Organization of the school calendar redistributes time from the traditional summer vacation to other times throughout the year in the form of breaks called inter sessions.
Two forms of year-round education are common:
Single-Track calendars
As with traditional calendars (all single track calendars are modified traditional calendars), all students attend school during the same intervals, and share the same scheduled breaks. Single-track year-round calendars are known by many names; Balanced Calendar, Modified Calendar, Alternative Calendar. This list is not all inclusive. All year-round calendars are identified by their characteristics, not by what name has been chosen by the school district. These characteristics are shortened summer vacation, Fall breaks, extended Christmas and/or Easter breaks, and early school start dates. Typical school start dates are in late July/early August.
Multi-track scheme
Students are assigned different schedules called tracks. These tracks are also split up throughout the year, but a single student is not required to attend every single track in order to complete one full year of education. At all times during the year, students in the same school will be on vacation while others are schooling. Typical school start dates are in July.
Whether on a single- or multi-track schedule, students attend school for a prescribed length of time and then have a vacation. These breaks, whether vacation time or instruction time, are known as inter sessions. Common schedules are 7 to 12 weeks of school, followed by a 1-3 week break. Summer vacations are shortened to as little as 4 weeks in order to support the added breaks throughout the year.