Why does FCPS have all these random days of week off???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Counterpoint: we should stop bickering about religious holidays and random Fridays and reckon with the reality that kids need more than 180 days in school. Especially after the disaster of the past two years. Kids are way behind and its going to take more than cheerful press releases from Gatehouse to catch them up.

FCPS should use federal funds to renegotiate teacher contracts and get kids in seats for at least 200 days/year.

Will never, ever happen.

they aren’t even using the 180 days well. For first 2 weeks at our elementary, it is just team building and stay in homeroom. For week 3, they just begin to switch classes and learn new routines with brand new teachers. No real instructions or lessons have started and it’s Week 4. The past 3 weeks have been a waste of time. They should have used that time for review of last year material or time to fill in a gap. They don’t teach cursive or even penmenship. They have skipped other topics in the recent years due to Covid yet no plan is used to fill in those gaps. Moreover, the workshop model is not good for all types of learners. It’s a shame, but I can see why test results dropped.

Don't forget after SOLs, it suddenly becomes movies, assemblies and extra recess for the last month of school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Counterpoint: we should stop bickering about religious holidays and random Fridays and reckon with the reality that kids need more than 180 days in school. Especially after the disaster of the past two years. Kids are way behind and its going to take more than cheerful press releases from Gatehouse to catch them up.

FCPS should use federal funds to renegotiate teacher contracts and get kids in seats for at least 200 days/year.

Will never, ever happen.

they aren’t even using the 180 days well. For first 2 weeks at our elementary, it is just team building and stay in homeroom. For week 3, they just begin to switch classes and learn new routines with brand new teachers. No real instructions or lessons have started and it’s Week 4. The past 3 weeks have been a waste of time. They should have used that time for review of last year material or time to fill in a gap. They don’t teach cursive or even penmenship. They have skipped other topics in the recent years due to Covid yet no plan is used to fill in those gaps. Moreover, the workshop model is not good for all types of learners. It’s a shame, but I can see why test results dropped.

Don't forget after SOLs, it suddenly becomes movies, assemblies and extra recess for the last month of school.

+1 correct. The first quarter is chock full of assessments: spelling, some DRA reading (there is a new one this year) assessment done by individual, I ready for reading, I ready for math, vga, social emotional learning, just to name a few, then on top of it they try to do teambuilding for the first couple of weeks, they keep showcasing the positivity project for about three or four years in a row now , they have to address the portrait of a graduate topics, The principal has an assembly on SRR, there are lots of rules and routines to discuss in every classroom that they trade off into, binders and name covers are created—— this leads to minimal instruction in the first nine weeks. This all comes at the cost of learning foundational material and filling in the holes from the virtual year. Then there are two decent quarters of instructional learning albeit back out with holidays and other days off. The final fourth-quarter has more of a focus on the SOL and reviewing for it and then just rapidly tapering off with in-class movies. The first quarter and the fourth quarter could and should be used to fill in some of this learning loss.

[Anonymous]

I hate school hours and the school schedule. I wish it was all more rigorous, less computer oriented.

But I do think the random days off are easier for me to cover than extra weeks of summer break. I can telework, so I know that's a privilege, but my boss will allow me to telework on random days. I cannot telework an entire week. An extra week of summer break is like $400 in camps per kid. I came from a really great school district and they had free summer school for smart kids (you did have to test in). Kids were able to choose from so many options- AP art history, Algebra, Geometry, Sciences, etc. I'm really jealous of the education I received versus the subpar one my kids are getting here. Here kids who are grade levels behind don't even have access to summer school. Which is sort of unbelievable to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Counterpoint: we should stop bickering about religious holidays and random Fridays and reckon with the reality that kids need more than 180 days in school. Especially after the disaster of the past two years. Kids are way behind and its going to take more than cheerful press releases from Gatehouse to catch them up.

FCPS should use federal funds to renegotiate teacher contracts and get kids in seats for at least 200 days/year.

Will never, ever happen.

they aren’t even using the 180 days well. For first 2 weeks at our elementary, it is just team building and stay in homeroom. For week 3, they just begin to switch classes and learn new routines with brand new teachers. No real instructions or lessons have started and it’s Week 4. The past 3 weeks have been a waste of time. They should have used that time for review of last year material or time to fill in a gap. They don’t teach cursive or even penmenship. They have skipped other topics in the recent years due to Covid yet no plan is used to fill in those gaps. Moreover, the workshop model is not good for all types of learners. It’s a shame, but I can see why test results dropped.

Don't forget after SOLs, it suddenly becomes movies, assemblies and extra recess for the last month of school.

That has not been the case at our ES. The kids finish the SOL and then they return to regular lessons. The Teachers do plan a few group projects that incorporate math, writing, and some science in them that are more independent and fun but there are learning objectives assigned to the projects.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Counterpoint: we should stop bickering about religious holidays and random Fridays and reckon with the reality that kids need more than 180 days in school. Especially after the disaster of the past two years. Kids are way behind and its going to take more than cheerful press releases from Gatehouse to catch them up.

FCPS should use federal funds to renegotiate teacher contracts and get kids in seats for at least 200 days/year.

