What Are Year-Round Schools?
Families moving to Wake County will find that the Wake County Public School System operates 49 of its 156 schools on a multi-track year-round calendar.
What is a multi-track year-round calendar?
Students attending schools that follow the multi-track year-round calendar still attend school for 180 days, just like students on the traditional calendar. The main difference between the two calendars is the days that the students are in school and the days they have off for vacation.
Schools following the multi-track year-round calendar organize students into four groups or “tracks.” Each track follows a different schedule. The schedules are staggered so that at any given time, three of the tracks are in school and one track is out on break. This system is a “45/15 Schedule,” meaning the pupils are in school for 45 days, then off for 15, throughout the year.
The school year in a year-round school begins in early July for students on tracks 1, 2 and 3. Students on track 4 begin the school year 15 days later – when track 3 takes its first break. Year-round students have the same holidays as those on the traditional calendar.
As a result the of historic, rapid growth taking place in our system, the Board of Education has chosen to operate more schools on a multi-track system. Multi-track year-round schools are able to accommodate up to 33 percent more pupils in a building. For every three schools on a multi-track year-round calendar, one less school has to be built and equipped.
Families can use track-out time for vacation, or track-out can be used for additional learning. Some elementary schools offer intersession programs during track-out for pupils who are behind and need to catch up in their studies. Child care providers in our community offer child care during track-out.
Calendars for year-round schools (and traditional schools as well) can be found at http://www.wcpss.net/Calendars/.
How are families assigned to calendars?
In the past, multi-track year-round schools were considered magnet schools and families had to apply to attend. However, as the growth in the student population began to outpace Wake County’s school construction program, the school system began utilizing the extra capacity afforded by schools on the year-round calendar to ensure that enough space was available for all the students moving into the system. In 2007, WCPSS converted 22 schools to the year-round calendar and agreed to open all new elementary and middle schools as multi-track year-round schools.
As a result, a family’s assigned base school may now be a multi-track year-round school.
What options exist for families who want a different calendar?
Families in Wake County have many options. Families are assigned to a base school that may follow either the traditional or year-round calendar. Families have the option of applying for a transfer to another school that serves their grade level. There are also opportunities for families to apply to attend one of the system’s innovative magnet schools. For information about your specific situation, contact your base school, the WCPSS Customer Service Center at 919-850-1600 or the Office of Student Assignment at 919-850-1921.