FCCPS return to school today

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are two very vocal groups of opposing parents—half want to shut it down and half want to stay in school no matter what the metrics say (like they’re doing in Europe and Canada...and much of the US). Doubt they’ll even get the next round of kids back next week since so many parents are now against it with rising cases. I think they’re doing a great job and we should keep the kids in school.

Are there actually parents opposing it? I thought 80% of parents wanted their kids back in school? Cases in fcc are at 0.

Falls Church is very small, approximately two square miles. That’s like saying there are not any cases on your block so you don’t need to worry about the rising cases all around you. Many students are are in activities outside of Falls Church City and most staff live elsewhere.

They can choose to stay virtual and are teaching concurrently. My children are not back yet and plan to be in the hybrid program in January. I hope it’s successful but right now they have interaction in all classes. The hybrid program sounds like a teacher splitting time with in person students and some watching from home the other two days. They say it can be interactive but I am skeptical. There is only so much we can expect a teacher to do while teaching two groups at once. I am not sure going back two days a week will be better than what they have now.

How small for the K and 3 that returned in person? How many classes per grade, how many kids in a classroom? I'm just curious about the lower ES grades.

My son’s 3rd grade in person cohort has 7 students. He was so happy to return last week. FWIW, I think the parents who are speaking our about the return are concerned about how the teachers have had little input into the decision. There are virtually no exceptions to the rule that they have to return to the classroom or take leave without pay. I am uncomfortable with this myself, despite the fact that I made the best choice for my own child (which is my job here) and I don’t have good suggestions for how else to provide teachers the option. Also, I agree that relying on FCC metrics is a bit silly - they really don’t paint a useful picture. However, I have more faith in the FC Health Department now than I had at the beginning of this crisis and Noonan consults with them daily.

I am very, very concerned about the holidays.

[Anonymous]

Did a lot of students pick the virtual option or are your classes that small? 7 is a very small number.

[Anonymous]

6:43 here: there are 20 kids in the class altogether.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did a lot of students pick the virtual option or are your classes that small? 7 is a very small number.

NP here but most classes have around or less than 20. Each class is split in 2 (AM and PM group by last name) and then anyone staying virtual so you end up with 7-8 kids in a session max. My 1st graders class is 18 so the in person group will be small.

[Anonymous]

My fourth grader is very excited to go back tomorrow - I'm thrilled they're moving forward. I think they're mitigating the risk really well.

I wish people would commit to being responsible over the holidays. Can't we get through 1 Thanksgiving and 1 Christmas staying at home and being just with our immediate family? Are we really that weak as a people we can't handle it? If people travel and gather as normal, we are doing our kids a massive disservice by forcing schools to close and stay closed probably until vaccine distribution.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My fourth grader is very excited to go back tomorrow - I'm thrilled they're moving forward. I think they're mitigating the risk really well.

I wish people would commit to being responsible over the holidays. Can't we get through 1 Thanksgiving and 1 Christmas staying at home and being just with our immediate family? Are we really that weak as a people we can't handle it? If people travel and gather as normal, we are doing our kids a massive disservice by forcing schools to close and stay closed probably until vaccine distribution.

I agree with this! The vaccine is on the horizon. We just have to get through this one push.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My fourth grader is very excited to go back tomorrow - I'm thrilled they're moving forward. I think they're mitigating the risk really well.

I wish people would commit to being responsible over the holidays. Can't we get through 1 Thanksgiving and 1 Christmas staying at home and being just with our immediate family? Are we really that weak as a people we can't handle it? If people travel and gather as normal, we are doing our kids a massive disservice by forcing schools to close and stay closed probably until vaccine distribution.

AND NEW YEARS(about a week after).

[Anonymous]

INVU FCC parents!!!!!!!
You can guess which PS my ES goes to, hahaha. I'm actually crying inside. My hopes were dashed.

[Anonymous]

I feel guilty over the amount of work my ES's teachers have to do in this new system. Especially if they have multiple kids!

Working single mom of 1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My fourth grader is very excited to go back tomorrow - I'm thrilled they're moving forward. I think they're mitigating the risk really well.

I wish people would commit to being responsible over the holidays. Can't we get through 1 Thanksgiving and 1 Christmas staying at home and being just with our immediate family? Are we really that weak as a people we can't handle it? If people travel and gather as normal, we are doing our kids a massive disservice by forcing schools to close and stay closed probably until vaccine distribution.

Completely agree with this. My 1st grader is so excited to meet her teacher and classmates tomorrow. After the FCCPS email from the superintendent today it sounds very possible that this week could be the make or break and I’m frustrated that the system and teachers have put so much work into hybrid to have it really not happen beyond 1-2 weeks.

The end is in sight! We can do this if we just buckle down.

[Anonymous]

Ok elementary parents - how did your kids day go today? Ones that went to school, those staying virtual (now with concurrent teaching)?

[Anonymous]

Went great. My 4th grader had in person math (with kids online at the same time, and only 4 in his class) and homeroom with 8 or 9 (no one online). He says it is a little tough with the kids who are also online.

They should have had the virtual kids do Virtual Virginia, IMO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Went great. My 4th grader had in person math (with kids online at the same time, and only 4 in his class) and homeroom with 8 or 9 (no one online). He says it is a little tough with the kids who are also online.

They should have had the virtual kids do Virtual Virginia, IMO.

I think it would be harder to switch to VV mid-year for some kids than to stick with the current curriculum even though remote. VV doesn't perfectly line up.

[Anonymous]

My kid is home with a cold (negative COVID test but kept him home until he's feeling better and not so congested) but our friends had an amazing first day. It was harder for the virtual kids to follow along. It's basically the same as a work meeting and being on video/conference call with a room full of people who are in person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is home with a cold (negative COVID test but kept him home until he's feeling better and not so congested) but our friends had an amazing first day. It was harder for the virtual kids to follow along. It's basically the same as a work meeting and being on video/conference call with a room full of people who are in person.

Not in FCCPS but this has been my analogy and my concern since I heard about concurrent learning in the first place. I prefer our current distance learning set-up to this but unfortunately the status quo doesn't seem like it'll be an option if/when FCPS goes back. Seems like a high likelihood he would lose his awesome teachers though we haven't heard what his current team will be doing.