they may have. I'm not sold on the delayed wake schedule for older students.

' Emily O.: Year round. I like others' ideas about later start times for older students. A lot of high school students have jobs or after school activities the change in start times would benefit more than not.

' Kassia S.: Year-round with options for breaks. We are not in the agricultural century any more.

' Becky S.: Year round. Same schedules as their parents who work.

' Buffy C.: I think there is no way to please everyone. Staggered starts are problematic for families with kids in different age groups. It can also cause problems in bus routes. Year-round isn't possible in some districts because of a lack of air conditioning. I think that no matter the schedule, there will always be people it isn't ideal for.

' Kathy W.: Why would you want your kids in school during the summer when it's hot ? And that's the best time for them to be outside. Why take a lot of time off in winter when the weather is horrible and they're stuck inside. Not to mention finding split up child care. Would all of you who want year-round wanted to have school in the summer? I highly doubt it. Just leave the year the way it is.