After millions of American schoolchildren fell behind during the Covid-19 pandemic, some states and school districts are looking at year-round school calendars as a way to recoup lost learning. Typically, year-round calendars don’t increase learning time but rather spread school days more equally across 12 months, with a shorter summer vacation and longer breaks throughout the year. That’s the approach in South Carolina, where one quarter of districts will use year-round calendars in 2022–23. In Washington State, 45 districts have received state grants to assess the potential and practicality of year-round calendars.
