Has your ES announced any programs etc. for Early Release Mondays

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG it's a few hours! Just deal with it and let the kids play outside or read!

You are making so many assumptions that every families' situation is just like yours

No, I understand that families are in many different situations. Yet the number of folks for whom these Mondays are more than an inconvenience is low. It's not an emergency with so much advanced notice, work schedules can be adjusted and families, friends, and older kids called on to assist if needed. Most school-aged kids can amuse themselves safely for a couple of hours when paremeters and set and enforced by adults. The amount of hand-wringing over this is is disproportionate to what the schools are asking.

[And yes, I agree it's a stupid plan in the first place. Richmond/DOE needs to require far less mandatory training from teachers unless they can show some measurable impact that it improves educational outcomes or wellness for students.]

+1, parents were given 3 months notice.

It's actually very difficult to maintain parameters/ boundaries when your attention is required to be fully focused on something else. Maybe certain kid personalities are much more compliant...?
Maybe you're thinking more of upper elementary kiddos and not the younger ones? Maybe some of us have both and the upper elementary kiddos are not quite ready to be in charge of a younger elementary kiddos?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Listen people, you just need to get over it. Your whining isn't going to change anything.

Make wise choices when it’s time for school board elections. Ask candidates what they plan to do to support parents. Listen carefully to the answers.

Support parents?

When I vote school board, I vote for individuals who will support education , not individuals who will support me as a parent. It isn't about me as a parent; it's about what is best for all our children as students. Not just MY child, but ALL children.

Expecting the school board to be focused on parents sounds like the viewpoint of a toddler, not an adult. "Why won't they support meeeeeee?"

yes! This attitude is one of the issues in schools-parents expecting the school to parent for them.

Nope, I don’t want the school to parent for me. I want them to respect the time and resources of the parents since those are the most tightly tied to student outcomes. They should have done outreach to parents as Loudon and Arlington did and we would have wound up where Loudon and Arlington did— three days off attached to existing vacations.

LOL

You’re going to laugh all the way to another Republican governor and school board.

Not me I'm blue all the way! How about you? Actually I'm not sure what you are rambling about.

When schools ignored parents over COVID return to the classroom, it got Youngkin elected. That’s why some constituencies were so careful to engage parents and— omg!— support parents in this. FCPS didn’t.

What is not supporting parents? The schools are keeping any kid that their parent can't have at home for the 3 hour early release days. The goal post is now what is my kid going to do for those 3 hours. FCPS is going to baby sit your kids how is that not supporting parents?

Sitting a 4-5 year old in front of a computer for three hours is not developmentally appropriate care— forget education, it’s not even appropriate care. A babysitter would be fired.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG it's a few hours! Just deal with it and let the kids play outside or read!

You are making so many assumptions that every families' situation is just like yours

No, I understand that families are in many different situations. Yet the number of folks for whom these Mondays are more than an inconvenience is low. It's not an emergency with so much advanced notice, work schedules can be adjusted and families, friends, and older kids called on to assist if needed. Most school-aged kids can amuse themselves safely for a couple of hours when paremeters and set and enforced by adults. The amount of hand-wringing over this is is disproportionate to what the schools are asking.

[And yes, I agree it's a stupid plan in the first place. Richmond/DOE needs to require far less mandatory training from teachers unless they can show some measurable impact that it improves educational outcomes or wellness for students.]

This isn’t Richmond/DoE’s fault. This was FCPS’ decision how to implement the training— Richmond, just like Loudon and Arlington, simply added days to existing vacations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG it's a few hours! Just deal with it and let the kids play outside or read!

You are making so many assumptions that every families' situation is just like yours

+1

The National average for paid time off is something like 17 days per year. Yeah this is a wealthy area but imagine thinking it’s acceptable to tell parents half their days off this year needs to be about teacher training days— hope you didn’t want to see family, and you and your kids don’t get sick! FCPS needs those early dismissals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG it's a few hours! Just deal with it and let the kids play outside or read!

You are making so many assumptions that every families' situation is just like yours

+1

The National average for paid time off is something like 17 days per year. Yeah this is a wealthy area but imagine thinking it’s acceptable to tell parents half their days off this year needs to be about teacher training days— hope you didn’t want to see family, and you and your kids don’t get sick! FCPS needs those early dismissals.

When I had children, I realized and accepted that my days off would be about them, whether that be for their illnesses, their appointments, or their days off school. My children are my priority.

