APS Bell schedule review

[Anonymous]

I would love middle school to get out later. They’re at an age where they don’t want to do any kind of supervised aftercare and there isn’t often a lot of homework yet and while there are some after school sports and activities, it’s pretty minimal. It’s just a long afternoon for them to be wandering around getting into things or sitting at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would love middle school to get out later. They’re at an age where they don’t want to do any kind of supervised aftercare and there isn’t often a lot of homework yet and while there are some after school sports and activities, it’s pretty minimal. It’s just a long afternoon for them to be wandering around getting into things or sitting at home.

+1 that was my middle school experience. I basically had 2.5 hours to get into mischief every day because school let out at 2:15

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Elementary school earlier would eliminate the need for extended day in the morning.

Yes, as said above, part Of the bell schedule review is looking at eliminating morning extended day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Elementary school earlier would eliminate the need for extended day in the morning.

Yes, as said above, part Of the bell schedule review is looking at eliminating morning extended day.

Where’s that information from? I haven’t noticed it in any of APS releases on the topic

[Anonymous]

Its really hard to get kids to go to sleep when it is still light outside, which is necessary if they're expected to be at school by 7:40am!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Its really hard to get kids to go to sleep when it is still light outside, which is necessary if they're expected to be at school by 7:40am!

Our middle school kids do it just fine...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its really hard to get kids to go to sleep when it is still light outside, which is necessary if they're expected to be at school by 7:40am!

Our middle school kids do it just fine...

Many elementary kids are routinely dropped off that early for morning extended day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually, flipping elementary school and middle school would be great. If you look at the rhythms of sleep for kids, as they start to go with puberty in middle school it’s important for them to have more sleep. So if you had elementary start at 7:40, middle at nine, it would work better. especially since middle school kids don’t have to work after school like high school kids.

I'd love this as a morning person and Pre-K teacher. My students are so tired by 3, late start schools are rough for some little kids!

I’m not sure how this would be beneficial though— most parents with kids work and so the vast majority of kids would be in aftercare. I can’t imagine the kids getting out at 2:30 on normal days, and 11 on early release. They would be in aftercare until 5 for most kids, that’s a really long day. Middle and highschool come home more or less independently. Also they say that elementary school has to be the latest because of an adult isn’t there to meet a child, they have to take them back to school. Can’t do that if there’s another route after.

First, all early release days should be eliminated entirely. They are a waste for everyone.
Second, kids are either going to be in before-school care or extended day after school. Why not just have extended day instead of both? Schools weren't created for the convenience of parents. THey were created to educate the populace. Parents are just going to have to figure out alternatives. It takes a village.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually, flipping elementary school and middle school would be great. If you look at the rhythms of sleep for kids, as they start to go with puberty in middle school it’s important for them to have more sleep. So if you had elementary start at 7:40, middle at nine, it would work better. especially since middle school kids don’t have to work after school like high school kids.

I'd love this as a morning person and Pre-K teacher. My students are so tired by 3, late start schools are rough for some little kids!

I’m not sure how this would be beneficial though— most parents with kids work and so the vast majority of kids would be in aftercare. I can’t imagine the kids getting out at 2:30 on normal days, and 11 on early release. They would be in aftercare until 5 for most kids, that’s a really long day. Middle and highschool come home more or less independently. Also they say that elementary school has to be the latest because of an adult isn’t there to meet a child, they have to take them back to school. Can’t do that if there’s another route after.

First, all early release days should be eliminated entirely. They are a waste for everyone.
Second, kids are either going to be in before-school care or extended day after school. Why not just have extended day instead of both? Schools weren't created for the convenience of parents. THey were created to educate the populace. Parents are just going to have to figure out alternatives. It takes a village.

I think before school care is necessary when school starts at 9 (drop off is 8:40) I would be curious to see the utilization of before care at the earlier start schools in APS to see if it's really needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually, flipping elementary school and middle school would be great. If you look at the rhythms of sleep for kids, as they start to go with puberty in middle school it’s important for them to have more sleep. So if you had elementary start at 7:40, middle at nine, it would work better. especially since middle school kids don’t have to work after school like high school kids.

I'd love this as a morning person and Pre-K teacher. My students are so tired by 3, late start schools are rough for some little kids!

I’m not sure how this would be beneficial though— most parents with kids work and so the vast majority of kids would be in aftercare. I can’t imagine the kids getting out at 2:30 on normal days, and 11 on early release. They would be in aftercare until 5 for most kids, that’s a really long day. Middle and highschool come home more or less independently. Also they say that elementary school has to be the latest because of an adult isn’t there to meet a child, they have to take them back to school. Can’t do that if there’s another route after.

First, all early release days should be eliminated entirely. They are a waste for everyone.
Second, kids are either going to be in before-school care or extended day after school. Why not just have extended day instead of both? Schools weren't created for the convenience of parents. THey were created to educate the populace. Parents are just going to have to figure out alternatives. It takes a village.

