As of April 1, it has been decided by Superintendent Mr. Spirto, President of the Board of Education, Mr. Alex  Clavijo and the Hawthorne Public School District that starting with the 2017 school year, there will be no 3 month summer vacation. The school year will still feature 4 quarters, but they will simply be broken up differently. The schedule will now be more balanced, to ensure the learning process is continuous. A rough estimate has been provided and will be as following:

-45 learning days

-15 days off for fall break

-30 learning days

-3 days of for Thanksgiving

-15 learning days

-15 days off for winter break

-45 learning days

-15 days off for spring break

-45 learning days

-30 days off for summer break

So, what does this mean for students? Not much has changed, there are still 180 instructional days of school, but the new schedule is much more balanced. The first day of the new school year will be the first day of the 45 day learning period after summer break. The last day of the school year will take place on the last day of the last 45 day learning period before summer break. Graduation will also take place on this day.

There are many concerns students have, such as summer sports training and the summer heat. As for the summer sport issue, the district is allowing students to form a swim team and a water polo team, using the town pool as a facility. Ultimate frisbee will be another new addition and the team will be using the football field for practice and games. For the issue of heat, the state has granted the district enough money to place one air conditioner in every classroom in all of the public schools.

In the official statement, Spirito mentions how this change will affect students academically. “Holding school year round will decrease the loss of information. Over long summer breaks, children tend to forget and almost block out, the information they learned over the school year.”

Many students stand on opposite ends of the summer schooling spectrum. Junior Gabriella Burkart thinks that there are more cons than pros to the new schedule, “It will be difficult to get used to, and it puts pressure on students to handle more school work, along with summer jobs some kids may have.”