Why doesn't MCPS include more than 1 snow day in the calendar?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And for the schools are for learning and not sports crowd, these are the final years many of these kids get to participate in team sports that teach valuable lessons in hard work, determination, and cooperation. To rob those children of that opportunity so a few kids can get an extra 2 weeks to prepare for a test is pretty stupid. If your kids need the extra 2 weeks, maybe you shouldn't have forced them into AP classes they aren't capable of in the first place

That is your opinion, not a fact and I disagree. Many other school districts in the country start far earlier in the country and are advantage for the same national tests offered in May. 40 pct of kids in many schools take AP exams or IB exams.

Schools by definition exist for academic learning not for team sports. The word extracurricular exists for a reasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And for the schools are for learning and not sports crowd, these are the final years many of these kids get to participate in team sports that teach valuable lessons in hard work, determination, and cooperation. To rob those children of that opportunity so a few kids can get an extra 2 weeks to prepare for a test is pretty stupid. If your kids need the extra 2 weeks, maybe you shouldn't have forced them into AP classes they aren't capable of in the first place

I don’t care about sports at all personally, but I do care about “in the scheme of life.” Everyone needs balance. We should maximize summer for teachers and students to recharge. The kids taking AP and upper level HS courses are already working so hard, much harder than any generation that came before them. Especially for seniors, who get into college before they even have final AP or IB scores, that extra week of August is better spent with friends, family, etc. enjoying summer than on one more week grinding toward an exam. Many colleges don’t even accept the credit (my Ivy League school did not). My kids are high school age and in these courses and I definitely think starting earlier in August is unnecessary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And for the schools are for learning and not sports crowd, these are the final years many of these kids get to participate in team sports that teach valuable lessons in hard work, determination, and cooperation. To rob those children of that opportunity so a few kids can get an extra 2 weeks to prepare for a test is pretty stupid. If your kids need the extra 2 weeks, maybe you shouldn't have forced them into AP classes they aren't capable of in the first place

Geez you're insufferable. I guess you're satusfied with the usless makeup days tacked on in June, maybe you don't even bother sending your kids, but it's not ideal for a variety of reasons. Starting the school year slightly earlier to build in more snow days is the most practical solution from a logistics standpoint AND would have the added benefit of more time for AP classes. It doesn't have to be and would unlikely be two weeks, stop being dramatic. If your kids can't adjust to starting school slightly earlier maybe you need to teach them more resilliance.

How come we were able to build in sufficient snow days in the past without starting in early August? Time to go back to whatever we were doing then.

[Anonymous]

Is there ANY chance that some of these days will be waived due to the severity and unusual circumstances? I also remember after the storm of 1996, the county added 20 or 30 minutes to the end of the school day for the entire 4th quarter. I wonder if something like that could be in play (not that I want that option AT ALL).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And for the schools are for learning and not sports crowd, these are the final years many of these kids get to participate in team sports that teach valuable lessons in hard work, determination, and cooperation. To rob those children of that opportunity so a few kids can get an extra 2 weeks to prepare for a test is pretty stupid. If your kids need the extra 2 weeks, maybe you shouldn't have forced them into AP classes they aren't capable of in the first place

Geez you're insufferable. I guess you're satusfied with the usless makeup days tacked on in June, maybe you don't even bother sending your kids, but it's not ideal for a variety of reasons. Starting the school year slightly earlier to build in more snow days is the most practical solution from a logistics standpoint AND would have the added benefit of more time for AP classes. It doesn't have to be and would unlikely be two weeks, stop being dramatic. If your kids can't adjust to starting school slightly earlier maybe you need to teach them more resilliance.

How come we were able to build in sufficient snow days in the past without starting in early August? Time to go back to whatever we were doing then.

I'm confuised if you don't understand the math or you think we need weeks of snow days. This year school started on Aug. 25. Starting a week earlier would have been August 18. I hardly consier that "early" August, but you do you. FWIW, MCPS used to build in 4. Most years that's probably about right. If there's that much concern about losing sunup to sundown football practice then MCPS could even have a midweek start. But sticking with the current status quo of 1 is dumb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there ANY chance that some of these days will be waived due to the severity and unusual circumstances? I also remember after the storm of 1996, the county added 20 or 30 minutes to the end of the school day for the entire 4th quarter. I wonder if something like that could be in play (not that I want that option AT ALL).

