Year-Round Fact Sheet

Multi-track, year-round

Students attend 180 days on each track
Students stay with the same teacher the entire school year
The year is divided into four quarters with 45 days of instruction followed by 15-day breaks
Students and their teachers attend one of four tracks, each with its own 45/15 calendar
At any given time, three tracks of students and their teachers are in school and one track is on vacation
Each time students and their teachers return from a break, they move to another classroom
Teachers have the same number of planning days on year-round as traditional calendar
Students and teachers have the same holidays on year-round as traditional calendar

Benefits of Year-round calendar

Multi-track schools can accommodate 20-33 percent more students in a building
Saves on construction costs by better utilizing available space
Saves on operating costs (for example, 6 classes of students can share 5 sets of textbooks, equipment, furniture)
The 15-day breaks provide a time for enrichment and remedial opportunities for students
For every three schools on a multi-track year-round calendar, that's one school you don't have to build

History of WCPSS Year-round schools

1987-88	WCPSS first investigates year-round schools
1989-90	WCPSS opens nation's first magnet year-round school with 267 students
1991-92	WCPSS opens nation's first multi-track magnet year-round school Morrisville ES with 750 students
1992-93	WCPSS adds four more year-round schools: 3 elementary and 1 middle. The schools are West Lake ES, Durant Road ES, Wilburn ES and West Lake MS. There are now 3,142 students in year-round.
1999-2000	Over next seven years, WCPSS adds seven more year-round schools: five elementary and two middle. These schools include Oak Grove ES, Green ES, Jones Dairy ES, Timber Drive ES, Adams ES, Durant Road MS and Lufkin Road MS. In 1999-2000, there are 10,929 students in year-round
2001-02	WCPSS Growth and Planning assisgns English-as-a-Second-Language programs and base nodes to multi-track, year-round schools.
2003-04	WCPSS adds two more year-round schools: one elementary and one middle. These schools are Heritage ES and Heritage MS
2004-05	WCPSS adds two more year-round school: Jones Dairy ES and Turner Creek ES. In 2005-06, there are 14,564 students in year-round.
2006-07	In November 2006, voters approved a $1 billion Capital Improvement Plan that includes provisions for all new elementary and middle school to open on a year-round calendar. In March of 2007 a citizens filed a lawsuit against the Wake School Board in an attempt to stop the conversion of schools to multi-track year-round. WCPSS adds five year-round schools: Barwell Road ES, Brier Creek ES, Carpenter ES, Holly Grove ES and River Bend ES. In 2006-07, there are more than 17,000 students in year-round.
2007-08	As school enrollment soars, WCPSS adds 26 more year-round schools, four are new schools and 22 schools are transitioned to the year-round calendar. This increases the number of year-round schools to a total of 46 including 38 elementary and 8 middle schools. On May 3, 2007 Judge Howard Manning, Jr. ruled that the Wake County School System may not assign pupils to a calendar other than traditional without parental consent. WCPSS appeals to the NC Appellate Court to overturn the ruling of Judge Manning. But in the meantime, to comply with the ruling, parents are asked to sign a year-round consent form. The children of parents who decline are assigned to a traditional calendar school. On May 6, 2008, The Appellate Court rules in favor of the WCPSS. The citizens group appeals the decision to the NC Supreme Court.
2008-09	On May 1, 2009, in a 4-3 split, the NC Supreme Court upholds the decision from the Appellate Court by ruling that school boards have the statutory authority to assign students to year round calendar schools without parental consent. The decision provided an opportunity for WCPSS to utilize resources and capacity at year-round schools.