Melanie Meren's FB post about the calendar

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, love the non-5 day weeks. They are great. Summer is such a pain to plan, and we (and most of our friends) much prefer a day here and there, rather than additional weeks in the summer.

I agree! We love the 4 day weeks! It really helps with the sleep for middle and high schoolers.

Time to be a parent. The entire school system doesn't operate around the needs of your special child.

And it doesn’t operate around your need for a 5 day week. As long as the kids get in the required hours of instructional time I do not care. I prefer the 4 day weeks and so do a lot of parents and teachers. Your whining isn’t going to change that. Time to be a parent and deal with it.

It's not like there is always e.g. Wednesday off and some consistent schedule on the rest of the days, it's a mess of random days off mixed with early releases. You can have the same number of hours (though I bet early release messes this too), but still make learning more challenging by spreading those hours inconsistently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, love the non-5 day weeks. They are great. Summer is such a pain to plan, and we (and most of our friends) much prefer a day here and there, rather than additional weeks in the summer.

I agree! We love the 4 day weeks! It really helps with the sleep for middle and high schoolers.

Time to be a parent. The entire school system doesn't operate around the needs of your special child.

And it doesn’t operate around your need for a 5 day week. As long as the kids get in the required hours of instructional time I do not care. I prefer the 4 day weeks and so do a lot of parents and teachers. Your whining isn’t going to change that. Time to be a parent and deal with it.

It's not like there is always e.g. Wednesday off and some consistent schedule on the rest of the days, it's a mess of random days off mixed with early releases. You can have the same number of hours (though I bet early release messes this too), but still make learning more challenging by spreading those hours inconsistently.

I would guess elementary school parents are the most vocal about this calendar. It’s not just the childcare hardship. We have every day covered and the calendar has still been difficult. Many of the early release days fall on short weeks, so they’re in school Monday, off Tuesday, out early on Wednesday… and these were planned! Throw in snow days and delayed opening in between and the routine is chaos for young kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, love the non-5 day weeks. They are great. Summer is such a pain to plan, and we (and most of our friends) much prefer a day here and there, rather than additional weeks in the summer.

I agree! We love the 4 day weeks! It really helps with the sleep for middle and high schoolers.

Time to be a parent. The entire school system doesn't operate around the needs of your special child.

And it doesn’t operate around your need for a 5 day week. As long as the kids get in the required hours of instructional time I do not care. I prefer the 4 day weeks and so do a lot of parents and teachers. Your whining isn’t going to change that. Time to be a parent and deal with it.

It's not like there is always e.g. Wednesday off and some consistent schedule on the rest of the days, it's a mess of random days off mixed with early releases. You can have the same number of hours (though I bet early release messes this too), but still make learning more challenging by spreading those hours inconsistently.

I would guess elementary school parents are the most vocal about this calendar. It’s not just the childcare hardship. We have every day covered and the calendar has still been difficult. Many of the early release days fall on short weeks, so they’re in school Monday, off Tuesday, out early on Wednesday… and these were planned! Throw in snow days and delayed opening in between and the routine is chaos for young kids.

Exactly, and young kids are the ones who need structure the most. Also, I think no one believes that there is much of instruction happening on early release days, this is such a disruption, that the even classes scheduled in the morning are suffering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, love the non-5 day weeks. They are great. Summer is such a pain to plan, and we (and most of our friends) much prefer a day here and there, rather than additional weeks in the summer.

I agree! We love the 4 day weeks! It really helps with the sleep for middle and high schoolers.

Time to be a parent. The entire school system doesn't operate around the needs of your special child.

And it doesn’t operate around your need for a 5 day week. As long as the kids get in the required hours of instructional time I do not care. I prefer the 4 day weeks and so do a lot of parents and teachers. Your whining isn’t going to change that. Time to be a parent and deal with it.

The vast majority of kids need a 5 day school week. I don't know of any parent that prefers a 4 day week, seriously, no one I know wants a 4 day school week. It is awful for working parents and most families in the US have working parents.

The 5 day week provides stability and consistency that is needed by all kids, even HS students. If your kid is so overwhelmed with the homework in their schedule, look at altering their schedule so it is less intense. Be a parent. Stop whining about your kid needing to study for classes that you allowed them to take or even encouraged them to take.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, love the non-5 day weeks. They are great. Summer is such a pain to plan, and we (and most of our friends) much prefer a day here and there, rather than additional weeks in the summer.

