Opinion: Balanced calendar b traditional)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes! Lived in a district w/ a modified year round calendar and so wish we still had it. Kids agree.

. Also feel it would help with teacher burn out and everyone’s mental health

If a teacher is burnt out, find a new profession. If your mental health is a problem, get treatment. So tired of the mental health excuses. Year round is terrible..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Move there. Looks terrible. Kids would miss out on summer camps and other programs. Teens would miss out on internships and summer jobs.

No way. We already have to pull our kids out a week early for a camp.

Do you really think kids miss out in Summer Camp, Internships, and Summer jobs??? They just start sooner in the summer. Yes, businesses adapt to the earlier dates. And even out of state internships are flexible with kids return to school dates.

[Anonymous]

I know my kids would be for it!
Summer is sooo long. School year so long, sometimes feels relentless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know my kids would be for it!
Summer is sooo long. School year so long, sometimes feels relentless.

unrelenting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Move there. Looks terrible. Kids would miss out on summer camps and other programs. Teens would miss out on internships and summer jobs.

No way. We already have to pull our kids out a week early for a camp.

Do you really think kids miss out in Summer Camp, Internships, and Summer jobs??? They just start sooner in the summer. Yes, businesses adapt to the earlier dates. And even out of state internships are flexible with kids return to school dates.

Not everyone can afford quality summer camps and programs. Only older teenagers get summer jobs, and only well connected high schoolers get internships. They are hardly a majority to base district-wide decisions on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like the looks of this calendar:
http://www.marietta.com/cobb-county-school-calendar-2022-2023

Issues with this calendar:

1. Only 177 scheduled school days. MD requires 180 days.
2. No days built in for weather related closings
3. Although MCPS doesn't close for religious holidays (haha), no way will schools open on Lunar New Year, Eid, or the Jewish High Holiday days ever again, barring excessive weather related closings. That ship has sailed.
4. Teachers need time for grading and planning at the end of each quarter. I don't see those days in this calendar.

I do see the utility of starting school in early August and ending right before Memorial Day. Having taught in MCPS high schools for over 2 decades, school after Memorial Day is a joke. Time in August would be much more valuable than what's going on in schools right now. We can't, however, have 2 weeks off at the end of December and a week off in February like they do in GA due to the numbered reasons above.

I'm not trying to be argumentative but if they made this change wouldn't the two weeks before Memorial also become a joke?

I get so angry at this waste of time, even in AP classes. The teachers say "we all need a break" after the exam, but I teach several AP classes and there is NEVER enough time to cover really interesting content. They are conveying the worst message to the kids about the value of learning. So teachers need to step up and use the time at the end of the year wisely. Those poor kids in Uvalde were stuck at school watching "Lilo and Stitch." If that is all that you can think to do, let the kids out for the summer.

I never under this comment. The premise of an AP class is that it covers the same material as an intro college class would cover. Most colleges have 15wk semesters or less. So either they also aren’t covering all the material (likely) or students should be expected to step up and take on more college level work (also likely). And sense many HS have block schedules, students likely still get a break between classes just like college.

If the problem is when school starts vs when the AP test are, all the more reason to advocate for school starting earlier and hence the balance calendar.

No, the high school kids are not covering the same amount of content as the college kids are. We have to spend quite a bit of time teaching skills like analytical reading and essay writing that strong college students should already have covered.

And anyway, is this the message that you want to send to kids? You should only learn the exact amount of material that will be on the standardized test and then stop to watch movies? After the exam in my AP Government class, for example, we spent some extra classes learning about fascism (since people are accusing each other of being fascists); we spent extra time on civil liberties because there is a lot more interesting going on than the few AP required cases; we spent time learning in-depth about property rights and eminent domain, etc. Meanwhile on the AP teacher forum, they were all making plans to watch movies. I don't get their attitude.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like the looks of this calendar:
http://www.marietta.com/cobb-county-school-calendar-2022-2023

Issues with this calendar:

1. Only 177 scheduled school days. MD requires 180 days.
2. No days built in for weather related closings
3. Although MCPS doesn't close for religious holidays (haha), no way will schools open on Lunar New Year, Eid, or the Jewish High Holiday days ever again, barring excessive weather related closings. That ship has sailed.
4. Teachers need time for grading and planning at the end of each quarter. I don't see those days in this calendar.

I do see the utility of starting school in early August and ending right before Memorial Day. Having taught in MCPS high schools for over 2 decades, school after Memorial Day is a joke. Time in August would be much more valuable than what's going on in schools right now. We can't, however, have 2 weeks off at the end of December and a week off in February like they do in GA due to the numbered reasons above.

I'm not trying to be argumentative but if they made this change wouldn't the two weeks before Memorial also become a joke?

The last two weeks of school are always a joke, regardless of the calendar date

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Move there. Looks terrible. Kids would miss out on summer camps and other programs. Teens would miss out on internships and summer jobs.

No way. We already have to pull our kids out a week early for a camp.

Do you really think kids miss out in Summer Camp, Internships, and Summer jobs??? They just start sooner in the summer. Yes, businesses adapt to the earlier dates. And even out of state internships are flexible with kids return to school dates.

Some speciality camps only run for one or two weeks. We pull ours out next week for camp. Kids cannot get jobs for a week or two. Some kids survive due to summer employment. How will your summer pool function? Might work for elementary but not older kids. Or privileged kids like yours.

[Anonymous]

I like the idea of shorter summer break.
Congress August recess is probably the biggest barrier to families getting on board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Move there. Looks terrible. Kids would miss out on summer camps and other programs. Teens would miss out on internships and summer jobs.

No way. We already have to pull our kids out a week early for a camp.

Do you really think kids miss out in Summer Camp, Internships, and Summer jobs??? They just start sooner in the summer. Yes, businesses adapt to the earlier dates. And even out of state internships are flexible with kids return to school dates.

Not everyone can afford quality summer camps and programs. Only older teenagers get summer jobs, and only well connected high schoolers get internships. They are hardly a majority to base district-wide decisions on.

This is true whether this is a traditional school calendar or a balanced school calendar so what’s your point?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Move there. Looks terrible. Kids would miss out on summer camps and other programs. Teens would miss out on internships and summer jobs.

No way. We already have to pull our kids out a week early for a camp.

Do you really think kids miss out in Summer Camp, Internships, and Summer jobs??? They just start sooner in the summer. Yes, businesses adapt to the earlier dates. And even out of state internships are flexible with kids return to school dates.

Some speciality camps only run for one or two weeks. We pull ours out next week for camp. Kids cannot get jobs for a week or two. Some kids survive due to summer employment. How will your summer pool function? Might work for elementary but not older kids. Or privileged kids like yours.

What are you talking about? Why would kids get employment for only a week or two and not the entire summer? Do you not think camp schedules would change if a whole lot of lids were suddenly out of school sooner? As it stands now many camps actually start 1-2 wks before MCPS gets out so as to accomodate other districts schedules and private school schedules.

[Anonymous]

This calendar is somewhere in the middle

https://p18cdn4static.sharpschool.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_117089/File/About/Calendars/NEW%202021-2022%20School%20Calendar%20(7.2021)%20-%20Copy.pdf

So nice to get a week at Thanksgiving!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This calendar is somewhere in the middle

https://p18cdn4static.sharpschool.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_117089/File/About/Calendars/NEW%202021-2022%20School%20Calendar%20(7.2021)%20-%20Copy.pdf

So nice to get a week at Thanksgiving!

With all our half days, we might as well have a week!