I feel bad for the teachers because I know the early release days are not enough for them to get their training completed. My sister teaches in FCPS and she told me about the 30 hours of literacy training all teachers have to do in addition to the multiple days of training they had to do over the summer and the 20 hours of other training they had to do the first week back to work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG it's a few hours! Just deal with it and let the kids play outside or read!

You are making so many assumptions that every families' situation is just like yours

+1

The National average for paid time off is something like 17 days per year. Yeah this is a wealthy area but imagine thinking it’s acceptable to tell parents half their days off this year needs to be about teacher training days— hope you didn’t want to see family, and you and your kids don’t get sick! FCPS needs those early dismissals.

When I had children, I realized and accepted that my days off would be about them, whether that be for their illnesses, their appointments, or their days off school. My children are my priority.

I feel bad for the teachers because I know the early release days are not enough for them to get their training completed. My sister teaches in FCPS and she told me about the 30 hours of literacy training all teachers have to do in addition to the multiple days of training they had to do over the summer and the 20 hours of other training they had to do the first week back to work.

I agree— a parent’s time off should be about their children. Little kids especially get sick all the time, and kids need time to spend with their family during the long school breaks. Unfortunately FCPS thinks parents time off should be about teacher prep time.

[Anonymous]

Are some schools not offering care? We don’t know what ours is, but my kid will be staying. Beggars can’t be choosers. I don’t think this is a massive deal for the kids.

[Anonymous]

They've sent out a survey asking everyone if they need help with aftercare. No word on how they are going to do it. I'm assuming it's going to be a feral free-for-all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Listen people, you just need to get over it. Your whining isn't going to change anything.

Make wise choices when it’s time for school board elections. Ask candidates what they plan to do to support parents. Listen carefully to the answers.

Support parents?

When I vote school board, I vote for individuals who will support education , not individuals who will support me as a parent. It isn't about me as a parent; it's about what is best for all our children as students. Not just MY child, but ALL children.

Expecting the school board to be focused on parents sounds like the viewpoint of a toddler, not an adult. "Why won't they support meeeeeee?"

yes! This attitude is one of the issues in schools-parents expecting the school to parent for them.

Nope, I don’t want the school to parent for me. I want them to respect the time and resources of the parents since those are the most tightly tied to student outcomes. They should have done outreach to parents as Loudon and Arlington did and we would have wound up where Loudon and Arlington did— three days off attached to existing vacations.

LOL

You’re going to laugh all the way to another Republican governor and school board.

Not me I'm blue all the way! How about you? Actually I'm not sure what you are rambling about.

When schools ignored parents over COVID return to the classroom, it got Youngkin elected. That’s why some constituencies were so careful to engage parents and— omg!— support parents in this. FCPS didn’t.

What is not supporting parents? The schools are keeping any kid that their parent can't have at home for the 3 hour early release days. The goal post is now what is my kid going to do for those 3 hours. FCPS is going to baby sit your kids how is that not supporting parents?

Sitting a 4-5 year old in front of a computer for three hours is not developmentally appropriate care— forget education, it’s not even appropriate care. A babysitter would be fired.

But schools are not babysitters-they are not daycare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG it's a few hours! Just deal with it and let the kids play outside or read!

You are making so many assumptions that every families' situation is just like yours

+1

The National average for paid time off is something like 17 days per year. Yeah this is a wealthy area but imagine thinking it’s acceptable to tell parents half their days off this year needs to be about teacher training days— hope you didn’t want to see family, and you and your kids don’t get sick! FCPS needs those early dismissals.

When I had children, I realized and accepted that my days off would be about them, whether that be for their illnesses, their appointments, or their days off school. My children are my priority.

I feel bad for the teachers because I know the early release days are not enough for them to get their training completed. My sister teaches in FCPS and she told me about the 30 hours of literacy training all teachers have to do in addition to the multiple days of training they had to do over the summer and the 20 hours of other training they had to do the first week back to work.

I foresee teachers taking time off to get work done. It's really the only way these days. My last year of teaching many around me were using their own personal time to get work done. Good for them. It's too much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Listen people, you just need to get over it. Your whining isn't going to change anything.

Make wise choices when it’s time for school board elections. Ask candidates what they plan to do to support parents. Listen carefully to the answers.

Support parents?

When I vote school board, I vote for individuals who will support education , not individuals who will support me as a parent. It isn't about me as a parent; it's about what is best for all our children as students. Not just MY child, but ALL children.