I agree! We love the 4 day weeks! It really helps with the sleep for middle and high schoolers.

Time to be a parent. The entire school system doesn't operate around the needs of your special child.

And it doesn’t operate around your need for a 5 day week. As long as the kids get in the required hours of instructional time I do not care. I prefer the 4 day weeks and so do a lot of parents and teachers. Your whining isn’t going to change that. Time to be a parent and deal with it.

The vast majority of kids need a 5 day school week. I don't know of any parent that prefers a 4 day week, seriously, no one I know wants a 4 day school week. It is awful for working parents and most families in the US have working parents.

The 5 day week provides stability and consistency that is needed by all kids, even HS students. If your kid is so overwhelmed with the homework in their schedule, look at altering their schedule so it is less intense. Be a parent. Stop whining about your kid needing to study for classes that you allowed them to take or even encouraged them to take.

There's a massive assumption being made that total hours alone matter, and that there are no educational losses happening in a cheese wedge schedule like this.

Consistency matters too, and a lot of us doubt this "trust me bro" attitude about total hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, love the non-5 day weeks. They are great. Summer is such a pain to plan, and we (and most of our friends) much prefer a day here and there, rather than additional weeks in the summer.

I agree! We love the 4 day weeks! It really helps with the sleep for middle and high schoolers.

Time to be a parent. The entire school system doesn't operate around the needs of your special child.

And it doesn’t operate around your need for a 5 day week. As long as the kids get in the required hours of instructional time I do not care. I prefer the 4 day weeks and so do a lot of parents and teachers. Your whining isn’t going to change that. Time to be a parent and deal with it.

The vast majority of kids need a 5 day school week. I don't know of any parent that prefers a 4 day week, seriously, no one I know wants a 4 day school week. It is awful for working parents and most families in the US have working parents.

The 5 day week provides stability and consistency that is needed by all kids, even HS students. If your kid is so overwhelmed with the homework in their schedule, look at altering their schedule so it is less intense. Be a parent. Stop whining about your kid needing to study for classes that you allowed them to take or even encouraged them to take.

There's a massive assumption being made that total hours alone matter, and that there are no educational losses happening in a cheese wedge schedule like this.

Consistency matters too, and a lot of us doubt this "trust me bro" attitude about total hours.

*I agree with you about the kids needing consistency.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, love the non-5 day weeks. They are great. Summer is such a pain to plan, and we (and most of our friends) much prefer a day here and there, rather than additional weeks in the summer.

I agree! We love the 4 day weeks! It really helps with the sleep for middle and high schoolers.

Time to be a parent. The entire school system doesn't operate around the needs of your special child.

And it doesn’t operate around your need for a 5 day week. As long as the kids get in the required hours of instructional time I do not care. I prefer the 4 day weeks and so do a lot of parents and teachers. Your whining isn’t going to change that. Time to be a parent and deal with it.

The vast majority of kids need a 5 day school week. I don't know of any parent that prefers a 4 day week, seriously, no one I know wants a 4 day school week. It is awful for working parents and most families in the US have working parents.

The 5 day week provides stability and consistency that is needed by all kids, even HS students. If your kid is so overwhelmed with the homework in their schedule, look at altering their schedule so it is less intense. Be a parent. Stop whining about your kid needing to study for classes that you allowed them to take or even encouraged them to take.

There's a massive assumption being made that total hours alone matter, and that there are no educational losses happening in a cheese wedge schedule like this.

Consistency matters too, and a lot of us doubt this "trust me bro" attitude about total hours.

*I agree with you about the kids needing consistency.

I was a first grade teacher. Extra hours in the day to meet the legal definition don't necessarily mean better instruction. But, early release is not helpful. Five day weeks are important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, love the non-5 day weeks. They are great. Summer is such a pain to plan, and we (and most of our friends) much prefer a day here and there, rather than additional weeks in the summer.

I agree! We love the 4 day weeks! It really helps with the sleep for middle and high schoolers.

Time to be a parent. The entire school system doesn't operate around the needs of your special child.

And it doesn’t operate around your need for a 5 day week. As long as the kids get in the required hours of instructional time I do not care. I prefer the 4 day weeks and so do a lot of parents and teachers. Your whining isn’t going to change that. Time to be a parent and deal with it.

