WAKE COUNTY, N.C. -- Year-round schools are now a reality for thousands of families in Wake County.

NBC17 asked two parents affected by the school calendar switch -- one for new schedule and one opposed to it -- to host a new blog dedicated to this heated debate.

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New School On The Blog - My Year-Round Experience

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"I just can’t figure it out. I just don’t know why the schedule is going to be changed,” said, 8-year-old Tyler Jennings.

 

Tyler doesn't have to figure it out. His parents do.

 

His mother Sheryl Jennings wanted a year round schedule for the past two years. Now she's got it since Rand Road Elementary in Garner made the schedule change to year-round.

 

“Since we need more schools and they can't build them right away, we have to make efficient use of the space we have, so that's one step we have to do," said Sheryl.

 

Year-round students attend school for nine weeks at a time, then break for three weeks. The small bursts of vacation work well for the Jennings family because both parents work full-time.

 

"I think sometimes the long summer break gets boring for them and it's hard to keep them entertained all summer long," said Sheryl.

 

But that's not the case for the Boneham family of Raleigh.

 

Summertime means swim meets, tennis matches and family reunions.  All four Boneham children compete on swim team, but there will be scheduling conflicts now that the younger two are back in class.

 

Lisa Boneham said, “I just don't want my kids on different schedules. It does split my family."

 

Clay and Chandler Boneham are on the new year-round schedule at Leesville Elementary. Their older brother and sister go to Leesville Middle, which remains on a traditional calendar with a start date of August 27^.

 

Judge Howard Manning made sure Wake County families had a choice. He ruled mandatory year-round schools are illegal. However, Lisa questioned what choice.

 

"You can choose the school you know and love and don't want to leave anyway, but it's going year-round. If you want traditional, you can have that choice, but we're not going to tell you where that will be until June," said Lisa.

 

So the Boneham’s decided the unknown wasn't worth the risk. They stayed at the school they loved Leesville Elementary.

 

On track three the siblings will get time off together at Thanksgiving and Christmas and some overlap over the summer. The rest of the year is a scheduling dilemma.

 

Lisa said, "If we do take a spring break trip, I might pull my younger ones out of school."

 

These two families have very different feelings about year-round schools.

 

Both feel strongly enough to blog about their new year-round experience on NBC 17.

 

"I don't want people to be looking up statistics. How about actually looking at a family that's going through it," said Sheryl.

 

Lisa said, you’ll “see there are definitely two sides of this story. It is more than just wanting your summer vacation."

 

Differences aside, the one thing these women do have in common is optimism.They know they have to be a positive force in their children's education, no matter the calendar.

 

Sheryl said, "They're adjusting fine, I’m adjusting alright. We're okay."

 

Lisa said, “We're going to make it work.I've got to look at it positively, but it's not ideal and it's not what I chose."