MCPS Considering Beginning 2020-21 School Calendar Year Before Labor Day

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think we should start after Labor Day for elementary and middle school and start one or two weeks earlier for high schoolers. The caveat would be that high school follows all the same break plans for everything else and they get out earlier in June. Why is this so hard for MCPS to do?

No way! That would be a scheduling nightmare. You can’t figure out why this would be difficult?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think we should start after Labor Day for elementary and middle school and start one or two weeks earlier for high schoolers. The caveat would be that high school follows all the same break plans for everything else and they get out earlier in June. Why is this so hard for MCPS to do?

No way! That would be a scheduling nightmare. You can’t figure out why this would be difficult?

How hard could it be? The parents and teachers of older kids want an earlier start time. The rest of us want to start after Labor Day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Almost every private high school in the DC Metro starts after Labor Day and they all get much higher AP grades than public. Not to mention most schools up north start even later and also take their AP's without difficulty. Many boarding schools start mid September and they all take the AP's and do great. So stop using that lame excuse for a reason to start before Labor Day.

SAT scores are offered year round.

The trend is not to have APs at private schools, so “almost every private school” is not correct.

Well to the private school's defense, they are a kinda a money making scam for the college board since most kids fail their AP tests. Most take it because schools will weigh the GPA and that is what they want. You do not need to report the scores if you fail. Some teacher with a BS from Towson, teaching college courses is not ideal.

That said, the private school kids still sit for AP's and pass them all the time, especially at junior year to brag to colleges. Which is really all they are. Resume builders

Who told you most fail them?
My wootton students have gotten 4 and 5s on everything, as have most of their friends. So I’m not sure where your sample is from.

Where my sample is from? How about actual statistics than “my kid and her friends!”

In 2007 only 52% of all students passed an AP exam with a 3 or higher. That number drops sharply for 4 or higher which is what you need in most colleges for credit. Many colleges are now only accepting 5’s or none. And many kids who pass the AP’s still don’t get credit. Many colleges have loopholes. Only so many can be used or a newly named class “Calculus for Engineers” aka Calc 1&2, must be taken even if you passed a Calc BC. Not to mention how many try to bypass their high school AP classes, move onto the next college course, and realize they are bombing and withdrawal and go back to their passed AP for a repeat in college. Meanwhile the College Board makes $750 million annually (the CEO makes $1 million) while most kids are unable to use their paid tests for college credit.

And let me tell you. If most kids did pass them, colleges wouldn’t take them. Why do you think they raised the passing to 4/5 now? They are as money hungry as the college board.

So true! We just went through this recently with my college freshman. DS college has very strict requirements for what APs they will give credit for. Classes like AP Human Geography, forget it. Credit for both AP Lang and AP Lit, they only will give credit for one of those classes with a 4 or 5. Do I regret that my child took a lot of APs, no. Do I regret paying for the test, YES. College Board is making a ton of money off of these exams-period.

Mostly you should regret that they did not study enough to get a 4 or 5. Colleges all have very different rules on this and since you can not know where your kid will end up when you must decide you should take the test if they are doing well. My child's college did offer (elective) credit for Human Geology so you never know.

[Anonymous]

16:57 I think you mean Human Geography.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think we should start after Labor Day for elementary and middle school and start one or two weeks earlier for high schoolers. The caveat would be that high school follows all the same break plans for everything else and they get out earlier in June. Why is this so hard for MCPS to do?

No way! That would be a scheduling nightmare. You can’t figure out why this would be difficult?

How hard could it be? The parents and teachers of older kids want an earlier start time. The rest of us want to start after Labor Day.

Well bus employees now work an extra week. Families with kids in both high school and elementary schools don’t want to be on different schedules. What is a high school teacher who has elementary age kids to do for that extra week?
It may work fine for families with only children, but it would be difficult for families with kids in both high school and middle/elementary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think we should start after Labor Day for elementary and middle school and start one or two weeks earlier for high schoolers. The caveat would be that high school follows all the same break plans for everything else and they get out earlier in June. Why is this so hard for MCPS to do?

No way! That would be a scheduling nightmare. You can’t figure out why this would be difficult?