The vast majority of kids need a 5 day school week. I don't know of any parent that prefers a 4 day week, seriously, no one I know wants a 4 day school week. It is awful for working parents and most families in the US have working parents.

The 5 day week provides stability and consistency that is needed by all kids, even HS students. If your kid is so overwhelmed with the homework in their schedule, look at altering their schedule so it is less intense. Be a parent. Stop whining about your kid needing to study for classes that you allowed them to take or even encouraged them to take.

But the current, approved, calendar works great for me. Sorry, I’m not the one whining, you are. I’m good with things as is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, love the non-5 day weeks. They are great. Summer is such a pain to plan, and we (and most of our friends) much prefer a day here and there, rather than additional weeks in the summer.

I agree! We love the 4 day weeks! It really helps with the sleep for middle and high schoolers.

Time to be a parent. The entire school system doesn't operate around the needs of your special child.

And it doesn’t operate around your need for a 5 day week. As long as the kids get in the required hours of instructional time I do not care. I prefer the 4 day weeks and so do a lot of parents and teachers. Your whining isn’t going to change that. Time to be a parent and deal with it.

You are absolutely ridiculous and rude. Go away. Be a parent. 4 day school weeks are a terrible idea for many reasons. No one cares that your kids need sleep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, love the non-5 day weeks. They are great. Summer is such a pain to plan, and we (and most of our friends) much prefer a day here and there, rather than additional weeks in the summer.

I agree! We love the 4 day weeks! It really helps with the sleep for middle and high schoolers.

Time to be a parent. The entire school system doesn't operate around the needs of your special child.

And it doesn’t operate around your need for a 5 day week. As long as the kids get in the required hours of instructional time I do not care. I prefer the 4 day weeks and so do a lot of parents and teachers. Your whining isn’t going to change that. Time to be a parent and deal with it.

You are absolutely ridiculous and rude. Go away. Be a parent. 4 day school weeks are a terrible idea for many reasons. No one cares that your kids need sleep.

Seriously! I remember when a lot of states out west and in parts of the Midwest/south went to a 4 day school week during the recession because the school budgets were so gutted they literally could not afford to run 5 day a week school. And everyone here was both aghast and smug. “We’d never do that here! They don’t care about education over there!”

I blame Covid. The extended school closures blew everything up for a lot of people. School stopped being seen as an obligation and a necessity, and started being an option and a choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, love the non-5 day weeks. They are great. Summer is such a pain to plan, and we (and most of our friends) much prefer a day here and there, rather than additional weeks in the summer.

I agree! We love the 4 day weeks! It really helps with the sleep for middle and high schoolers.

Time to be a parent. The entire school system doesn't operate around the needs of your special child.

And it doesn’t operate around your need for a 5 day week. As long as the kids get in the required hours of instructional time I do not care. I prefer the 4 day weeks and so do a lot of parents and teachers. Your whining isn’t going to change that. Time to be a parent and deal with it.

Good to know you don't care about learning.

And no teacher likes the calendar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, love the non-5 day weeks. They are great. Summer is such a pain to plan, and we (and most of our friends) much prefer a day here and there, rather than additional weeks in the summer.

I agree! We love the 4 day weeks! It really helps with the sleep for middle and high schoolers.

Time to be a parent. The entire school system doesn't operate around the needs of your special child.

And it doesn’t operate around your need for a 5 day week. As long as the kids get in the required hours of instructional time I do not care. I prefer the 4 day weeks and so do a lot of parents and teachers. Your whining isn’t going to change that. Time to be a parent and deal with it.

You are absolutely ridiculous and rude. Go away. Be a parent. 4 day school weeks are a terrible idea for many reasons. No one cares that your kids need sleep.

Look at next year’s calendar because that is the one that’s at stake. It is a decent distribution of 4 and 5 day weeks with very few 2 or 3 day weeks. By pushing the argument of 5 days or bust, we would be shifting a few 4 day weeks into 3 and 5 day weeks. Canceling holidays is a pipe dream. Meren’s statement is only to prioritize 5 day weeks. So it’ll be a balance of creating worse incomplete weeks to squeeze out a 5 day week.

Personally, I’d prefer 4 day weekends to be spread across Fri-Mon as those days are easier to schedule around than a Tues or Thurs. Having 4 consecutive days of school is also better than having a week with 3 days for my child’s routine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, love the non-5 day weeks. They are great. Summer is such a pain to plan, and we (and most of our friends) much prefer a day here and there, rather than additional weeks in the summer.