Will never, ever happen.

they aren’t even using the 180 days well. For first 2 weeks at our elementary, it is just team building and stay in homeroom. For week 3, they just begin to switch classes and learn new routines with brand new teachers. No real instructions or lessons have started and it’s Week 4. The past 3 weeks have been a waste of time. They should have used that time for review of last year material or time to fill in a gap. They don’t teach cursive or even penmenship. They have skipped other topics in the recent years due to Covid yet no plan is used to fill in those gaps. Moreover, the workshop model is not good for all types of learners. It’s a shame, but I can see why test results dropped.

That is your ES. Our ES does not have kids changing Teachers for different subjects. The first week is learning about each other and a general reintroduction to school. The second week included worksheets and assignments that helped the Teachers see where kids were after summer vacation. The third week was iReady and starting to teach new material. And not every school skipped those topics. Our ES was clear that they were going to continue to teach the full curriculum and did just that. I know that incomplete work is being sent home and kids in DS's class are being asked to complete it at home and return it, so some kids have homework already.

We are not in the McLean or Langley pyramid, just in case people think it is something associated with those schools or high SES. We are in a pretty solidly MC neighborhood.

Each school decides how to run it's year and how to approach these issues. Our school is in week 4 and the kids are balancing between finishing assessments and learning new material.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Counterpoint: we should stop bickering about religious holidays and random Fridays and reckon with the reality that kids need more than 180 days in school. Especially after the disaster of the past two years. Kids are way behind and its going to take more than cheerful press releases from Gatehouse to catch them up.

FCPS should use federal funds to renegotiate teacher contracts and get kids in seats for at least 200 days/year.

Will never, ever happen.

they aren’t even using the 180 days well. For first 2 weeks at our elementary, it is just team building and stay in homeroom. For week 3, they just begin to switch classes and learn new routines with brand new teachers. No real instructions or lessons have started and it’s Week 4. The past 3 weeks have been a waste of time. They should have used that time for review of last year material or time to fill in a gap. They don’t teach cursive or even penmenship. They have skipped other topics in the recent years due to Covid yet no plan is used to fill in those gaps. Moreover, the workshop model is not good for all types of learners. It’s a shame, but I can see why test results dropped.

That is your ES. Our ES does not have kids changing Teachers for different subjects. The first week is learning about each other and a general reintroduction to school. The second week included worksheets and assignments that helped the Teachers see where kids were after summer vacation. The third week was iReady and starting to teach new material. And not every school skipped those topics. Our ES was clear that they were going to continue to teach the full curriculum and did just that. I know that incomplete work is being sent home and kids in DS's class are being asked to complete it at home and return it, so some kids have homework already.

We are not in the McLean or Langley pyramid, just in case people think it is something associated with those schools or high SES. We are in a pretty solidly MC neighborhood.

Each school decides how to run it's year and how to approach these issues. Our school is in week 4 and the kids are balancing between finishing assessments and learning new material.

Well, la di da. I would bet more schools are different than yours than share your experience. Our AAP center ES, AAP MS, and the HS too def are slow to teach new material and the last several weeks of school after AP exams, SOLs, and in between finals are a waste. The HS is a ghost town but it still claims those hours as part of the school year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Counterpoint: we should stop bickering about religious holidays and random Fridays and reckon with the reality that kids need more than 180 days in school. Especially after the disaster of the past two years. Kids are way behind and its going to take more than cheerful press releases from Gatehouse to catch them up.

FCPS should use federal funds to renegotiate teacher contracts and get kids in seats for at least 200 days/year.

Will never, ever happen.

they aren’t even using the 180 days well. For first 2 weeks at our elementary, it is just team building and stay in homeroom. For week 3, they just begin to switch classes and learn new routines with brand new teachers. No real instructions or lessons have started and it’s Week 4. The past 3 weeks have been a waste of time. They should have used that time for review of last year material or time to fill in a gap. They don’t teach cursive or even penmenship. They have skipped other topics in the recent years due to Covid yet no plan is used to fill in those gaps. Moreover, the workshop model is not good for all types of learners. It’s a shame, but I can see why test results dropped.

Don't forget after SOLs, it suddenly becomes movies, assemblies and extra recess for the last month of school.

That has not been the case at our ES. The kids finish the SOL and then they return to regular lessons. The Teachers do plan a few group projects that incorporate math, writing, and some science in them that are more independent and fun but there are learning objectives assigned to the projects.

My kids had all sorts of extra free time after SOLs at Navy, though the BMX bike demo got canceled due to rain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sad that you all vote for board members who put religion over your child's education. These claims of equity are an implied insult to Latinos as well because there definitely was not a group lobbying FCPS for Day of the Dead off. Clearly it was thrown in to help justify adding the four "more serious" religious holidays that are actually recognized by the schools this year.

What? Day of the Dead is not a federal holiday in Mexico, nor is it a school holiday. I'm Hispanic and from a majority Hispanic city. Day of the Dead is not a school holiday there either. Latinos want their kids in school more days, not less. All of these days off are incredibly burdensome for people that need to work and don't have backup care. For most of the people that I know, the kids end up staying home alone while parents are off at work when FCPS is closed. The kids home alone with no supervision (particularly in MS and HS during summer) is already recognized as "at risk" days for substance abuse and other ways to get in trouble.

