Year-round schooling means that students will remember what they learn, instead of struggling the first weeks they are back from summer break. The National Summer Learning Association cites decades of research that shows that it can take anywhere from 8 to 13 weeks at the beginning of every school year for teachers to get their students back up to speed and ready to learn the new grade’s material. When it comes to learning and retention, students who attend year-round schools have nothing to lose and much to gain. It’s an easy way to bridge the achievement gap. Minority students, students who speak English as a second language, economically disadvantaged students, and students with disabilities are the most affected by the summer fallback. Studies have found that disadvantaged students lose about 27 percent more of their learning gains in the summer months than their peers. If that is not enough to affirm the need for year-round schooling for minorities, researcher Daniel O’Brien concluded that minority students progress their learning proficiency the fastest during the school year when compared to white and economically advantaged students. Furthermore, Anna Habash of Education Trust, a nonprofit that works with schools to better serve their student populations, says that for minorities, a year-round school schedule does more than help academically. In an interview with Education News, Habash said that schools with high numbers of poverty and minority students benefit greatly from year-round schooling because it keep students “on task” and leads to more “meaningful instruction” when there are not a lot of academically sound options at home. Students also get the chance to conduct a closer relationship with their teachers with year-round schooling allowing students to feel more comfortable in their learning environment. This petition is important to me because it will help me to improve my grades and overall gpa. As a community, I strongly believe that year-round schooling would help everyone as a whole and that it would only improve my school district and its students.