Year-round school gets mixed reviews in Aiken County

NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - Aiken County Public School District launched an adapted schedule for the 2023-2024 school year.

The change has parents, teachers and students grappling with mixed emotions.

Even at the high school level, there can be a first for everything, even a new schedule.

“I don’t like the idea of going back to school in July,” said Melanie Ball, a freshman at North Augusta High School.

Amanda Pennington, a teacher’s aide in the school district, finds the new schedule refreshing.

“I think it gives us breaks throughout the school year so it makes it easier to get through the school year. It gives you something to look forward to,” said Pennington.

While the school year is now drawn out, with extended breaks in the spring and fall, it sometimes feels like hyper speed to test takers.

Ball said: “It was very quick. And it was very hard to obtain all the knowledge because the AP tests are so much earlier. I can’t imagine what I would have done. If it was my first-semester class, then I would have to take the exam in May.”

But not everyone is supposed to like it. After all, it is school.

Pennington said: “It was maybe challenging for parents that don’t work in the school system and had to find childcare for their children while the schools were closed.”

Fun in the sun is up for debate too.

Some parents see it as “The shorter summer might be better for some students because at some point you kind of have to get back in the grind of school,” said Pennington. “At some point, it’s like summer is over. Let’s get our kids back to school.”

But for a soon-to-be sophomore: “I just wanted to have a normal summer because when I’m an adult, I’m not gonna be able to have these summers where I have time off and everything,” said Ball.

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