Beginning next school year, summer breaks may consist of more books and less beaches for some Canton students.
"We really want to be creative, we want to be transformative here, we don't want to do the status quo," said Canton City Schools Superintendent Adrian Allison.
The status quo, Allison said, is having school nine months out of the year. Instead, he wants learning year round.
"What we know is that our data says that our students lose a lot of what they gained during the school year over the summer, so we need to try something different," he said.
Something different is being offered to students in kindergarten through six grade. Those who choose the program will be in school for 45 days then out of school for 15 days. This repeats throughout the year and in the summer they'll get a five week vacation.
Allison acknowledges parents might be a bit uneasy about this.
"The biggest fear for parents was, you know, what am I going to do over the summer, and what am I going to do about babysitting, I think we can solve all of those issues, but we will find out," he said.
But he reminds parents that this is an optional program.
"The good thing is that were not doing this district wide, so if parents want to do it, we would love to have them come join us," said the superintendent.
This will be the first school district in Stark County to try year-round schooling. Cleveland has several schools already using the model. The graduation rate for Canton High Schools is 86 percent, a number Allison is trying to improve.
"Education is changing, the world is changing," said Allison. "You can't do things the same way you've always done them."
