Isn the “traditional” calendar is an obsolete agrarian calendar?
01/08/2006 – The current traditional calendar of 180 days with a long summer break was only adopted widely after WWII. It was adopted because it best served the needs of both rural and metropolitan families once broad access to high school became possible through government funding. – Source: Shepard and Baker, 1977 In 1932, students took a vacation lasting three to six weeks to pick cotton. … Many call the traditional approach that starts the school year in mid-August an outdated agrarian calendar, yet the Depression-era board policy to start sooner was made for agricultural reasons, according to Nell Blankenship, past president of the Rutherford County Historical Society. “They went (to school) for six weeks and got out for cotton-picking season,” Blankenship explained. Students picked cotton for three to six weeks, and board members determined how long the break would be for their own districts. After returning from the harvest, students would take more breaks for the holidays but
