We are one of the largest county schools in our area with over 18,000 K-12 students in our district. When we had a very large population increase in the early 70's due to St Louis' urban sprawl, schools could not be built quick enough to accomodate the influx of students, so cycles/ year round school was formed. It worked like this only for elementary students (Middle and High schools had summers off) 4 qtrs of 9 weeks in school+ 3 weeks out of school=1 school year...and unfortunately no summer break longer than the 3 weeks before entering the next grade. Now, with enough facilities, they finally overturned the cycled schedule and altered the whole district making it 4 qtrs with a 1.5 week break between each (Think of them like Spring break...only extended...and in the Fall, Winter, and Spring breaks) for all levels K-12. Hence our need to return early to accomodate the extra/ longer breaks).
