Any chance DCPS reopens in person for Term 2 or Term 3?

[Anonymous]

I doubt they will start in the middle of a quarter, so if they don't restart November 9 I bet the next likely date is Feb 1.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:The November 9th reopening date never made sense to me. It’s just not feasible to jump from virtual learning on 11/6 to in-person learning on 11/9. Teachers will need time to put their classrooms together, get the school ready, and of course adjust plans for in-person learning. I’m certain this will require additional planning days being added to the calendar which will just push us closer to the holidays!

I’m thinking January at the earliest.

DCPS is most definitely not opening in 2020. I am hoping in January they start limited opening at least at the elementary schools, this is the age that really needs in person teaching. no ECE, move those teachers into other grades so classes can be small.

100% agree. Get the kindergarteners and 1st graders into the classroom, and small groups for kids with high level IEPs. I want my 3rd grader to go back, but I can wait.

Where are all these teachers coming from?! The Metro area has an extremely small substitute teaching pool. You live in a fantasy world.

um, the existing staff and aides?

So kids are all going back 5 days a week, 25 per class?

The point is, if we wanted to prioritize the most important groups for in-person school, we could figure it out. Most DCPS K classes (all?) don't have 25 kids anyway. They have more like 20 plus an aide. So I'm pretty sure it could be worked out if there was the will to do it.

+1

Bring back K and 1st grade. Bring back those teachers of K, 1st and their aides as well as ECE teachers to make smaller classes for K and 1st. We know ECE doesn’t work online anyway, and it isn’t a compulsory grade. Add in reading specialists, math coach, instructional coaches and anyone else who could teach those grades to make small classes.

If anyone goes back it will always be self contained first, then ELL, ECE, THEN K-2. I’m sorry but ECE is important and they don’t have time to be teaching K-2 kids.

This is why the US is rapidly falling behind other countries that on average have 97% participation across ECE.

No way. If they prioritize PK3 and 4, it should only be for childcare. K and 1st are muuuuch more important.

No, it’s not this is the exact mindset that keeps us behind. But this is probably why most parents aren’t experts

Can you share some studies that show this? Because I agree with PP, K and 1st are really critical grades and should be prioritized over ECE.

I think the person claiming this only has a 3 year old. There’s no other explanation.

Er, the other explanation is that she is right — at least partly.

If you are affluent, ECE is not critical.

If you are lower-income, ECE is critical.

Google it yourself and be better informed.

the question is if it is more critical than kindergarten. I doubt there is good research on this, but having seen just how much my kid learned in k and 1st, I think K and 1st are irreplaceable. they are the years you learn to read and write! I can believe good preschool is helpful but it’s just not anywhere close to the academic content of K and 1st.

[Anonymous]

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If anyone goes back it will always be self contained first, then ELL, ECE, THEN K-2. I’m sorry but ECE is important and they don’t have time to be teaching K-2 kids.

This is why the US is rapidly falling behind other countries that on average have 97% participation across ECE.

No way. If they prioritize PK3 and 4, it should only be for childcare. K and 1st are muuuuch more important.

No, it’s not this is the exact mindset that keeps us behind. But this is probably why most parents aren’t experts

Can you share some studies that show this? Because I agree with PP, K and 1st are really critical grades and should be prioritized over ECE.

I think the person claiming this only has a 3 year old. There’s no other explanation.

Er, the other explanation is that she is right — at least partly.

If you are affluent, ECE is not critical.

If you are lower-income, ECE is critical.

Google it yourself and be better informed.

the question is if it is more critical than kindergarten. I doubt there is good research on this, but having seen just how much my kid learned in k and 1st, I think K and 1st are irreplaceable. they are the years you learn to read and write! I can believe good preschool is helpful but it’s just not anywhere close to the academic content of K and 1st.

If PK3 and PK4 ECE are the most important grades (vs all others) then why isn't DC the best school system in the country?

You are taking studies about the importance of ECE out of context. They do not argue it is more important than other grades. They argue that educational outcomes are improved when they are provided.

[Anonymous]

I think there will be huge uproar if they bring back ECE before K-2. speaking as a parent with middle schoolers, I recognize that my kids are probably not going back to school any time soon. But ECE is primarily childcare. K-2 is education.

[Anonymous]

All those recommending 1 or 2 lower grades are back in school need a reality check. How do you think those kids get to school? For Title 1 schools - it is not uncommon for an older sibling (4th or 5th grader) to take them with them.

This is not an easy problem for a diverse urban area to solve.

This is not an inconvenience of dropping off 1 child as you supervise an older student and coordinating a car pool

[Anonymous]

Does anyone else fear that DCPS will stay closed all year, and might not even open NEXT year?? That's where I am. Even if there is a vaccine by Sep 2021, what if teachers say that the vaccine isn't effective ENOUGH?

