Warm weather, time off, swimming, being with friends and family; everyone is relieved when the season arrives.
Yet there have been proposals for an alternative to this tradition since agrarian times. Teachers claim that students experience a "learning slide" - they forget what they learned in the school year over the course of the summer.
In response, B.C. Education Minister George Abbot declared that schools have the option of year-round schooling, in which summers are cut short and other holidays are lengthened. Students would spend the same amount of time at school but spread out over 12 months.
More than 100 schools have embraced the new system, such as Spul'u'kwuks' elementary school in Richmond, which has three one-month breaks a year. Students there enjoy the breaks and early research indicates they have higher test scores than other schools in their district.
But the idea isn't popular with everyone. Student reaction is mixed.
Jenny Li, a previous student of Mulgrave School and currently enrolled in Spence in New York said, "There would be more time spent on reviewing than learning new material if the holidays are spread out more." She also said it would be harder to go on vacation with year-round schooling.
Jenna Dhanani, a-14 year old student at Sentinel secondary school in West Vancouver, feels that it would be difficult for friends or siblings at different schools to be together with year-round schooling as they may have different breaks.
"Another reason why the current calendar is better is extracurricular activities. People that have the same activity may go to different schools and may also have different holidays (if the new holidays are used). Some people might miss their activity because they went on vacation during their break."
Other students point out that year round schooling would be difficult for teachers as well as students who work at summer jobs.
However, some parents feel that year round schooling does have benefits. Elizabeth de Beer, originally from South Africa and mother of a child who attended Carson Graham, said that she prefers it.
"Kids get bored over the long summer. We need a longer Christmas and spring break since some jobs can't take the whole summer off. Families get to spend more time with their kids with year-round schooling. Families can also take less expensive vacations as they are flying in off-season, rather than in summer. In South Africa my kids had year round schooling and they did what Canadians do in grade 12 in grade 11."
Susan Lambert, B.C. Teachers' Federation president, told the Vancouver Sun that most teachers will be unwilling to give up summer break. She pointed out that it's a very intense profession, with five-hour teaching days plus preparation and marking and evaluation.
Debate continues with arguments on both sides. Many feel that it helps to prevent the learning slide - but research at Hofstra University's school of Education, Health and Human Services, suggests "that students in high-needs districts and those who have disabilities do better in year-round learning situations. But the results are not very significant."
-With files from Tralee Pierce, Richard Brennan, CBC and Beth Harpaz.
- Hannah Rahim submitted this story as a participant in Capilano University's Serious Fun Teen Journalism Summer Camp.
