That's why I'm here. The movement toward year-round schools is small but growing rapidly. That's less than 4 percent of total kindergarten through 12th-grade enrollment nationwide. The term year-round is actually a bit of a misnomer for what's really a modified calendar. The association defines a year-round school as any institution with fewer than eight weeks' summer vacation.
Configurations vary widely.
Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School, located in a high-crime neighborhood of San Diego, is far from Jerabek both geographically and economically. But the year-round schedule is a hit there, too. Teachers say burnout is less of a problem when the semester doesn't stretch out so far ahead. Principal Jill Brogan also points to an educational benefit for the 82 percent of King's students who are Hispanic and use little or no English at home. Discipline also improves under a year-round schedule, supporters say.