Why Did My Private School Kid Have Virtual School on Snow Days But Not My MCPS Kid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you are better off comparing one public school district to another, not to private school.

What did APS do? DCPS? FCPS?

And if your only complaint is that one of your kids was bored bored bored, then you can easily fix that yourself.

Um, DCPS was open yesterday for school
Anne Arundel and PG County are Maryland public schools that had virtual learning yesterday.

This is already being discussed in a different thread on this forum about McPS lack of proper progress in submitting their required virtual learning plan to MSDE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you are better off comparing one public school district to another, not to private school.

What did APS do? DCPS? FCPS?

And if your only complaint is that one of your kids was bored bored bored, then you can easily fix that yourself.

Um, DCPS was open yesterday for school
Anne Arundel and PG County are Maryland public schools that had virtual learning yesterday.

This is already being discussed in a different thread on this forum about McPS lack of proper progress in submitting their required virtual learning plan to MSDE.

Um, so why is OP comparing a public school district to private school?

And why does OP need another thread on this?

Seems OP is bored bored bored.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because virtual school is dumb, but the private school knows it has to justify tuition.

Private school parent of a HS student here. Our private school already justifies tuition even without virtual school during snow days.

1. School is not cancelled for ridiculous reasons. My kid was back in school on Thursday, January 29, following one true snow day on Monday and two remote learning days on Tuesday and Wednesday. All while MCPS students wasted time playing on their phones for an entire week.

2. Smaller class sizes...about half the size (or sometimes a third of the size) of MCPS.

3. Nicer facilities. Bathrooms all work and aren't closed. No vaping or other activities in bathroom (beyond some girls putting on makeup).

4. No grade inflation.

5. Teachers who are mission driven vs. benefit/salary driven.

6. Strong sense of community. Smaller overall class size (less than 100).

7. Amazing college counseling support. Lots of contact with counselor and counselor support for students seeking to get into certain schools. Some strong relationships with those schools that my DD wants to attend.

8. School was open during the pandemic.

9. Wonderful school trips for different groups of students (Spain, Austria, Costa Rica are recent trips).

10. Religion...this is a religious school. Having theology as a subject is something my daughter loves.

So for the PP, private school has SO MANY other reasons for a family to consider beyond school being open after a snow storm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because virtual school is dumb, but the private school knows it has to justify tuition.

Private school parent of a HS student here. Our private school already justifies tuition even without virtual school during snow days.

1. School is not cancelled for ridiculous reasons. My kid was back in school on Thursday, January 29, following one true snow day on Monday and two remote learning days on Tuesday and Wednesday. All while MCPS students wasted time playing on their phones for an entire week.

2. Smaller class sizes...about half the size (or sometimes a third of the size) of MCPS.

3. Nicer facilities. Bathrooms all work and aren't closed. No vaping or other activities in bathroom (beyond some girls putting on makeup).

4. No grade inflation.

5. Teachers who are mission driven vs. benefit/salary driven.

6. Strong sense of community. Smaller overall class size (less than 100).

7. Amazing college counseling support. Lots of contact with counselor and counselor support for students seeking to get into certain schools. Some strong relationships with those schools that my DD wants to attend.

8. School was open during the pandemic.

9. Wonderful school trips for different groups of students (Spain, Austria, Costa Rica are recent trips).

10. Religion...this is a religious school. Having theology as a subject is something my daughter loves.

So for the PP, private school has SO MANY other reasons for a family to consider beyond school being open after a snow storm.

11. Parents who will and do squawk if the school stays closed and has virtual school. And parents who will and do crow when their school is brave enough to open when others don’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because virtual school is dumb, but the private school knows it has to justify tuition.

Im actually going to jump in here and disagree. I had one going to private on athletic scholarship and the teaching/learning in night and day. They were allowed one true snow day and then every day off after was a virtual day. And at least for middle schoolers and high schoolers it was interactive classes with cameras on (uniform top on and shown) and assignments were given. It worked very well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not virtual school, exactly, but this time my kid got assignments from teachers in every single one of her AP classes.

The last snow storm was right at the turn of the semester which made everything harder. My kid had teachers they had never met and the new Canvas classrooms hadn’t been launched yet, which made even informal progress very hard. Two of my kids AP teachers changed at the semester so it wasn’t even like AP teachers could try to informally stay ahead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There’s a long thread asking about the progress of MCPS’s virtual learning plan for weather emergencies. MCPS said it would prepare one in 2024, but here we are in 2026 and nothing was done. You should be asking why this plan hasn’t been prepared and submitted to the state of Maryland. Other of neighboring Maryland countries (PG, Baltimore, Anne Arundel) prepared their plan and had it approved and have had virtual learning during these snow storms.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1315160.page

Wow - I did not know other counties in Maryland were doing this. For those saying “go private” for my MCPS kid - no. Public is a better fit for him, especially, if he actually had school everyday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because virtual school is dumb, but the private school knows it has to justify tuition.

Private school parent of a HS student here. Our private school already justifies tuition even without virtual school during snow days.

1. School is not cancelled for ridiculous reasons. My kid was back in school on Thursday, January 29, following one true snow day on Monday and two remote learning days on Tuesday and Wednesday. All while MCPS students wasted time playing on their phones for an entire week.

2. Smaller class sizes...about half the size (or sometimes a third of the size) of MCPS.

3. Nicer facilities. Bathrooms all work and aren't closed. No vaping or other activities in bathroom (beyond some girls putting on makeup).

