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I would love to send my kids to a year round school based on the only one I know of that is in VA.

The longest break they have is in summer and is 4 weeks - the other breaks are spread apart and the school has 'camp' then for those kids with working parents.

I think 10-12 weeks off in the summer is a LOT and I do think the summer slide is real

Eh. I work in education, so my feelings about test scores are totally based on my profession. In my experience, test scores have the most to do with socioeconomics rather than good/bad teachers.

However, some people want their children educated mainly with other children of the same socioeconomic level. Sometimes there are differences that extend beyond school when you talk about peer groups. If you are really torn between to two, I would ask to schedule a school visit with both schools.

I read a fascinating article (maybe it was even posted here) about a mother whose family moved from a very white collar professional area to a more blue collar area due to her husband's job (I think she moved form somewhere like Boston suburbs to a factory town in Michigan. And she talked about how even the small things were really different--at a play date in Michigan, the kids were sat in front of cartoons and given kool-aid and chips while the moms all chatted, while in MA, the kids would have been given an art project to do together or would have played outside, with water/milk and carrot sticks and hummus as snacks. In Michigan, most of the moms formula fed, in MA, the author felt guilt about formula feeding. In MA, the mothers were rabid about car seat safety, and in this blue collar town, mothers were extremely lax and most used older, second hand seats without regard for expiration dates or extended rear facing. But it wasn't all negative--the author also felt a lot less mom competition and guilt in the blue collar town--in fact, the mothers just didn't talk about or reflect on parenting to the same extent. And in some ways, the author liked it.

Obviously, your parenting and your child's personality will make the biggest difference in her education....but there are a lot of other nuances that may affect her schooling experience. I would look at the year round schedule and figure out the options you have for all the school breaks and holidays, since the happen more frequently throughout the year, vs the traditional school.

I'll just share one factor to consider, based on my own recent experience of sending a child off to K. We toured our zoned elementary school last spring and I was really pleased with the small class size. But when we got to school in the fall, I found out that there is a huge jump in enrollment this year and while the classes aren't overwhelmingly huge, they are much bigger than last year. So I think I would tour both schools and see what kind of a vibe you get overall, and just remember that any numbers (test scores, class size) can fluctuate from year to year. Personally I find the idea of year-round school very appealing. What will she do during her breaks? In your area will you be able to easily find some kind of temporary childcare solution during her more frequent short breaks, or will it be easier to find things for her to do during the summer while you're at work, when more kids are out of school and there are more camps, etc. To me, it's so nice that you have a choice. Good luck!

I live in the same area as you, and I know for us there is a huge difference in busing time between our base school and our calendar options. If there were a big difference in bus time I'd be inclined toward whatever is closer to my home, but I suppose that only matters if you are planning on using the bus.

@mediagirl: I don't know your work schedule, but you might wanna check the bus times anyway. For us one bus comes just in time for us to make it to work, and the other comes 30 minutes earlier. In your case a long bus ride might be good cause it could negate the need for before care?

@mediagirl: Lol, my son is 2, but I am strangely worried about school decisions and have been researching for a while. I work in the education space and as part of that we end up visiting lots of schools in the area, especially charter schools, which always fuels my curiosity. Plus I grew up here and went through the magnet schools so I've got that perspective in the back of my mind too...

Will it be harder to accommodate the frequent breaks with year round schooling? Here at least camps are available to help bridge the summer gap for working parents but it would be harder with the breaks from year round schooling. My experience has been that class size is likely to be the most important with a kid that could get easily lost in the shuffle.

I really like the idea of year round school. And that's where I would lean, depending on how care would work in off school times. If the process and availability for breaks is equal for both options, I'd choose year round

My sister lives in the same area and started her kids in the traditional (neighborhood) school, then switched to the year-round school. She did find that at the year round school, they met fewer neighborhood children, but no one was from TOO far away. She ended up being very happy with the quality of education, the school community, and the schedule of a year round school.

The year round sounds good as long as child care during these "off" breaks aren't an issue for you. Our private school doesn't have the same breaks as the public schools throughout the year so all of the vacation camps are out for us. Hopefully your area is well equipped for that!

Tough call. They both sounds like very good options though!

My feeling on this may be somewhat skewed, since I live in New England, where our good weather months are so few. But I wouldn't want my kids in school in the summer. I loved my summers growing up - swimming, beaches, time with neighborhood friends, getting to "stay up late" etc. I want my kids to have that experience, even if it means that they have to go to some camps in the summer or we have a summer nanny while I work.

@Anagram: you hit the nail on the head for me with your last sentence, about being surrounded with similarly high achieving, motivated students with involved parents.

I think thats what is actually shown to make a difference, the involvement of the parents, and in some cases the fathers being involved makes more of a difference than the mothers.