School's out for summer. Should it be?

Thursday, August 01, 2024 - By John Mazerolle

Here’s what you need to know to get the day started:

School's out for summer. Should it be?

Roberto Sarjoo is a fan of the balanced calendar schedule school in Caledon, Ont., attended by his three kids (front row from left) Amiyana, Amariya and Zavier. Sarjoo feels more frequent breaks help combat burnout for students, while a shorter pause in the summer helps kids jump back into learning quicker. (Deana Sumanac-Johnson/CBC)

July just ended, but for some, school's already back in session.

Mohan Mathews started Monday as the new principal of Tony Pontes Public School, which follows a balanced calendar model: a shorter summer break in exchange for other stretches off during the year.

"Teachers, other administrators and our parent community — anyone I've run into who have had any kind of experience with a balanced-year calendar school — have absolutely loved it," Mathews said at the Caledon, Ont., school. "Just when students [and] teachers would benefit from a break, the balanced-year school model lends itself to that."

Advocates praise the balanced calendar model as a way to stave off summer learning loss, keep minds refreshed and give families different opportunities to enjoy time off.

Carrying the same total instructional days as regular schools, balanced calendar schools distribute breaks differently. Peel District's balanced schools, for instance, start about a month earlier. They take two weeks off at Thanksgiving, three weeks in December, a week before Family Day and March break is doubled.

Roberto Sarjoo says periodic breaks keep his three kids from feeling burnt out from long stretches of school, while the shorter summer break means they return without losing momentum. "They get re-engaged really quickly," said Sarjoo, chair of the Tony Pontes P.S. parent council. "Once they start back, they're not spending time in school relearning what they may have learned at the end of the year."

Balanced calendar schools have drawbacks, however, including a need for air conditioning in the summer months, scheduling conflicts with other schools or family members, and the availability of teachers.

Different ways to organize schools calendars are indeed possible, but wholesale change "would need to serve ... a plurality of families in the school system," said Jason Ellis, an associate professor of educational studies at the University of British Columbia.

Got a news tip or story idea? Contact us.

More on this issue

Read the full story here.

Schedule changes at Yukon school aim to give students more time on the land.

Extreme heat days are overheating schools more often — and experts say it needs our attention.

Beach view

(Dylan Martinez/Reuters)

Canada played Switzerland in women's beach volleyball at Eiffel Tower Stadium in Paris yesterday. Switzerland defeated the Canadians in three sets. Read CBC's complete Olympic coverage, including the women's soccer team who qualified for the quarterfinals yesterday, here.

In brief

One person is dead and more than 50 others were injured after a tent collapsed at a Buddhist meditation centre late yesterday afternoon in a small community northwest of Edmonton. RCMP say a structure collapsed in severe weather around 5:30 p.m. MT at the Westlock Meditation Centre in Busby, Alta. "A severe weather storm came in with some severe winds and at one point the tent structure collapsed on many occupants," said RCMP Cpl. Troy Savinkoff. He said there were between 100 and 200 people in the tent at the time. Several suffered serious injuries and were taken to hospital. At least 50 more suffered minor injuries, he said. The centre was scheduled to host an 11-day-long retreat starting on Thursday. Read more about the tent collapse here.

Two witnesses stormed out of a parliamentary committee meeting yesterday after Liberals tried to steer a planned discussion about violence against women toward the topic of abortion rights. The rare summer hearing of the House of Commons status of women committee was organized so MPs could hear from advocates and a deputy chief of the Peel Regional Police. Though witnesses set out to sombrely argue that the current justice and bail system is failing victims, the session quickly derailed into a mess of political bickering. Cait Alexander, who heads up the advocacy group End Violence Everywhere, left the room in tears. Women's advocate Megan Walker turned her back on the committee and followed. Read The Canadian Press's report from the meeting here.

The owner and realtor selling Windsor, Ont.'s historic Low-Martin mansion are trying some unconventional techniques to market the house, which has remained up for sale more than two years. The mansion, also known as the Devonshire Lodge, was built in 1928 for rum runner Harry Low, who was at times visited by Al Capone. In the 1960s, the house was bought by Paul Martin Sr., the father of former Canadian prime minister Paul Martin, who grew up in the house. Realtor Razvan Mag is using the quirky history of the house and its meaning to the city to inform a video series and even hiring a professional dancer in the hopes of catching the right buyer for the $3 million home. Read more about the Low-Martin mansion here.

Donald Trump falsely suggested yesterday that Kamala Harris had previously downplayed her Black heritage. "I didn't know she was Black, until a number of years ago, when she happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black," Trump said to the U.S.'s largest annual gathering of Black journalists. "So I don't know, is she Indian or is she Black?" Trump continued. "But you know what, I respect either one, but she obviously doesn't, because she was Indian all the way, and all of a sudden she made a turn and became a Black person." Harris, who is of Indian and Jamaican heritage, has long self-identified as both Black and South Asian. She is the first Black and South Asian American to serve as U.S. vice-president. Read more about Trump's comments here.

Now here's some good news to start your Thursday: The Ontario Summer Games kick off in London today, allowing youth athletes in the province to experience a little Olympic echo. General manager Dave De Kelver said coinciding with the Summer Games in Paris is great timing for the competition. "A week ago these kids were probably watching the opening ceremonies in Paris and they will experience their own because we will do an opening ceremonies that is Olympic-style. They will march past mom and dad, give the wave and go out onto the field. To a 12- to 18-year-old kid, it will feel like the Olympics." De Kelver expects the opening ceremony will draw about 9,000 people. The Summer Games athletes, ages 12 to 18, will compete at venues across the city and in the surrounding area. All the events are free for spectators. Read more about the Ontario Summer Games here.

FIRST PERSON

Why I decided against taking an internship in my field and to waitress instead

For Madeline Buss, working as a restaurant supervisor and waitress is a different day-to-day reality than other students in her university economics program doing lower-paid internships in their field. But she couldn’t afford Vancouver’s high cost of living otherwise. Read her First Person piece here.

Your weekly guide to what you need to know about federal politics and the minority Liberal government. Get the latest news and sharp analysis delivered to your inbox every Sunday morning. Click here to subscribe to the newsletter.

A Hamas leader is assassinated in Iran

The killing in Iran of one of Hamas’s highest-ranking members, in what is widely believed to have been an Israeli strike, has sparked fears of a wider regional war. Listen to today's episode

Today in history: Aug. 1

1936: The Olympic Games opens in Berlin with a ceremony presided over by Adolf Hitler. American Jesse Owens went on to win four gold medals in track and field.

1957: The North American Air Defence Agreement is announced. The agreement integrated the air-defence forces of the United States and Canada. In 1981, the command was renamed the North American Aerospace Defence Command, or NORAD.

1966: A sniper atop the University of Texas tower shoots 48 people, killing at least 13. The shooter was killed by a police officer after a 92-minute rampage.

1985: A U.S. icebreaker leaves Greenland for a voyage through the Northwest Passage without Canada's permission.

(With files from CBC News, The Canadian Press, The Associated Press and Reuters)