FCPS 2018-2019 school calendar?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. People check out b/c the calendar says June = summer. They don't check out in May -- b/c it's May.

I think August = summer and September = back to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. People check out b/c the calendar says June = summer. They don't check out in May -- b/c it's May.

I think August = summer and September = back to school.

+1!

[Anonymous]

Maybe YOU think August = summer, but as an objective matter, the Back to School sales starting at the end of July (national ads) and the VA state "Back to School Tax Free Holidays" being on the first weekend in August say that August = Back to School.

A history of when schools start and why:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/04/living/school-start-dates-august-parents-feat/index.html

http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-school-start-dates-lausd-20160815-snap-story.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. People check out b/c the calendar says June = summer. They don't check out in May -- b/c it's May.

I think August = summer and September = back to school.

+1

I've never thought of June as summer. To me, summer is July and August.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seems a bit late to change the start date for 2018. Some of us have already booked vacation houses for
The week of 8/18

I know - same here

Only in FFX County do folks actually think their vacation is a reason to not start school at a certain time. First world problems indeed and the reason this area is incredibly self focused.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seems a bit late to change the start date for 2018. Some of us have already booked vacation houses for
The week of 8/18

I know - same here

Only in FFX County do folks actually think their vacation is a reason to not start school at a certain time. First world problems indeed and the reason this area is incredibly self focused.

Wherever I live, I would appreciate a consistent start of school year schedule for planning purposes. And, yes I think this area has a high proportion of dual working parents who have to make summer care plans - particularly for the week right after school gets out and the week right before school starts because camp options are fewer then. And yes, I think the school board should take the population of their families into account when making decisions. We already had to sign up for a sleepaway camp for next summer to get last year's price before it goes up.

[Anonymous]

Why do people even have to be so involved this year in the school calendar? It just shows such poor planning on behalf of the committee who put these suggestions forward. I would have thought it would be obvious not to change the start of school right after changing it the year before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. People check out b/c the calendar says June = summer. They don't check out in May -- b/c it's May.

I think August = summer and September = back to school.

+1

I've never thought of June as summer. To me, summer is July and August.

really? You never got to Memorial Day and heard people talking about summer clothes and summer food and summer travel? You never thought at Memorial Day -- yay! Summer is here? When it is 90 degrees in June, you never thought "this sure is summery!"??

Really?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seems a bit late to change the start date for 2018. Some of us have already booked vacation houses for
The week of 8/18

I know - same here

Only in FFX County do folks actually think their vacation is a reason to not start school at a certain time. First world problems indeed and the reason this area is incredibly self focused.

Larry Hogan just changed the start date of all MD schools to after Labor Day citing economic reasons. It's not just a first world concern for rich Fairfax residents if governors are dictating start dates. Virginia still needs a waiver from the state for their start date.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. People check out b/c the calendar says June = summer. They don't check out in May -- b/c it's May.

I think August = summer and September = back to school.

+1

I've never thought of June as summer. To me, summer is July and August.

really? You never got to Memorial Day and heard people talking about summer clothes and summer food and summer travel? You never thought at Memorial Day -- yay! Summer is here? When it is 90 degrees in June, you never thought "this sure is summery!"??

Really?

But technically summer doesn't start until June 23 or so and it's technically still really summer at the end of August

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. People check out b/c the calendar says June = summer. They don't check out in May -- b/c it's May.

I think August = summer and September = back to school.

+1

I've never thought of June as summer. To me, summer is July and August.

really? You never got to Memorial Day and heard people talking about summer clothes and summer food and summer travel? You never thought at Memorial Day -- yay! Summer is here? When it is 90 degrees in June, you never thought "this sure is summery!"??

Really?

Sure, but aren’t those even more applicable to August?

Let me be more specific. To me, complete summer break from school is July and August.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Options A and B-no way. So they shortened summer last year and want to shorten it again this year? Wow. That's harsh. Kids in sports and band would start camps a week earlier-that means near the end of July? Weather can't always been depended on in early June. We like to buy a pool membership but probably would not if options A or B were chosen. We would barely make use of it. It was bad enough they started before Labor Day this year. It was tough for my kids and a lot of other kids I know.

The pools are empty in Augist.

Not that pool use should be the metric -- but they are empty in August because (1) everyone has had enough swim time by then and it's old news, and (2) many people leave town for vacations in Aug b/c Congress shuts down. So, yes, pools are generally not very full in Aug. People are excited about summer in June/right after Memorial Day. By August, they are looking toward the next thing and summer is a has-been.

The pools are packed in June and empty in August.

Pools are not going to lose any business by fcps starting mid August

Somebody upthread said they wouldn’t join if the season was shortened.

That person is just like the actors who said they are moving to Canada when Trump won.

They will still join the pool. Because, well, swim team.

It is not the swim team parents who won't join. Its the people not on the swim team but who just use the pool. Less people renting and owning translates into less people paying for the pool which translates into less maintenance and pools closing. It's possible they could move up the entire swim team calendar to allow for a July-August rental after swim team, but then the kids get one less week to practice so that will not be popular either. Plus most kids that staff pools are high schoolers who then won't be able to staff the pool in August. The pools already open up on Memorial Day and the weather isn't warm enough to typically open earlier.

REALLY??? don't those same High schooler staff the pool in June as we have it now? They just open the pools at 3:00 and close at 8:00. They can do the same thing if school starts Aug. 23rd. Pools are open in the evening for a week (plus all day on the weekend.) Not such a hard problem to solve.

The solvency of your private swim club is not more important than the education of 190,000 kids.

But if you're changing the start dates to better prepare for AP/IB tests, it is not for the betterment of 190,000 kids. It's for the kids in high school taking those tests.

Ummm...

School is about school, which includes AP and IB tests.

School is not about swimming pools (that are always half empty in August anyway, even with a post Labor Day start).

Pool time is irrelevant to this discussion and is not even a little bit on par with the very important AP and IB exams.

Another positive with ending early June is that now our high schoolers will be able to participate in competitive summer academic programs that start mid June. They are iced out of so many of them with fcps going so late into June.

This is a win win (yes, a win even for those attached to empty August pools.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It doesn't work too well when our surrounding districts including Montgomery County are not starting this early. It will be a detraction from people moving here and deciding where to live. There is no reason to start that early.

For most people moving into the area, starting in mid August and getting out as close to May as possible like the vast majority of the rest of the country is a HUGE plus and will tip the balance towards FCPS and away from the districts that start so late

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. People check out b/c the calendar says June = summer. They don't check out in May -- b/c it's May.

People test out because all the important testing is done in May. June is just a filler month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It doesn't work too well when our surrounding districts including Montgomery County are not starting this early. It will be a detraction from people moving here and deciding where to live. There is no reason to start that early.

For most people moving into the area, starting in mid August and getting out as close to May as possible like the vast majority of the rest of the country is a HUGE plus and will tip the balance towards FCPS and away from the districts that start so late

We moved from a district that had (and still has) a school calendar with a post Labor Day start and an end date prior to the end of the second week of June. The difference I find is the number of student holidays/teacher workdays here.

It isn’t the pools but rather the county fair that keeps them from starting earlier.