L.A. Catholic schools to have one of the nation's longest school years

Most elementary schools in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles will add 20 days to their schedules, making their school year one of the longest in the United States, officials announced this week.

In announcing the expansion to a 200-day calendar, Cardinal Roger Mahony said that the archdiocese was not trying to gain a competitive advantage over the Los Angeles Unified School District, which has cut its school year to 175 days this year. He said the Catholic schools, which serve 52,000 elementary and middle-school children in three counties, were simply trying to step up their performance to ensure that students would become globally competitive.

"We're not in competition with LAUSD, nor is this aimed at LAUSD," the cardinal said during a news conference at Nativity School in South Los Angeles. 

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-- Mitchell Landsberg

Photo: Cardinal Roger Mahony, joined by pupils at Nativity School in South Los Angeles, details a plan to extend the academic year at elementary and middle schools in the archdiocese. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Comments

[Douglas E. Welch]

While I had no problem with the extended schedule announcement, many of my fellow Catholic school parents did.

Pushback has been so vocal that our school, and others, have postponed extending the calendar for at least 1 more year and then adding days slowly over the next 2-3 years.

It seems the decision was an extremely "top down" decision that caught many principals off guard and left them facing the complaints on their own. The policy could have been communicated in a much better fashion, seeking input on how best to accomplish the project. Now the diocese has to deal with very unhappy staff and riled parents when they could have included them in the process from the beginning.

[lioness]

A step worth emulating. The kids in this picture don't look pleased, but any plan for teachers and students to spend more time learning is a good one.

[Richard]

Please! There is no competition! LAUSD sucks and everyone knows it. Private schools (and that includes Catholic schools) have always done MORE with LESS money than that monster of a school district, LAUSD.

[Mo Money]

Come on, really Mahony, way to get away from the real reason. How about 20 more days of tuition, now multiply that by the 52,000 students.......well I think most can do the math. Sounds like they still need cover some outstanding scandal lawsuits. Unfortunately, LA unified here we come!

[Foreign Language Learner]

Based on the childrens reaction to this news they don't seem to be excited. Don't get me wrong but more schooling is great. We should not overwhelm the students though.