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t‘s been a sacred cow in the education Isystem for more than a century that school should start in September and end in June, giving kids a twoâ€"month break in the summer. St. Jude‘s school will begin offering fullâ€"year programs in September But modern edugational research, and the European model of schooling, suggests that children might be better served by going to school for the full year. The suggestion is that after four weeks of vacation they start to lose some of the knowledge and training in subjects like mathematics that they‘ve received during the traditional school year. That‘s why Waterloo‘s St. Jude‘s, a local private school, is going to a fullâ€"year educaâ€" tional model starting this September. _ School‘s out for summer? Fred Gore, the founder and director of the school, said children will still get 10 weeks of vacation a year, but because they spread it out their students will retain much more of the instruction they receive. "Our educational system should take a look at what‘s in the best interest of the chilâ€" dren," said Gore. "There is no longer a reaâ€" son to be off for 10 or al 1 weeks in the sumâ€" mer. "To group it up in a large block like that is detrimental to the child‘s learning, and the child‘s progress." _ â€" â€" It will also cut down on the amount of reviewing that instructors have to do as they try to get their students back up to speed. Instead they can build off the students‘ existâ€" ing knowledge base, and go back to work on new concepts. "We‘re not only breaking up our school year in a different fashion, we‘re increasing our instructional weeks," said Gore. "And because we‘ve spread it out it‘s more conâ€" ducive for the children not to lose knowledge and not to lose skills. "They still get that little refresher break and come back with a renewed focus." It will work by giving a week off at the end of October, two around Christmas, and one each at the end of February and April. The children will then have all of August off for a total of 10 weeks, with no break being longer than the fourâ€"week magical number that‘s key to memory retention. "There is no longer a reason to be off for 10 or 11 weeks in the summer." â€"Fred Gore Founder of St. Jude‘s school By Bos VrBANAC Chronicle Staff Waterloo‘s St. Jude‘s school, a local private school, will offer a fullâ€"year educational model starting in September. That‘s particularly important for the day students that attend the Waterloo campus of St. Jude‘s school. The program only has room for 30 students and is geared for those BUSINESS who need intensive or enriched instruction that they might not normally get in the pubâ€" licly funded school system. _ The goal of St. Jude‘s is to give each stuâ€" SUBMITTED PHOTO WATERLOO CHRONICLE + Wednesday, March 12, 2008 + 15 dent two years of intensive instruction that allows them to reintegrate in the normal school system. It‘s been such a successful model for Gore that he‘s planning to open up satellite campuses in Guelph and Kitchâ€" ener. So what do the families think about the yearâ€"round instruction the school will be providing? Gore said they‘ve been completeâ€" ly supportive and believe it will benefit the children who attend the program. "They know that their children are learnâ€" ing and they will be progressing," said Gore. "Plus they don‘t get the kinds of holidays their children get â€" they still have to go to work so this fits more into most families schedules. ® "Families with young children are espeâ€" cially in favour of it because they don‘t have to start to scramble every March to find proâ€" grams to put their children in for July and even August. And families with teens like it because they know where their children Gore, who has been an educator in the public system himself, knows it will take a little getting used to, but he‘s convinced this is the model of education for the future. "There‘s not many children within our school systems now that live on farms and have to be at home to help the family with the growing season," Gore said about the traditional agrarian model that inspired the school calendar. "That‘s why there are so many programs available in July and August because there are a lot of parents out there saying, ‘What am I going to do with my child for 10 weeks in the summer?" & "This matches parents and their careers and what they are doing now instead of the family of 200 years ago." _ _ _ _ s The school is also offering an August Headstart program for families looking to fill the gap between the school year from June to September. It will help students get ready for the new school year starting September and is already 60 per cent full. Gore said the school is also offering a Priâ€" mary Headstart Diploma program, called PHD, that gives kindergartenâ€"aged kids the opportunity to attend school full time instead of being confused about the rotating fullâ€"day JK and SK schedules. He said it was inspired by his grandsons Austin and Wyatt, who were becoming conâ€" fused about what days were school days because of the alternate fullâ€"day schedule that local school boards have brought in. "That‘s one of theâ€"advantages of running your own school," laughed the proud grandâ€" pa. â€" â€" â€" For more information on the program at St. Jude‘s call 519â€"888â€"0807, visit www.stjudes.com or go to www.scholarâ€" shall.com.