Year-long schedules can eliminate summer learning loss. Year-round schools also benefit students with varied learning needs, provide intersession remediation and enrichment opportunities, help second-language students learn English, maintain student interest in learning, feature ongoing extracurricular activities, and offer periodic staff…

Four dissimilar schools each respond to a learning challenge by questioning set-in-stone thinking and taking risks. A K-8 school in Toronto bypasses the traditional--and problematic--long summer vacation to follow a balanced calendar model. Students attend school year-round with two-week breaks scattered throughout the year; both remedial and…