VA dept of Education considering year-round school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Poor institutionalized childred. I feel sad for them if this passes. So many opportunities to learn, grow and enjoy life in the summer.
Working moms probabply love the idea though.

I thought all moms were working moms.

[Anonymous]

I am working mom and would hate this idea. I don't care of the year round schedule and think the choppy calendar is more of a hindrance. I can see how the state is considering this though bc outside of NOVA most of the larger metro areas in the state are much lower income and serve much larger lower ses students.

BTW I filled out the survey this morning. It's very short.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Poor institutionalized childred. I feel sad for them if this passes. So many opportunities to learn, grow and enjoy life in the summer.
Working moms probabply love the idea though.

They still get 6 weeks off in the summer to "learn, grow and enjoy life," they just tend to forget less of what they learn during the year and don't have to spend a month reviewing everything form last year. Also, then you can travel "off season" during the other breaks, with fewer crowds. Nice slam on working moms, though. You're a real peach.

[Anonymous]

I hope this passes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Poor institutionalized childred. I feel sad for them if this passes. So many opportunities to learn, grow and enjoy life in the summer.
Working moms probabply love the idea though.

Bullshit. SAHM here - the kids still go to school the same number of days, they just spread them out differently.

"I feel sad" obviously does not have the civics skills to look up the actual study and the legislation that resulted in the study.

1. Legislation that was passed in 2011 -- that means it successfully was enacted in both chambers of our Commonwealth's bicameral legislature:

http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?111+sum+HJ646

2. Note the language of the legislation:

"...(iii) conduct a comprehensive analysis of each year-round school, scheduling format, instructional, and extracurricular programs offered, and number of students enrolled in the year-round school; (iv) consider the minimum number of required teaching days or hours that should constitute the length of a school term and the issues attendant thereto; (v) identify and review year-round schools offered by other states and countries, noting advantages and disadvantages; (vi) ascertain and weigh the essential factors that must be considered before implementing year-round schools statewide, including, but not limited to, instructional costs, transportation and special education services, and the need for additional classroom teachers, staff, and support services; (vii) evaluate the impact of changing the scheduling format on school functions and length of terms and school breaks;..."

3. The Superintendent's memo was dated January 27, 2012 - this is not a "new idea":
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/administrators/superintendents_memos/2012/027-12.shtml

[Anonymous]

Actually, I think we need more school days, not just days spread out differently. A number of times the principal at my school has said they would offer more things like foreign language in elementay but they don't have the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Actually, I think we need more school days, not just days spread out differently. A number of times the principal at my school has said they would offer more things like foreign language in elementay but they don't have the time.

I think different kinds of learning take place during school and during times out of school, both of which are valuable. I do think we have a good balance right now in terms of total number of days in and out of school and I would not be in favor of increasing days in school. I do like the idea of spacing the days through the year and having shorter breaks every eight or nine weeks or so. Lots of good opportunities for family time in that schedule.

[Anonymous]

I'm a working mom and I hate the idea of year round school although I could do with the summer being one week shorter and a couple of days spread out throughout the year. I love having enough time for my children to attend a couple of camps with different friends and even sleepaway camp when they're older plus enough time to be home for a bit and away for another week or so as a family. I need 7-8 weeks to have them accomplish all of this.

[Anonymous]

Before moving to VA, my kids attended a year round charter school in Southern MD. We LOVED it! Miss that school and that area. Hubby makes more here, but we'd go back to rural MD in a heartbeat.

[Anonymous]

I love having enough time for my children to attend a couple of camps with different friends and even sleepaway camp when they're older plus enough time to be home for a bit and away for another week or so as a family. I need 7-8 weeks to have them accomplish all of this.

Yes, I could see it being a loss for families that can afford camps and enrichement activities but a benefit to families that could not - even if it is the same number of days off, if they come all in one block and kids are sitting home for long periods with nothing to do, that doesn't seem like a good thing.

[Anonymous]

I think it would give those families more of an excuse to do nothing during those times. At least with a long block of time they must feel obligated to do something for or with their children then. Homeschoolers all over the world spend hours with their children at home doing interesting things for many weeks at a time. Why are we always planning for the children that have parents who do nothing for or with them?

[Anonymous]

So everything I've read indicates the Virginia tourism industry is quite powerful in the state legislature -- you think they are going to go along with this? Not a ghosts chance in you know where. Won't happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Poor institutionalized childred. I feel sad for them if this passes. So many opportunities to learn, grow and enjoy life in the summer.
Working moms probabply love the idea though.

Bullshit. SAHM here - the kids still go to school the same number of days, they just spread them out differently.

And that should be considered a "modified calendar", or some similar term, not "year round".

I'm an elementary teacher and would love to switch to a modified calendar. Many of my colleagues feel the same way.

[Anonymous]

Whether year round or "modified" calendar...it would really limit the ability of high schoolers to participate in summer academic programs and internships, which would have an impact on college admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think year round school could be great if implemented correctly. The 8 weeks in school then 2 weeks break (60/20) model is the best one. It gives a good amount of teaching time but also allows for real breaks in between for both the teachers and the kids. Families that need/want to travel overseas have a longer time to do so. Intercession camps could also implement a fair amount of continuous camp activities whether it is sports, art, music, or academically related. I don't ever think my kids get anything out of the short 1 week camps. And as a bonus, these weeks don't always fall on the typical school break weeks so if you did want to plan a vacation, you can go without paying high season prices!

Agree 100%!! And put it in the notes section of the survey.

Btw, I'm a SAHM.