I Remember that as I was a first year MCPS teacher to 1st graders. It was torture. Kids were falling asleep and acting out. You wouldn’t think 30 min would make that much of a difference but it really did! That year almost did me in!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And for the schools are for learning and not sports crowd, these are the final years many of these kids get to participate in team sports that teach valuable lessons in hard work, determination, and cooperation. To rob those children of that opportunity so a few kids can get an extra 2 weeks to prepare for a test is pretty stupid. If your kids need the extra 2 weeks, maybe you shouldn't have forced them into AP classes they aren't capable of in the first place

Geez you're insufferable. I guess you're satusfied with the usless makeup days tacked on in June, maybe you don't even bother sending your kids, but it's not ideal for a variety of reasons. Starting the school year slightly earlier to build in more snow days is the most practical solution from a logistics standpoint AND would have the added benefit of more time for AP classes. It doesn't have to be and would unlikely be two weeks, stop being dramatic. If your kids can't adjust to starting school slightly earlier maybe you need to teach them more resilliance.

How come we were able to build in sufficient snow days in the past without starting in early August? Time to go back to whatever we were doing then.

What we’re doing then was unwelcoming to anyone who practiced a non-Abraham’s religious tradition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And for the schools are for learning and not sports crowd, these are the final years many of these kids get to participate in team sports that teach valuable lessons in hard work, determination, and cooperation. To rob those children of that opportunity so a few kids can get an extra 2 weeks to prepare for a test is pretty stupid. If your kids need the extra 2 weeks, maybe you shouldn't have forced them into AP classes they aren't capable of in the first place

Geez you're insufferable. I guess you're satusfied with the usless makeup days tacked on in June, maybe you don't even bother sending your kids, but it's not ideal for a variety of reasons. Starting the school year slightly earlier to build in more snow days is the most practical solution from a logistics standpoint AND would have the added benefit of more time for AP classes. It doesn't have to be and would unlikely be two weeks, stop being dramatic. If your kids can't adjust to starting school slightly earlier maybe you need to teach them more resilliance.

How come we were able to build in sufficient snow days in the past without starting in early August? Time to go back to whatever we were doing then.

What we’re doing then was unwelcoming to anyone who practiced a non-Abraham’s religious tradition.

Allowing excused absences for any and all religious and cultural holidays (in addition to maximum flexibility in excusing assignments related to those absences) is NOT unwelcoming. There is no justification whatsoever for closing schools on days where absenteeism among staff and students is less than 15%. We are not a religious institution. We should not be closing schools in a nod to any religion or culture; we should be making decisions only based on absentee data. All religions and cultures are equally important; we cannot possibly create a calendar honoring every holiday, so we shouldn't even delve into it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And for the schools are for learning and not sports crowd, these are the final years many of these kids get to participate in team sports that teach valuable lessons in hard work, determination, and cooperation. To rob those children of that opportunity so a few kids can get an extra 2 weeks to prepare for a test is pretty stupid. If your kids need the extra 2 weeks, maybe you shouldn't have forced them into AP classes they aren't capable of in the first place

Geez you're insufferable. I guess you're satusfied with the usless makeup days tacked on in June, maybe you don't even bother sending your kids, but it's not ideal for a variety of reasons. Starting the school year slightly earlier to build in more snow days is the most practical solution from a logistics standpoint AND would have the added benefit of more time for AP classes. It doesn't have to be and would unlikely be two weeks, stop being dramatic. If your kids can't adjust to starting school slightly earlier maybe you need to teach them more resilliance.

How come we were able to build in sufficient snow days in the past without starting in early August? Time to go back to whatever we were doing then.

What we’re doing then was unwelcoming to anyone who practiced a non-Abraham’s religious tradition.

Allowing excused absences for any and all religious and cultural holidays (in addition to maximum flexibility in excusing assignments related to those absences) is NOT unwelcoming. There is no justification whatsoever for closing schools on days where absenteeism among staff and students is less than 15%. We are not a religious institution. We should not be closing schools in a nod to any religion or culture; we should be making decisions only based on absentee data. All religions and cultures are equally important; we cannot possibly create a calendar honoring every holiday, so we shouldn't even delve into it.

It’s only going to increase, particularly among South Asians who have active parent groups. We should just get used to having those days off and change the school calendar to a few days earlier in August to adjust. Parents regularly state they crave a return to earlier bedtimes by mid-August.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And for the schools are for learning and not sports crowd, these are the final years many of these kids get to participate in team sports that teach valuable lessons in hard work, determination, and cooperation. To rob those children of that opportunity so a few kids can get an extra 2 weeks to prepare for a test is pretty stupid. If your kids need the extra 2 weeks, maybe you shouldn't have forced them into AP classes they aren't capable of in the first place

Geez you're insufferable. I guess you're satusfied with the usless makeup days tacked on in June, maybe you don't even bother sending your kids, but it's not ideal for a variety of reasons. Starting the school year slightly earlier to build in more snow days is the most practical solution from a logistics standpoint AND would have the added benefit of more time for AP classes. It doesn't have to be and would unlikely be two weeks, stop being dramatic. If your kids can't adjust to starting school slightly earlier maybe you need to teach them more resilliance.