I agree! We love the 4 day weeks! It really helps with the sleep for middle and high schoolers.

Time to be a parent. The entire school system doesn't operate around the needs of your special child.

And it doesn’t operate around your need for a 5 day week. As long as the kids get in the required hours of instructional time I do not care. I prefer the 4 day weeks and so do a lot of parents and teachers. Your whining isn’t going to change that. Time to be a parent and deal with it.

The vast majority of kids need a 5 day school week. I don't know of any parent that prefers a 4 day week, seriously, no one I know wants a 4 day school week. It is awful for working parents and most families in the US have working parents.

The 5 day week provides stability and consistency that is needed by all kids, even HS students. If your kid is so overwhelmed with the homework in their schedule, look at altering their schedule so it is less intense. Be a parent. Stop whining about your kid needing to study for classes that you allowed them to take or even encouraged them to take.

There's a massive assumption being made that total hours alone matter, and that there are no educational losses happening in a cheese wedge schedule like this.

Consistency matters too, and a lot of us doubt this "trust me bro" attitude about total hours.

I said nothing about hours, only days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, love the non-5 day weeks. They are great. Summer is such a pain to plan, and we (and most of our friends) much prefer a day here and there, rather than additional weeks in the summer.

I agree! We love the 4 day weeks! It really helps with the sleep for middle and high schoolers.

Time to be a parent. The entire school system doesn't operate around the needs of your special child.

And it doesn’t operate around your need for a 5 day week. As long as the kids get in the required hours of instructional time I do not care. I prefer the 4 day weeks and so do a lot of parents and teachers. Your whining isn’t going to change that. Time to be a parent and deal with it.

You are absolutely ridiculous and rude. Go away. Be a parent. 4 day school weeks are a terrible idea for many reasons. No one cares that your kids need sleep.

Look at next year’s calendar because that is the one that’s at stake. It is a decent distribution of 4 and 5 day weeks with very few 2 or 3 day weeks. By pushing the argument of 5 days or bust, we would be shifting a few 4 day weeks into 3 and 5 day weeks. Canceling holidays is a pipe dream. Meren’s statement is only to prioritize 5 day weeks. So it’ll be a balance of creating worse incomplete weeks to squeeze out a 5 day week.

Personally,

I’d prefer 4 day weekends to be spread across Fri-Mon as those days are easier to schedule around than a Tues or Thurs.

Having 4 consecutive days of school is also better than having a week with 3 days for my child’s routine.

This could be part of policy changes. Require TW,SD and early release (those remaining after ending the monthly ones) to be Monday or Friday. More people can telework or get family care on those days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, love the non-5 day weeks. They are great. Summer is such a pain to plan, and we (and most of our friends) much prefer a day here and there, rather than additional weeks in the summer.

I agree! We love the 4 day weeks! It really helps with the sleep for middle and high schoolers.

Time to be a parent. The entire school system doesn't operate around the needs of your special child.

And it doesn’t operate around your need for a 5 day week. As long as the kids get in the required hours of instructional time I do not care. I prefer the 4 day weeks and so do a lot of parents and teachers. Your whining isn’t going to change that. Time to be a parent and deal with it.

The vast majority of kids need a 5 day school week. I don't know of any parent that prefers a 4 day week, seriously, no one I know wants a 4 day school week. It is awful for working parents and most families in the US have working parents.

The 5 day week provides stability and consistency that is needed by all kids, even HS students. If your kid is so overwhelmed with the homework in their schedule, look at altering their schedule so it is less intense. Be a parent. Stop whining about your kid needing to study for classes that you allowed them to take or even encouraged them to take.

But the current, approved, calendar works great for me. Sorry, I’m not the one whining, you are. I’m good with things as is.

Yeah for you, if you look at Meren's facebook post you will see that most people are complaining. If you look at the number of threads on the ridiculous schedule, you will see most people are complaining. The people who seem ok with this are HS parents who think their kids need more time for homework and to de-stress because of their schedules. The answer is not to screw up the calendar for all the ES and MS kids and the HS kids who have sensible schedules, but for parents to help their kids learn how to balance heir work load. Kids don't need 14 AP classes to go to college, even the top colleges. If you want your kid to participate in the AP arms war, that is on you. You can handle your kids struggle with the work without everyone else having a ridiculous schedule that hurts their learning.