Expecting the school board to be focused on parents sounds like the viewpoint of a toddler, not an adult. "Why won't they support meeeeeee?"

yes! This attitude is one of the issues in schools-parents expecting the school to parent for them.

Nope, I don’t want the school to parent for me. I want them to respect the time and resources of the parents since those are the most tightly tied to student outcomes. They should have done outreach to parents as Loudon and Arlington did and we would have wound up where Loudon and Arlington did— three days off attached to existing vacations.

LOL

You’re going to laugh all the way to another Republican governor and school board.

Not me I'm blue all the way! How about you? Actually I'm not sure what you are rambling about.

When schools ignored parents over COVID return to the classroom, it got Youngkin elected. That’s why some constituencies were so careful to engage parents and— omg!— support parents in this. FCPS didn’t.

What is not supporting parents? The schools are keeping any kid that their parent can't have at home for the 3 hour early release days. The goal post is now what is my kid going to do for those 3 hours. FCPS is going to baby sit your kids how is that not supporting parents?

Sitting a 4-5 year old in front of a computer for three hours is not developmentally appropriate care— forget education, it’s not even appropriate care. A babysitter would be fired.

But schools are not babysitters-they are not daycare.

I agree, what they should be doing is actually teaching children on school days and adding days off to train teachers.
However they want to call these half days “school days” so they should be responsible for more than developmentally inappropriate supervision.

Friends of ours just reached out to request the lesson plans for each of these “school days” since they will be going out of town where she has family so she can still work. It will be interesting to see what instruction is planned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG it's a few hours! Just deal with it and let the kids play outside or read!

You are making so many assumptions that every families' situation is just like yours

+1

The National average for paid time off is something like 17 days per year. Yeah this is a wealthy area but imagine thinking it’s acceptable to tell parents half their days off this year needs to be about teacher training days— hope you didn’t want to see family, and you and your kids don’t get sick! FCPS needs those early dismissals.

When I had children, I realized and accepted that my days off would be about them, whether that be for their illnesses, their appointments, or their days off school. My children are my priority.

I feel bad for the teachers because I know the early release days are not enough for them to get their training completed. My sister teaches in FCPS and she told me about the 30 hours of literacy training all teachers have to do in addition to the multiple days of training they had to do over the summer and the 20 hours of other training they had to do the first week back to work.

Having worked in FCPS and taken some of the training, most of it is CYA on the district's part (or, where state-mandated, on the General Assembly or DOE's part) and not actually useful. The proliferation of training is a really big problem. Yes teachers need continuing education, but they don't need so many videos designed to allow the district to wash it's hands when something goes wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Listen people, you just need to get over it. Your whining isn't going to change anything.

Make wise choices when it’s time for school board elections. Ask candidates what they plan to do to support parents. Listen carefully to the answers.

Support parents?

When I vote school board, I vote for individuals who will support education , not individuals who will support me as a parent. It isn't about me as a parent; it's about what is best for all our children as students. Not just MY child, but ALL children.

Expecting the school board to be focused on parents sounds like the viewpoint of a toddler, not an adult. "Why won't they support meeeeeee?"

yes! This attitude is one of the issues in schools-parents expecting the school to parent for them.

Nope, I don’t want the school to parent for me. I want them to respect the time and resources of the parents since those are the most tightly tied to student outcomes. They should have done outreach to parents as Loudon and Arlington did and we would have wound up where Loudon and Arlington did— three days off attached to existing vacations.

LOL

You’re going to laugh all the way to another Republican governor and school board.

Not me I'm blue all the way! How about you? Actually I'm not sure what you are rambling about.

When schools ignored parents over COVID return to the classroom, it got Youngkin elected. That’s why some constituencies were so careful to engage parents and— omg!— support parents in this. FCPS didn’t.

What is not supporting parents? The schools are keeping any kid that their parent can't have at home for the 3 hour early release days. The goal post is now what is my kid going to do for those 3 hours. FCPS is going to baby sit your kids how is that not supporting parents?

Sitting a 4-5 year old in front of a computer for three hours is not developmentally appropriate care— forget education, it’s not even appropriate care. A babysitter would be fired.

But schools are not babysitters-they are not daycare.

I agree, what they should be doing is actually teaching children on school days and adding days off to train teachers.
However they want to call these half days “school days” so they should be responsible for more than developmentally inappropriate supervision.

Friends of ours just reached out to request the lesson plans for each of these “school days” since they will be going out of town where she has family so she can still work. It will be interesting to see what instruction is planned.