How come we were able to build in sufficient snow days in the past without starting in early August? Time to go back to whatever we were doing then.

I'm confuised if you don't understand the math or you think we need weeks of snow days. This year school started on Aug. 25. Starting a week earlier would have been August 18. I hardly consier that "early" August, but you do you. FWIW, MCPS used to build in 4. Most years that's probably about right. If there's that much concern about losing sunup to sundown football practice then MCPS could even have a midweek start. But sticking with the current status quo of 1 is dumb.

It doesn’t seem like there’s any discussion of upping the number of snow days next year or even the year after. It sounds like MCPS staff are happy to have an extra set of full days off in the winter for snow days in exchange for some BS half days thrown in at the end of June where a lot of kids don’t attend anyway because they already of have vacation plans.

[Anonymous]

This is a lose lose topic.... If they have unused snowdays, people are mad that schoold didn't end earlier. If we go over, people want more snowdays added. For 5 years we didn't use a single snowday. It all evens out. People need to calm down and realize that situations like this are once every 10 years or so. Hopefully MCPS will use the contingency days before adding useless 1//2 days at the end of June.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a lose lose topic.... If they have unused snowdays, people are mad that schoold didn't end earlier. If we go over, people want more snowdays added. For 5 years we didn't use a single snowday. It all evens out. People need to calm down and realize that situations like this are once every 10 years or so. Hopefully MCPS will use the contingency days before adding useless 1//2 days at the end of June.

That doesn’t make sense. If you don’t use the snow days, you don’t go to school on those days marked as snow day makeup on the calendar. That’s the way my school district worked growing up. Since snow typically ends in February (maybe March in some years), you have months to adjust plans to whatever the definitive calendar for snow is.

Students get 180 days, and you don’t get shortchanged instructional time like this half days in June mess we had last years.

And I disagree that this is a once in 10 years snow event. We had 4 unplanned for snow days last year and MCPS only budgeted for one in its calendar. All our neighboring counties have more than one snow day built into their calendar (FCPS, DCPS, Baltimore County, Anne Arundel etc).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a lose lose topic.... If they have unused snowdays, people are mad that schoold didn't end earlier. If we go over, people want more snowdays added. For 5 years we didn't use a single snowday. It all evens out. People need to calm down and realize that situations like this are once every 10 years or so. Hopefully MCPS will use the contingency days before adding useless 1//2 days at the end of June.

That doesn’t make sense. If you don’t use the snow days, you don’t go to school on those days marked as snow day makeup on the calendar. That’s the way my school district worked growing up. Since snow typically ends in February (maybe March in some years), you have months to adjust plans to whatever the definitive calendar for snow is.

Students get 180 days, and you don’t get shortchanged instructional time like this half days in June mess we had last years.

And I disagree that this is a once in 10 years snow event. We had 4 unplanned for snow days last year and MCPS only budgeted for one in its calendar. All our neighboring counties have more than one snow day built into their calendar (FCPS, DCPS, Baltimore County, Anne Arundel etc).

That's not how it works here. If they put 184 days on the calendar like they used to, then it was theoretically possible to go to school 184 days.

While I'm sure there were some outliers, I don't remember anyone seriously complaining about that. Just the usual kids complaining, and a little bit from teachers about a long school year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a lose lose topic.... If they have unused snowdays, people are mad that schoold didn't end earlier. If we go over, people want more snowdays added. For 5 years we didn't use a single snowday. It all evens out. People need to calm down and realize that situations like this are once every 10 years or so. Hopefully MCPS will use the contingency days before adding useless 1//2 days at the end of June.

That doesn’t make sense. If you don’t use the snow days, you don’t go to school on those days marked as snow day makeup on the calendar. That’s the way my school district worked growing up. Since snow typically ends in February (maybe March in some years), you have months to adjust plans to whatever the definitive calendar for snow is.

Students get 180 days, and you don’t get shortchanged instructional time like this half days in June mess we had last years.

And I disagree that this is a once in 10 years snow event. We had 4 unplanned for snow days last year and MCPS only budgeted for one in its calendar. All our neighboring counties have more than one snow day built into their calendar (FCPS, DCPS, Baltimore County, Anne Arundel etc).

Back when MCPS had more instructional days built into the calendar, we didn’t get any back when there weren’t any snow days. We just had school for more than 180 days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a lose lose topic.... If they have unused snowdays, people are mad that schoold didn't end earlier. If we go over, people want more snowdays added. For 5 years we didn't use a single snowday. It all evens out. People need to calm down and realize that situations like this are once every 10 years or so. Hopefully MCPS will use the contingency days before adding useless 1//2 days at the end of June.

We have snow days every year. More than one. I don't think anyone is proposing building in 10 extra days for the exceptional events, but we should have 5.