Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 20, 1995 TAG: 9508210080
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BUENA VISTA LENGTH: Long
BUENA VISTA - Robin Williams went to school this summer to take senior English so his schedule would be free to take a technical drawing course in the next school year.
Williams, who will be a senior at Parry McCluer High School, wants to attend Virginia Commonwealth University and study commercial art or a related subject.
Renee Dudley took chemistry this summer because she wants to get ahead and have time to take sociology and computer courses for college credit in the school year that begins in September.
Dudley has earned 23 high school credits in her first three years at Parry McCluer by going to school in the summer as well as the regular year.She wants to attend Liberty University and become a Spanish teacher.
Since Buena Vista adopted a longer school year more than two decades ago, more than 50 percent of its high school students have gone to summer school.
In many localities, high school students attend summer school mainly to retake failed courses. Some students do that at Parry McCluer, but about half of Buena Vista's summer students are enrolled to get requirements out of the way, take additional classes or gain college credit.
Buena Vista's summer program is part of the extended school calendar or year-round schooling that started in 1973. The program has brought national attention to this small industrial city.
The city has a system that consists of three 60-day quarters during the regular school year to meet the state required 180 days of school.
The summer fourth quarter has only 38 days, but students can earn full credits because the classes are longer. Students who attend all four quarters go to school 218 days a year, the same as Japanese children.
Critics of the American education system say the 180-day school year is outdated and a longer school year is needed to prepare students to compete in a global economy. In a report last year, the U.S. Department of Education's National Commission on Time and Learning described the six-hour school day and 180-day calendar as an "unacknowledged design flaw in American education" that "should be relegated to museums, an exhibit from our education past."
Buena Vista's summer quarter offers courses for "remediation" and "enrichment" so students can make up classes or take new ones. Student and faculty participation is voluntary. Teachers receive extra pay for working during the summer quarter.
Sarah Hamlett, a freshman, took Algebra I this summer because she wanted a better background before moving to more advanced courses.
"I got a C on Algebra I last year, but my parents wanted me to take it again so I would learn more about it," she said.
Nathan Floyd, a senior, enrolled in a chemistry course because he wanted to earn an additional credit. He took a physical education class last summer to help meet his requirements without having to use time during the regular year for PE.
The summer classes and transportation are free, although students from other systems must pay $75 tuition. Many students come from nearby cities and counties.
Since the year-round program started, Buena Vista's scores on standardized tests have increased, the dropout rate has declined and more students go to college. Fewer students fail courses.
"It has improved the academic achievement of the students, created a better attitude toward the schools and increased the number of students who earn college credits while in high school," Superintendent James Bradford Jr. said.
Some students can complete their high school credits in three years because of the summer program. Students can graduate at the end of any quarter when they finish their requirements. Parry McCluer, which has about 350 students, graduated seven seniors at the end of the second quarter in March.
Bradford, a passionate advocate of year-round schooling, said the program has improved the quality of education in Buena Vista.
It has also made more efficient use of buildings and saved thousands of dollars in instructional costs, but that was not the main reason it was started, he said.
Bradford said Parry McCluer can operate with fewer teachers because it doesn't have to send failed students back through the school system the next year. The students can retake the courses during the summer.
Buena Vista, the only locality in Virginia with a year-round school program, was one of the pioneers in the field. School officials from across the country have called or visited the city to learn more about the program. National magazines, newspapers and television networks have done stories on it.
When Buena Vista made the switch, fewer than 25 school systems in the nation had year-round programs. Now, about 2,200 private and public schools in 37 states have some type of extended school year.
Roanoke County is considering an extended school year, but the options that are being discussed are different from Buena Vista's program.
A study committee has proposed that Roanoke County consider a plan that would require students to be in school for nine weeks and be off for three weeks. Under a second option, students would go to class for 12 weeks and be out for four weeks. In either plan, students would continue to attend school for 180 days.
Buena Vista studied similar plans for a longer school year, but school officials decided the quarter system would best meet the needs of its students.
Bradford, who has become nationally known in the education field because of his expertise in year-round schools, has met with the Roanoke County study committee.
The school calendar for Buena Vista's three quarters during the regular school year is about the same as the schedule for schools with a traditional 180-day year.
Buena Vista's first quarter will begin this year on Sept. 5, the same day most school systems will open. Buena Vista students will have Thanksgiving, winter and spring breaks like other school divisions. And the third quarter will end June 11, about the same time as other localities let out for the summer.
The summer quarter extends from about June 20 to Aug. 18, with school closed the week of July 4.
Math teacher Janet Dale, who teaches most summers, said students are more attentive during the summer because they are in class by choice.
Mary Burks, a guidance counselor, said the quarter system and the innovative block schedule have helped broaden the educational opportunities for the students.
"It allows them more flexibility in the choice of subjects and time to explore options," Burks said. "They can get their basic things out of the way and pick up additional courses in accounting, computers and other things."
Burks said she expects the shortened summer quarter will become a true quarter at some point. In some respects, Buena Vista's summer program is just an expansion of summer offerings by some other school systems.
But Bradford said it is an integral component in the year-round concept. Buena Vista offers more courses than found in a typical summer school and enables the students to accelerate their studies.
Bradford said surveys have shown that a majority of the faculty and students believe the extended school year has had little effect on student discipline, extracurricular activities and family vacations. Most of the students and faculty want to continue the quarter system, he said.
The Buena Vista School Board also is studying the possibility of an extended school year for children in kindergarten through the eighth grade. It has appointed a committee to study ways to provide enrichment and remedial programs for these grades and to evaluate their advantages and drawbacks. The committee will report in January.
by CNB