Your friends expect them to have lesson plans for those days already, or do they just want them before that day?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Listen people, you just need to get over it. Your whining isn't going to change anything.

Make wise choices when it’s time for school board elections. Ask candidates what they plan to do to support parents. Listen carefully to the answers.

Support parents?

When I vote school board, I vote for individuals who will support education , not individuals who will support me as a parent. It isn't about me as a parent; it's about what is best for all our children as students. Not just MY child, but ALL children.

Expecting the school board to be focused on parents sounds like the viewpoint of a toddler, not an adult. "Why won't they support meeeeeee?"

yes! This attitude is one of the issues in schools-parents expecting the school to parent for them.

Nope, I don’t want the school to parent for me. I want them to respect the time and resources of the parents since those are the most tightly tied to student outcomes. They should have done outreach to parents as Loudon and Arlington did and we would have wound up where Loudon and Arlington did— three days off attached to existing vacations.

LOL

You’re going to laugh all the way to another Republican governor and school board.

Not me I'm blue all the way! How about you? Actually I'm not sure what you are rambling about.

When schools ignored parents over COVID return to the classroom, it got Youngkin elected. That’s why some constituencies were so careful to engage parents and— omg!— support parents in this. FCPS didn’t.

What is not supporting parents? The schools are keeping any kid that their parent can't have at home for the 3 hour early release days. The goal post is now what is my kid going to do for those 3 hours. FCPS is going to baby sit your kids how is that not supporting parents?

Sitting a 4-5 year old in front of a computer for three hours is not developmentally appropriate care— forget education, it’s not even appropriate care. A babysitter would be fired.

But schools are not babysitters-they are not daycare.

I agree, what they should be doing is actually teaching children on school days and adding days off to train teachers.
However they want to call these half days “school days” so they should be responsible for more than developmentally inappropriate supervision.

Friends of ours just reached out to request the lesson plans for each of these “school days” since they will be going out of town where she has family so she can still work. It will be interesting to see what instruction is planned.

Does anyone know how much that would add to the budget? Just doing quick math here, but if they added 7 more days to the contract of a teacher making $65k, it would cost $2,300 just in additional salary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Listen people, you just need to get over it. Your whining isn't going to change anything.

Make wise choices when it’s time for school board elections. Ask candidates what they plan to do to support parents. Listen carefully to the answers.

Support parents?

When I vote school board, I vote for individuals who will support education , not individuals who will support me as a parent. It isn't about me as a parent; it's about what is best for all our children as students. Not just MY child, but ALL children.

Expecting the school board to be focused on parents sounds like the viewpoint of a toddler, not an adult. "Why won't they support meeeeeee?"

yes! This attitude is one of the issues in schools-parents expecting the school to parent for them.

Nope, I don’t want the school to parent for me. I want them to respect the time and resources of the parents since those are the most tightly tied to student outcomes. They should have done outreach to parents as Loudon and Arlington did and we would have wound up where Loudon and Arlington did— three days off attached to existing vacations.

LOL

You’re going to laugh all the way to another Republican governor and school board.

Not me I'm blue all the way! How about you? Actually I'm not sure what you are rambling about.

When schools ignored parents over COVID return to the classroom, it got Youngkin elected. That’s why some constituencies were so careful to engage parents and— omg!— support parents in this. FCPS didn’t.

What is not supporting parents? The schools are keeping any kid that their parent can't have at home for the 3 hour early release days. The goal post is now what is my kid going to do for those 3 hours. FCPS is going to baby sit your kids how is that not supporting parents?

Sitting a 4-5 year old in front of a computer for three hours is not developmentally appropriate care— forget education, it’s not even appropriate care. A babysitter would be fired.

But schools are not babysitters-they are not daycare.

I agree, what they should be doing is actually teaching children on school days and adding days off to train teachers.
However they want to call these half days “school days” so they should be responsible for more than developmentally inappropriate supervision.

Friends of ours just reached out to request the lesson plans for each of these “school days” since they will be going out of town where she has family so she can still work. It will be interesting to see what instruction is planned.

Does anyone know how much that would add to the budget? Just doing quick math here, but if they added 7 more days to the contract of a teacher making $65k, it would cost $2,300 just in additional salary.

Quoting myself here. I just realized they wouldn’t need to add 7 full days. If they added 3 days it would add an additional $1k in salary for every teacher making $65k.