[Anonymous]

Echoing what PP said. Or if the teachers refuse to take the vaccine because they believe it is not safe. DCPS can't force them to get the vaccine, can it?

And even with a safe vaccine, when will there be one that's dosed properly and safe for children?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone else fear that DCPS will stay closed all year, and might not even open NEXT year?? That's where I am. Even if there is a vaccine by Sep 2021, what if teachers say that the vaccine isn't effective ENOUGH?

No. Enough teachers have their own kids who they would want to have in school, and they aren't dumb enough to anger the public quite that much. A partially effective vaccine would get the caseload down pretty low.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All those recommending 1 or 2 lower grades are back in school need a reality check. How do you think those kids get to school? For Title 1 schools - it is not uncommon for an older sibling (4th or 5th grader) to take them with them.

This is not an easy problem for a diverse urban area to solve.

This is not an inconvenience of dropping off 1 child as you supervise an older student and coordinating a car pool

it’s not perfect but better than all those kids missing k and 1st.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Echoing what PP said. Or if the teachers refuse to take the vaccine because they believe it is not safe. DCPS can't force them to get the vaccine, can it?

And even with a safe vaccine, when will there be one that's dosed properly and safe for children?

As a teacher I could care less about the mythical vaccine. I want soap, hand sanitizer, guidance on what to do if a kid purposely coughs on me, and a guarantee that a required class quarantine doesn’t use my sick leave. All things that could have been done in July, but DCPS chose not to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Echoing what PP said. Or if the teachers refuse to take the vaccine because they believe it is not safe. DCPS can't force them to get the vaccine, can it?

And even with a safe vaccine, when will there be one that's dosed properly and safe for children?

As a teacher I could care less about the mythical vaccine. I want soap, hand sanitizer, guidance on what to do if a kid purposely coughs on me, and a guarantee that a required class quarantine doesn’t use my sick leave. All things that could have been done in July, but DCPS chose not to do.

DCPS should also be taking a survey of HVAC systems and ventilation in every school, like NYC is doing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Echoing what PP said. Or if the teachers refuse to take the vaccine because they believe it is not safe. DCPS can't force them to get the vaccine, can it?

And even with a safe vaccine, when will there be one that's dosed properly and safe for children?

As a teacher I could care less about the mythical vaccine. I want soap, hand sanitizer, guidance on what to do if a kid purposely coughs on me, and a guarantee that a required class quarantine doesn’t use my sick leave. All things that could have been done in July, but DCPS chose not to do.

DCPS should also be taking a survey of HVAC systems and ventilation in every school, like NYC is doing.

+1 to both the pp's. DCPS hasn't taken any real action to get us back to school. We need the policies and ventilation improvements like pp's said, plus real PPE and any other items for safer learning.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Does anyone else fear that DCPS will stay closed all year, and might not even open NEXT year?? That's where I am. Even if there is a vaccine by Sep 2021, what if teachers say that the vaccine isn't effective ENOUGH?

No. Enough teachers have their own kids who they would want to have in school, and they aren't dumb enough to anger the public quite that much. A partially effective vaccine would get the caseload down pretty low.

If a vaccine is out I can see teachers having to choose between going in person or quitting. That decision hasn’t been forced yet. If it were forced, I think we’d be back in school already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All those recommending 1 or 2 lower grades are back in school need a reality check. How do you think those kids get to school? For Title 1 schools - it is not uncommon for an older sibling (4th or 5th grader) to take them with them.

This is not an easy problem for a diverse urban area to solve.

This is not an inconvenience of dropping off 1 child as you supervise an older student and coordinating a car pool

You are confused because you are reading the posts purporting to care about the poor underserved families as genuine concern for those families. But that's all a smoke screen for these posters to get their kids out of the house and back into their own schools. The actual complications of "diverse urban area(s)" or Title I populations don't actually concern them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Does anyone else fear that DCPS will stay closed all year, and might not even open NEXT year?? That's where I am. Even if there is a vaccine by Sep 2021, what if teachers say that the vaccine isn't effective ENOUGH?

No. Enough teachers have their own kids who they would want to have in school, and they aren't dumb enough to anger the public quite that much. A partially effective vaccine would get the caseload down pretty low.

If a vaccine is out I can see teachers having to choose between going in person or quitting. That decision hasn’t been forced yet. If it were forced, I think we’d be back in school already.

To be clear, your position is that if teachers were forced to take a vaccine that hasn't yet been created then we'd all be back in school already? Let me guess, you also blame Joe Biden and Barack Obama for not having stockpiled a vaccine for something not actually in existence when they were in office. Well played.