Track break no longer a nightmare

Nancy Evangelisti faces many of the problems that most single, working mothers with elementary-age children face. But when summer rolls around, she's not wondering what to do with months of free time.

Her daughters, a first-grader and second-grader, attend Gene Ward Elementary School, a year-round school. Her daughters take five minibreaks strategically placed throughout the 12- month school year.

Those three-week breaks might have been a problem for Evangelisti and her children, but because of programs offered by the County Parks and Recreation Department, Evangelisti doesn't worry about what to do with the girls.

"If it wasn't for the Parks and Recreation Department, I don't know what I'd do," Evangelisti said. The surgical technician at a local eye institute drops her girls off at Paradise Park Community Center at 7 a.m., then picks them up around 6:30 p.m., the end of her work day.

Because Clark County School District has the second highest number of year-round schools in the nation -- Los Angeles Unified School District with 218 has the highest -- enrollment at community track-break programs is on the rise.

There are 66 year-round elementary and 10 year-round middle schools with more than 62,000 children valleywide.

Over the past two years, the county's track-break programs have grown by 44 percent, said Joanne Lorrey, an administrator for the county's recreational programs.

In 1998, there were more than 36,000 students, including repeat attendees, participating in county track-break programs. The city of Las Vegas had 14,000 participants.

Because track breaks vary for elementary, middle and high schools, some parents say the community-center programs are more reliable than a baby sitter or an older sibling, who may not be on the same schedule.

Year-round elementary schools have five track breaks, each taken at different times so that one-fifth of the school is on vacation at any given time. Students attend school for 60 days, then take a break for 15. (Some students start the school year on track break.) Middle schools students have four track breaks: They attend for 60 days, then break for 20. There are no year-round high schools.

For many parents, the $35-a-week or $8-a-day rate at the county's centers beats the cost of day-care centers, which average about $100 a week. The city of Henderson charges $65 a week for its program; the city of Las Vegas charges $55 a week.

The programs, which focus on recreation for children ages 7 to 17, are not to be confused with day care.

While day care usually offers educational programs, track-break programs focus on recreational activities and arts and crafts. It's similar to all-day recess, Lorrey said.

At community centers, children are monitored until 3 p.m. At that time, open recreation begins, meaning children can come and go as they please at no charge and are no longer monitored.

The county's four community centers average 150 children a day in track-break programs. "In the summer, the figures triple," Lorrey said.

The number of students enrolled on a daily basis depends on the track and the center. "It's starting to even out because of more year-round schools," she said.

Henderson offers two track-break programs that average 120 students a day combined and is planning to add a third program next year. Las Vegas averages 300 children a day at five centers.

"It's pretty much doubled (over the last couple of years) because we've doubled the number of sites we had," Marc Walters, field supervisor for Las Vegas track-break programs, said. "There're so many year-round schools that the demand is high.

"Most of our buildings will hold 60 to 65 kids. We're pretty much full every session. Sometimes we have to hire extra staff."

The city is planning to add more facilities to keep up with the growing number of year-round schools, Walters said.

The number of year-round schools in the valley will increase, according to Ray Willis, school district spokesman.

"We're going to continue to converge," Willis said. "The growth of the district has been so rapid that we had to do a number of things to allow for space. Aside from building new schools, portables and year-rounds are options."

Schools make the change to year-round campuses at the beginning of the next school year if projected or existing enrollment exceeds student capacity by 15 percent and zoning is not changed.

For parents such as Evangelisti, who prefers a 12-month schedule because it keeps her children busy all year long, this is not a problem.

"It's comfortable here," Evangelisti said of Paradise Park Community Center.

"My feeling is this is an extension of home," Charles Martin, director of youth programs at Paradise Park, said.

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