4. No grade inflation.

5. Teachers who are mission driven vs. benefit/salary driven.

6. Strong sense of community. Smaller overall class size (less than 100).

7. Amazing college counseling support. Lots of contact with counselor and counselor support for students seeking to get into certain schools. Some strong relationships with those schools that my DD wants to attend.

8. School was open during the pandemic.

9. Wonderful school trips for different groups of students (Spain, Austria, Costa Rica are recent trips).

10. Religion...this is a religious school. Having theology as a subject is something my daughter loves.

So for the PP, private school has SO MANY other reasons for a family to consider beyond school being open after a snow storm.

Nailed it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because virtual school is dumb, but the private school knows it has to justify tuition.

Im actually going to jump in here and disagree. I had one going to private on athletic scholarship and the teaching/learning in night and day. They were allowed one true snow day and then every day off after was a virtual day. And at least for middle schoolers and high schoolers it was interactive classes with cameras on (uniform top on and shown) and assignments were given. It worked very well.

Our experience was the same. After the first day of the new school, my DD stated she had no idea where these teachers had learned to teach but she was so excited and that enthusiasm lasted until the end of her private K-8 - four years of literally being excited to go to school everyday. And this was not an expensive fancy schmancy private school - it was a religious school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every child needs a computer at home. I don't know where you live but I teach at a school where kids share a room with 3 other adults. Not every child has the supplies to learn at home.

In other counties the parents let the school know if they need supplies. When there is an expected need for virtual learning, those kids take what they need (tablet, laptop, hotspot, food, headphones) home.

During the pandemic when everything was virtual, a neighboring county had to request the police to check in on kids that they haven't heard from all year.

When the police checked in with one family, the family said they had no access to online resources and had no way of having their kids logging online.

This school system had hotspots and other devices to any families that needed them.

I don't know if this was a case of the family truly not knowing the resources available to them or they just are not engaged or care about their kid's education.

But virtual learning does not work for everyone and it can't be assumed that every student has access.

Don't get me wrong, I think that MCPS should have absolutely looked into going virtual during these recent extended snow days. But there are going to be students that fall through the cracks if they do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There’s a long thread asking about the progress of MCPS’s virtual learning plan for weather emergencies. MCPS said it would prepare one in 2024, but here we are in 2026 and nothing was done. You should be asking why this plan hasn’t been prepared and submitted to the state of Maryland. Other of neighboring Maryland countries (PG, Baltimore, Anne Arundel) prepared their plan and had it approved and have had virtual learning during these snow storms.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1315160.page

Wow - I did not know other counties in Maryland were doing this. For those saying “go private” for my MCPS kid - no. Public is a better fit for him, especially, if he actually had school everyday.

I know it can be frustrating, but kids will learn if they truly want to. There are so many resources available nowadays. public or private, in the end, it really comes down to how much effort parents are willing to put into their child’s education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because virtual school is dumb, but the private school knows it has to justify tuition.

Im actually going to jump in here and disagree. I had one going to private on athletic scholarship and the teaching/learning in night and day. They were allowed one true snow day and then every day off after was a virtual day. And at least for middle schoolers and high schoolers it was interactive classes with cameras on (uniform top on and shown) and assignments were given. It worked very well.

Our experience was the same. After the first day of the new school, my DD stated she had no idea where these teachers had learned to teach but she was so excited and that enthusiasm lasted until the end of her private K-8 - four years of literally being excited to go to school everyday. And this was not an expensive fancy schmancy private school - it was a religious school.

Which is great for your kid. But a small religious k-8 cannot be compared to a huge county school district.

[Anonymous]

I get your frustration OP. MCPS makes no sense.

[Anonymous]

MCPS never submitted a virtual plan. The shrieking parents HATE virtual, because it doesn’t serve school’s primary purpose to them — a place to park their kid, be it when the roads are icy or on an in-person makeup day. 🙄

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because virtual school is dumb, but the private school knows it has to justify tuition.

Private school parent of a HS student here. Our private school already justifies tuition even without virtual school during snow days.

1. School is not cancelled for ridiculous reasons. My kid was back in school on Thursday, January 29, following one true snow day on Monday and two remote learning days on Tuesday and Wednesday. All while MCPS students wasted time playing on their phones for an entire week.

2. Smaller class sizes...about half the size (or sometimes a third of the size) of MCPS.

3. Nicer facilities. Bathrooms all work and aren't closed. No vaping or other activities in bathroom (beyond some girls putting on makeup).

4. No grade inflation.

5. Teachers who are mission driven vs. benefit/salary driven.

6. Strong sense of community. Smaller overall class size (less than 100).

7. Amazing college counseling support. Lots of contact with counselor and counselor support for students seeking to get into certain schools. Some strong relationships with those schools that my DD wants to attend.

8. School was open during the pandemic.

9. Wonderful school trips for different groups of students (Spain, Austria, Costa Rica are recent trips).

10. Religion...this is a religious school. Having theology as a subject is something my daughter loves.

So for the PP, private school has SO MANY other reasons for a family to consider beyond school being open after a snow storm.

Underpaying teachers is not something to be proud of when your yearly tuition for one child is more than a teacher makes. Makes you wonder where the school pirorities are!

Some MCPS schools have great facilities, given they are newer.

Not seeing any grade inflation in MCPS.

Why do you need the school to take your kids on trips? Why can't you?

Socially having 100 students per grade can be hard and stiffling.