Education Situation

President Obama: My name is Sarah, and I am a student about to enter high school. I pride myself on having all A’s in the many advanced classes I take, and next year I am going to be enrolled in a rigorous course that will prepare me to take the International Baccalaureate program in my junior and senior years. I am writing this to express my concerns about having a twelve month school year. First of all, some people may be uneasy with the slight possibility of a few students losing the knowledge they have learned over the year over summer vacation.

However, most students are given summer homework and projects to help prepare them for the upcoming school year. Students at my school have two books to read, one essay to write, a math packet to complete, and historical research to look up. This work is designed to help them retain what they have learned and prepare them for the learning that is to come. Also, summer is the time in which students have time to relax after months of hard studies. We use this time to find things which interest us without worrying about having to fit them into our hectic school year schedules.

These interests often lead to career related choices. I myself am writing this letter over summer vacation, so there is hardly an argument about students choosing to be unproductive. Having school year round would create much more stress on students across the nation because we would have to fit these into our schedules, taking away from our schoolwork. Truly, having school year round is not a plausible choice for this nation. I know you are quite busy, but I would be thrilled if you could respond to this letter. Sincerely, Sarah