Elementary parents, pay attention to start times

[Anonymous]

If FCPS eliminated bussing for AAP Centers and treated them the same way they treat other choice schools (like language immersion, or schools for the arts, etc.), they could start middle schools at 8:30am without changing elementary school start times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I remember there being surveys early in the process, but those didn't go out to parents of elementary age kids and we are the ones I think being most impacted by these changes.

Yes they did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just to clarify- The start times is not because of vocal MS parents. It is from school Board action from 10 years ago that got delayed- was to happen when did HS but it got deferred. Silly if think is MS parents driving this. MS is just 2 years- so any MS kids now will be in HS by time this would be rolled out.

Yup, OP is a little bit crazy.

[Anonymous]

OP is anti-middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If FCPS eliminated bussing for AAP Centers and treated them the same way they treat other choice schools (like language immersion, or schools for the arts, etc.), they could start middle schools at 8:30am without changing elementary school start times.

You are incorrect.

Almost all middle school students ride busses.

Middle schools use 3x-4x the busses as elementary school AAP.

Eliminating AAP would mean we are still short hundreds of busses and bus drivers for middle school.

[Anonymous]

I thought Reid said they were pulling back on this and wouldn’t implement any changes until the new boundaries were done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If FCPS eliminated bussing for AAP Centers and treated them the same way they treat other choice schools (like language immersion, or schools for the arts, etc.), they could start middle schools at 8:30am without changing elementary school start times.

OMG did you actually study that or are you just angry your kid didn’t get into AAP. If you have hard data, post it, if not why post this as fact?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just to clarify- The start times is not because of vocal MS parents. It is from school Board action from 10 years ago that got delayed- was to happen when did HS but it got deferred. Silly if think is MS parents driving this. MS is just 2 years- so any MS kids now will be in HS by time this would be rolled out.

Yup, OP is a little bit crazy.

A little?!! A LOT!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a separate thread for middle school start times.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1257582.page

Elementary parents, you might not be paying attention to the middle school start time discussion because the emails from FCPS frame it as solely a middle school issue.

However, changing MS start times means changing everyone's start time, in ways that are detrimental to high school and especially elementary school, just for 2 years of middle school.

It sounds like there is heavy lobbying by some MS school parents to switch to a schedule that moves everyone 30 minutes later. This means that elementary kids will start close to 10:00 AM and get out after 4:30 PM, with busses arriving home between 5:00-5:15 PM.

Imagine having that schedule for early elementary.

If you are not paying attention to the "Middle School Start Times" emails, you need to rapidly engage, get informed by reading the emails and the FCPS website, tell your friends and neighbors, and start connecting with your school board reps.

The school board is finalizing the new schedule soon.

If you don't start organizing soon, you might end up with a crap schedule and more childcare issues come fall 2026, because right now, the loudest voices with Dr. Reid's ear are a handful of vocal middle school parents who want to blow up elementary and high school schedules so the 2 years of middle school can get the best schedule, even if it means kindergartens are going to school until dinner time.

There is at least one schedule option tgat is not too bad, but it puts middle school last so middle school parents are lobbying against that one.

Get informed and make your preferences known.

The "Middle School" schedule emails are about changing everyone's schedule, not just middle school.

It honestly sounds great to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a separate thread for middle school start times.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1257582.page

Elementary parents, you might not be paying attention to the middle school start time discussion because the emails from FCPS frame it as solely a middle school issue.

However, changing MS start times means changing everyone's start time, in ways that are detrimental to high school and especially elementary school, just for 2 years of middle school.

It sounds like there is heavy lobbying by some MS school parents to switch to a schedule that moves everyone 30 minutes later. This means that elementary kids will start close to 10:00 AM and get out after 4:30 PM, with busses arriving home between 5:00-5:15 PM.

Imagine having that schedule for early elementary.

If you are not paying attention to the "Middle School Start Times" emails, you need to rapidly engage, get informed by reading the emails and the FCPS website, tell your friends and neighbors, and start connecting with your school board reps.

The school board is finalizing the new schedule soon.

If you don't start organizing soon, you might end up with a crap schedule and more childcare issues come fall 2026, because right now, the loudest voices with Dr. Reid's ear are a handful of vocal middle school parents who want to blow up elementary and high school schedules so the 2 years of middle school can get the best schedule, even if it means kindergartens are going to school until dinner time.

There is at least one schedule option tgat is not too bad, but it puts middle school last so middle school parents are lobbying against that one.

Get informed and make your preferences known.

The "Middle School" schedule emails are about changing everyone's schedule, not just middle school.

Excuse me. You don’t speak for all parents. The changes would not be detrimental at all, especially to high schoolers. Their start time would be moved back by 30 minutes and I think that’s a good thing.

[Anonymous]

All of this mess could be avoided if they fixed the busses. They should buy more busses, make kids who can walk to school, walk to school and raise the salary for bus drivers. Then everyone can go to school at the same time. They can find the money by reducing the number of adminstration - starting with the four Vice-principals' secretary's secretary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were at a 9:20 start time ES and had no issues with the start or end time. My kids loved sleeping in until 8:30 or so.

But under this plan your school would start at 9:50 am and get out at 4:40. That’s a lot for little kids. They can’t concentrate that well in the late afternoon.

Actually kids can and do pay attention in afternoons. Many many kids going to Curie and RSM etc after school and doing fine learning at 5 and 6 so above isn’t a true statement for a lot of kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If FCPS eliminated bussing for AAP Centers and treated them the same way they treat other choice schools (like language immersion, or schools for the arts, etc.), they could start middle schools at 8:30am without changing elementary school start times.

OMG did you actually study that or are you just angry your kid didn’t get into AAP. If you have hard data, post it, if not why post this as fact?

It does seem about as much verifiable research for the above proposal as if said if they changed and had chicken nuggets served Tuesdays instead of Thursday’s then schools could all start at 8:30.

This thread seems little more crazy than other MS start time one so propose we all go back to that one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If FCPS eliminated bussing for AAP Centers and treated them the same way they treat other choice schools (like language immersion, or schools for the arts, etc.), they could start middle schools at 8:30am without changing elementary school start times.

You are incorrect.

Almost all middle school students ride busses.

Middle schools use 3x-4x the busses as elementary school AAP.

Eliminating AAP would mean we are still short hundreds of busses and bus drivers for middle school.

Also not accurate that “almost all MS students ride busses.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were at a 9:20 start time ES and had no issues with the start or end time. My kids loved sleeping in until 8:30 or so.

But under this plan your school would start at 9:50 am and get out at 4:40. That’s a lot for little kids. They can’t concentrate that well in the late afternoon.

Actually kids can and do pay attention in afternoons. Many many kids going to Curie and RSM etc after school and doing fine learning at 5 and 6 so above isn’t a true statement for a lot of kids.

+1 this exactly. Many elem kids do educational after school activities.