So there is limited space for extended day. Having kids get home at 2:30 would mean nearly everyone would need extended day. Leaving work at 3:00 to pick up at a bus stop at 3:40 is feasible, leaving at 1:50 to meet your kids at the bus at 2:30 is not feasible for most people who work full time. Aps extended day only has room for about 20% of students that age. Remember how hard it was to get into extended day pre-pandemic? There either needs to be a significant expansion of extended day, or there would need to be many more aftercare options than what currently exists.
Also my kids middle school bus picks up at 7:05. She has to wake up at 6 in order to have enough time to get ready and to eat breakfast. I would hate having to get my elementary school kids on a bus at 7:15 (which would be the shifted equivalent of their current bus — they get picked up at 8:35 for a 9:00 start). Kids get up early but that is really early! And elementary is for 6 years! They had middle school start at the earliest time because it’s the shortest length you are at one school.
Not to mention that you didn’t address the fact that elementary school bus drivers have to take kids back to their school if they aren’t met by an adult. How do you do that if they have middle and high school routes right after?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually, flipping elementary school and middle school would be great. If you look at the rhythms of sleep for kids, as they start to go with puberty in middle school it’s important for them to have more sleep. So if you had elementary start at 7:40, middle at nine, it would work better. especially since middle school kids don’t have to work after school like high school kids.

I'd love this as a morning person and Pre-K teacher. My students are so tired by 3, late start schools are rough for some little kids!

I’m not sure how this would be beneficial though— most parents with kids work and so the vast majority of kids would be in aftercare. I can’t imagine the kids getting out at 2:30 on normal days, and 11 on early release. They would be in aftercare until 5 for most kids, that’s a really long day. Middle and highschool come home more or less independently. Also they say that elementary school has to be the latest because of an adult isn’t there to meet a child, they have to take them back to school. Can’t do that if there’s another route after.

First, all early release days should be eliminated entirely. They are a waste for everyone.
Second, kids are either going to be in before-school care or extended day after school. Why not just have extended day instead of both? Schools weren't created for the convenience of parents. THey were created to educate the populace. Parents are just going to have to figure out alternatives. It takes a village.

So there is limited space for extended day. Having kids get home at 2:30 would mean nearly everyone would need extended day. Leaving work at 3:00 to pick up at a bus stop at 3:40 is feasible, leaving at 1:50 to meet your kids at the bus at 2:30 is not feasible for most people who work full time. Aps extended day only has room for about 20% of students that age. Remember how hard it was to get into extended day pre-pandemic? There either needs to be a significant expansion of extended day, or there would need to be many more aftercare options than what currently exists.
Also my kids middle school bus picks up at 7:05. She has to wake up at 6 in order to have enough time to get ready and to eat breakfast. I would hate having to get my elementary school kids on a bus at 7:15 (which would be the shifted equivalent of their current bus — they get picked up at 8:35 for a 9:00 start). Kids get up early but that is really early! And elementary is for 6 years! They had middle school start at the earliest time because it’s the shortest length you are at one school.
Not to mention that you didn’t address the fact that elementary school bus drivers have to take kids back to their school if they aren’t met by an adult. How do you do that if they have middle and high school routes right after?

Again, the schools that already operate on that schedule manage just fine, some have extended day waitlists and others don't. This year extended day enrollment is down and I think it's reasonable to expect it to be lower than pre-pandemic as more people are on permanent telework.

[Anonymous]

Ugh I do not want to go from a 9 a.m. start to 7:40!!! Then they get out extremely early. Not every elementary age kid wakes up at the crack of dawn. Ours don't.

I don't see how APS could possibly move all elementary schools to a time that is earlier than any of them currently start?!?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ugh I do not want to go from a 9 a.m. start to 7:40!!! Then they get out extremely early. Not every elementary age kid wakes up at the crack of dawn. Ours don't.

I don't see how APS could possibly move all elementary schools to a time that is earlier than any of them currently start?!?

You realize 7:40 is the time middle school starts, correct? They could theoretically flip MS and ES start times. Numerous medical studies shows a later start time during puberty is better. It would eliminate the need for morning extended day resources. Yet parents don't want to wake a little kid up earlier? Get real.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ugh I do not want to go from a 9 a.m. start to 7:40!!! Then they get out extremely early. Not every elementary age kid wakes up at the crack of dawn. Ours don't.

I don't see how APS could possibly move all elementary schools to a time that is earlier than any of them currently start?!?

At this point we actually don’t know what they are planning. They could move all elementary schools to 9am start. They haven’t released details

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh I do not want to go from a 9 a.m. start to 7:40!!! Then they get out extremely early. Not every elementary age kid wakes up at the crack of dawn. Ours don't.

I don't see how APS could possibly move all elementary schools to a time that is earlier than any of them currently start?!?

At this point we actually don’t know what they are planning. They could move all elementary schools to 9am start. They haven’t released details

They're going to do whatever results in the fewest buses and greatest transportation "efficiency." That's their purpose and goal, anyway.