Thoughts on the MCPS 2017-2018 calendar?
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Anonymous
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They need to lengthen the school year; reorganize vacations so that there isn't such a long summer leading to brain drain, and kids can have more time to recharge with longer holidays during the school year. |
Anonymous
An interesting idea called year-round school  Hulk Hogan wouldn't like that.
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Anonymous
Because three months of no school, with school starting after Labor Day, is how he did it, and he turned out fine... |
Anonymous
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This year the calendar has 178 full days and 6 half days. Next year it will have 173 full days and 9 half days. U.S. school system is already behind other countries, and this seems to be going in the wrong direction.
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Anonymous
That's not a proper logical argument. One doesn't necessarily imply the other. I did fine and we had fewer than 3 contiguous months off. I know people who didn't do well and went to school with Hogan. |
Anonymous
Of course it's not a logical argument, but he's used it as justification multiple times. Also, "everyone agrees" that it makes better sense. He also went to private school. He has absolutely no public school experience, not his own and not as a parent. I was in a major car accident as a child and missed almost a whole semester of 2nd grade. I had a home teacher that came a few times a week when I was finally able to do any work. For whatever reason, I went on to third grade on time, and turned out fine. Doesn't mean I would recommend all second graders take a few months off in the middle of the year, LARRY. Research has shown us several "optimum" models for school scheduling, and many of them are just not logically possible--namely, year round school with short breaks along the way. The cost to overhaul the entire system is just preventative right now. MCPS initially had a calendar for next year that started earlier than ever in August, as it would optimize instruction before nationally-scheduled AP tests, so students would get as much instructional time as possible before those tests. That might have been inconvenient for many families, but it would have been best for students. With this after Labor Day crap, they're not even pretending it's what's best for students. It's not a "this model" vs. "that model" argument. It's screw the kids, Ocean City needs as much tourism as possible. I cannot wait to see the numbers, to see if this even makes any noticeable impact. My family will likely be spending our beach vacation in Delaware, as usual. If the students had multiple breaks during the year, that could bump up OC's off-season tourism. But nah. |
Anonymous
| And yet still one measly week and one day for Christmas vacation. But are they really starting after Labor Day? That would one positive! |
Anonymous
| I work with someone who is thrilled. She hates having to get her kids home and to bed for school. She wants as few schools days as possible. I don't have a response to that but I guess she is not alone. |
Anonymous
| okey, so makeup days are built in Spring Break, does that make sense? |
Anonymous
Why is it positive? |
Anonymous
It's how they've got to do it. The state is saying school can't begin before the day after Labor Day. And it must end, including contingency snow days, by June 15. There are a lot of days mandated off per the state (T-giving and day after, Dec 24-Jan 1, MLK Day, Pres Day, Good Friday + Easter Monday, Memorial Day, and in certain years: Election Day and Primary Day). The only real wiggle room that MCPS has in their calendar is the extra time at Spring Break. |
Anonymous
The short winter break is a result of where Christmas Eve and New Year's happen to fall in the week. Winter break has always been 12/24-1/1 at a minimum. In 2017, Christmas Eve is a Sunday and New Year's Day is Monday, so the students will go for a full week before Christmas. This past year was the shortest possible break, because 12/24 was a Saturday. The longest break generally occurs when 12/24 is a Tuesday. They won't have students go for a lone Monday on 12/23 (or at least, they haven't in the past--might change now), so it ends up being Saturday 12/21 through Wednesday 1/1, 12 days off including weekends. It will be interesting to see how they work it when that situation pops up, if they're even still doing this mess. And you are so late to the party if you're surprised (and pleased) that school is starting after Labor Day now. Did you just move here? And what's the positive about it? |
Anonymous
| I like this schedule so much better. I found this year's schedule to be much more disruptive with the numerous days off iSeptember through December. I also think spring break is way too long and we should get rid of the Good Friday and Easter Monday holiday. One week is plenty. |
Anonymous
No because people will make their plans and pull their kids out..and then the teachers will not want to cover much with lots of kids out. But education is not the point of this. |
Anonymous
You may like it better, but the extra long summer break is not what's best for students. It may have been choppy this year, but students are able to adapt to missing a day here and there without losing what they've learned. There will be such slides over the summer, especially for the most vulnerable students. but hey, who wants what's best for kids? We gotta get to the beach! Why get rid of Good Friday and Easter Monday? Why not have only those days off? Four days is plenty. I don't see this calendar as sustainable for years to come. There are multiple exceptions that occur in 2017-18 that are not the norm. Decisions will have to made over how to address breaks when the holidays are not on weekends, plus years when we have Election Days and primaries, Jewish holidays during the week, etc. |