Anyone else object to starting Fairfax County middle schools earlier just to start hs later?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree that sports are great. I had one who did sports and one who did not. People might be surprised to know that there are a lot of activities other than sports that are going to be negatively impacted by the new times.

The new times shouldn't have a negative effect on extracurriculars. TJ runs from 8:30 to 3:50, with sports and many other extracurriculars starting about four and going till about six. Lots of very involved kids there, with long commutes to boot, and they manage to get it all done.

A lot of TJ students sleep 5 hours a night. No thanks.

And a lot of kids at the neighborhood high schools sleep five hours a night now. My child at TJ sleeps from 10 or 11 till 7 every night and that is with two hours of a sport every day; the TJ schedule has been far better for my child then he earlier schedule for middle school at a secondary school. I think a lot of kids in the neighborhood schools could benefit from starting the school day later. I have seen the difference and the later start time is much better all around.

Waking up at 7am as opposed to my DC's current 530am wake up call would make a world of difference in his energy level and general outlook. I am all for the later start times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why can't they actually make the full changes that would truly address the issue? This half-a$$ compromise doesn't do enough for the high schoolers, makes middle school worse, and leaves so many elementary schoolers sitting around waiting somewhere instead of in the classroom, learning, during their most alert hour of the morning!

No, no, my elementary aged children are not "naturally" up earlier. I am not for earlier start times for elementary at all.

They would be naturally up earlier if you put them to bed at a decent hour.

You can think that if you want, but when my dd was born, she would stay up from 9 pm to 5 am every night. As she progressed to toddlerhood, she would routinely stay up until 2 am. I wish you could have been there to fix this problem for me. She has always had a hard time going to sleep. Sure I could put her in bed at 7 pm, but she won't go to sleep then even if I do it consistently for many nights.

So what time does her elementary school start, and how do you avoid having her be sleep deprived? Surely she's in class by 9 am at the latest?

Her start time is 9:05, and her bed time is 9:30. But she is often lying awake in bed not able to sleep until 10/10:30.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why can't they actually make the full changes that would truly address the issue? This half-a$$ compromise doesn't do enough for the high schoolers, makes middle school worse, and leaves so many elementary schoolers sitting around waiting somewhere instead of in the classroom, learning, during their most alert hour of the morning!

No, no, my elementary aged children are not "naturally" up earlier. I am not for earlier start times for elementary at all.

Whether your kid is a lark or an owl, don't you and your spouse have to be up at a fairly early time each school day for work anyway? What difference does it make if your child is in before care or school at 8 am?

My dh is a SAHD, so my children don't do before of after care. He is a SAHD because he lost his job 6 years ago, and has not found another one.

[Anonymous]

all kids should start school around 8:30/9. My son started middle school this year, starts at 7:30 and he's exhausted. Me too

[Anonymous]

When is the vote on this? Is it a done deal?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When is the vote on this? Is it a done deal?

I think it's pretty done, but the vote is on Oct. 18th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When is the vote on this? Is it a done deal?

They already voted to have HS start times be at or after 8:00am (last year), what is being voted on October 18th is the way in which they are are going to do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:all kids should start school around 8:30/9. My son started middle school this year, starts at 7:30 and he's exhausted. Me too

This is logistically impossible (unless you want 3 giant bus fleets with very low utilization).

You might as well ask for unicorns to pick up every child.

[Anonymous]

I guess it is a lifestyle thing. Where I grew up we started at 8:00. School was 8-3 for everyone. Of course, we had to walk if we lived under 2 miles and there weren't that many bus students because of that.

[Anonymous]

I am happy for later school start times. My child attends a Secondary school and getting up at 5:30AM is really hard on him. It is just too early.

He goes to bed at 9:30 and has everything ready the night before.

Thanks Dr Garza!

[Anonymous]

DD is thankful to be graduating this year. She and 99% of her friends are very opposed to changing start times and are glad they won't be impacted. They feel it is hard enough to fit all of their hw and activities in now and getting out later in the day is going to make it harder. They also say that morning traffic will be much heavier so they wouldn't even gain the 30 additional minutes of time in the morning the proposed change is supposed to bring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess it is a lifestyle thing. Where I grew up we started at 8:00. School was 8-3 for everyone. Of course, we had to walk if we lived under 2 miles and there weren't that many bus students because of that.

Needing buses is not a lifestyle thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess it is a lifestyle thing. Where I grew up we started at 8:00. School was 8-3 for everyone. Of course, we had to walk if we lived under 2 miles and there weren't that many bus students because of that.

+1

I was rather amazed and horrified to hear about the start times and bus schedules when the debate first began. At least it might be a little bit better for some students now. Maybe they'll continue to tweak the schedules until it's better for all the students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am happy for later school start times. My child attends a Secondary school and getting up at 5:30AM is really hard on him. It is just too early.

He goes to bed at 9:30 and has everything ready the night before.

Thanks Dr Garza!

+100