So no one is clamoring for more days off except for wealthy white ladies.

That is my point, the school board made Day of the Dead a school holiday when Latinos in Mexico and majority cities do not take that day off from school. Obviously, no Latinos were surveyed about this holiday but was foisted on us like Latinx.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sad that you all vote for board members who put religion over your child's education. These claims of equity are an implied insult to Latinos as well because there definitely was not a group lobbying FCPS for Day of the Dead off. Clearly it was thrown in to help justify adding the four "more serious" religious holidays that are actually recognized by the schools this year.

What? Day of the Dead is not a federal holiday in Mexico, nor is it a school holiday. I'm Hispanic and from a majority Hispanic city. Day of the Dead is not a school holiday there either. Latinos want their kids in school more days, not less. All of these days off are incredibly burdensome for people that need to work and don't have backup care. For most of the people that I know, the kids end up staying home alone while parents are off at work when FCPS is closed. The kids home alone with no supervision (particularly in MS and HS during summer) is already recognized as "at risk" days for substance abuse and other ways to get in trouble.

So no one is clamoring for more days off except for wealthy white ladies.

That is my point, the school board made Day of the Dead a school holiday when Latinos in Mexico and majority cities do not take that day off from school. Obviously, no Latinos were surveyed about this holiday but was foisted on us like Latinx.

Guess there weren't enough Hispanic holidays so had to throw in an "equity" bone to the Latinos. What a joke this School Board is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sad that you all vote for board members who put religion over your child's education. These claims of equity are an implied insult to Latinos as well because there definitely was not a group lobbying FCPS for Day of the Dead off. Clearly it was thrown in to help justify adding the four "more serious" religious holidays that are actually recognized by the schools this year.

What? Day of the Dead is not a federal holiday in Mexico, nor is it a school holiday. I'm Hispanic and from a majority Hispanic city. Day of the Dead is not a school holiday there either. Latinos want their kids in school more days, not less. All of these days off are incredibly burdensome for people that need to work and don't have backup care. For most of the people that I know, the kids end up staying home alone while parents are off at work when FCPS is closed. The kids home alone with no supervision (particularly in MS and HS during summer) is already recognized as "at risk" days for substance abuse and other ways to get in trouble.

So no one is clamoring for more days off except for wealthy white ladies.

That is my point, the school board made Day of the Dead a school holiday when Latinos in Mexico and majority cities do not take that day off from school. Obviously, no Latinos were surveyed about this holiday but was foisted on us like Latinx.

What are you talking about? It is not a school holiday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sad that you all vote for board members who put religion over your child's education. These claims of equity are an implied insult to Latinos as well because there definitely was not a group lobbying FCPS for Day of the Dead off. Clearly it was thrown in to help justify adding the four "more serious" religious holidays that are actually recognized by the schools this year.

What? Day of the Dead is not a federal holiday in Mexico, nor is it a school holiday. I'm Hispanic and from a majority Hispanic city. Day of the Dead is not a school holiday there either. Latinos want their kids in school more days, not less. All of these days off are incredibly burdensome for people that need to work and don't have backup care. For most of the people that I know, the kids end up staying home alone while parents are off at work when FCPS is closed. The kids home alone with no supervision (particularly in MS and HS during summer) is already recognized as "at risk" days for substance abuse and other ways to get in trouble.

So no one is clamoring for more days off except for wealthy white ladies.

That is my point, the school board made Day of the Dead a school holiday when Latinos in Mexico and majority cities do not take that day off from school. Obviously, no Latinos were surveyed about this holiday but was foisted on us like Latinx.

What are you talking about? It is not a school holiday.

It maybe is an O day or was one last year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sad that you all vote for board members who put religion over your child's education. These claims of equity are an implied insult to Latinos as well because there definitely was not a group lobbying FCPS for Day of the Dead off. Clearly it was thrown in to help justify adding the four "more serious" religious holidays that are actually recognized by the schools this year.

What? Day of the Dead is not a federal holiday in Mexico, nor is it a school holiday. I'm Hispanic and from a majority Hispanic city. Day of the Dead is not a school holiday there either. Latinos want their kids in school more days, not less. All of these days off are incredibly burdensome for people that need to work and don't have backup care. For most of the people that I know, the kids end up staying home alone while parents are off at work when FCPS is closed. The kids home alone with no supervision (particularly in MS and HS during summer) is already recognized as "at risk" days for substance abuse and other ways to get in trouble.

So no one is clamoring for more days off except for wealthy white ladies.

That is my point, the school board made Day of the Dead a school holiday when Latinos in Mexico and majority cities do not take that day off from school. Obviously, no Latinos were surveyed about this holiday but was foisted on us like Latinx.

What are you talking about? It is not a school holiday.

I think that is a big problem. People are looking at the O days as something more than they are - a no-test day. Still school, still learning, just no tests.

It maybe is an O day or was one last year.