How hard could it be? The parents and teachers of older kids want an earlier start time. The rest of us want to start after Labor Day.

I don't know anyone who wants it to start after labor day. We attend a camp in mid-tune. We'd have to pull our child out of school early, which we have done. There are very few camps the last two weeks of August and the first week of Sept. so child care is a huge issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think we should start after Labor Day for elementary and middle school and start one or two weeks earlier for high schoolers. The caveat would be that high school follows all the same break plans for everything else and they get out earlier in June. Why is this so hard for MCPS to do?

No way! That would be a scheduling nightmare. You can’t figure out why this would be difficult?

How hard could it be? The parents and teachers of older kids want an earlier start time. The rest of us want to start after Labor Day.

Not sure “the rest of us” is accurate. I think you want it to start after Labor Day. Sept 8 is too late for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think we should start after Labor Day for elementary and middle school and start one or two weeks earlier for high schoolers. The caveat would be that high school follows all the same break plans for everything else and they get out earlier in June. Why is this so hard for MCPS to do?

No way! That would be a scheduling nightmare. You can’t figure out why this would be difficult?

How hard could it be? The parents and teachers of older kids want an earlier start time. The rest of us want to start after Labor Day.

The rest of us, who? I wanted schools to start before Labor Day when my kid was in kindergarten. Whereas now that my kid in high school...I still want schools to start before Labor Day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NP - The results for each AP test is posted on the College Board. They are scored to have about 50% and about 50% fail, although sometimes the estimates are off and more pass.

There is no pass or fail on AP tests. There are just scores: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. If you're going to talk about passing/failing, please also tell us what you mean by it.

Pass v. useless waste

50% are a useless waste

[Anonymous]

Does anybody know why all three calendar options have April 26, 2021, as a day off? The original draft versions developed in September given here did not have this, but the new options here added in some extra professional days and all of them included April 26. I can't figure out anything special about that day and Google isn't helping. Two of the options also added in October 16, which I think is the Maryland State Education Association convention and which used to be a regular day off a few years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anybody know why all three calendar options have April 26, 2021, as a day off? The original draft versions developed in September given here did not have this, but the new options here added in some extra professional days and all of them included April 26. I can't figure out anything special about that day and Google isn't helping. Two of the options also added in October 16, which I think is the Maryland State Education Association convention and which used to be a regular day off a few years ago.

It may be a contractual day for planning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anybody know why all three calendar options have April 26, 2021, as a day off? The original draft versions developed in September given here did not have this, but the new options here added in some extra professional days and all of them included April 26. I can't figure out anything special about that day and Google isn't helping. Two of the options also added in October 16, which I think is the Maryland State Education Association convention and which used to be a regular day off a few years ago.

It may be a contractual day for planning.

I assume it's a planning day, but why that particular date? I'm just curious whether there's a religious holiday I'm unaware of, or a statewide teacher's event, or some other reason why all the options have April 26, even though it's a slightly different time in the marking period for option 1 compared to 2 and 3. But maybe it's just a convenient date that seems to balance between other days off and is before AP tests or something like that.

[Anonymous]

There is no particular reason for the April 26 date. The creators of the proposed calendars decided that teachers could benefit from having profesional days in addition to the regularly scheduled ones at the end of each quarter. So they added the convention day back in, as well as April 26 (probably comes late in the year so it can be used for snow make-up if necessary). On the MCPS website where you can provide calendar feedback, I would encourage the Board of Education to make these half days instead. That way instruction isn't fully disrupted, teachers still get a bit more planning, and the school year can end two days earlier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is no particular reason for the April 26 date. The creators of the proposed calendars decided that teachers could benefit from having profesional days in addition to the regularly scheduled ones at the end of each quarter. So they added the convention day back in, as well as April 26 (probably comes late in the year so it can be used for snow make-up if necessary). On the MCPS website where you can provide calendar feedback, I would encourage the Board of Education to make these half days instead. That way instruction isn't fully disrupted, teachers still get a bit more planning, and the school year can end two days earlier.

Half-days are useless. Very little learning actually happens. I fully support keeping these as full days off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many school districts on Long Island don't start until the Wednesday after Labor Day. They also get the Jewish holidays off AND a February mid-winter break. Those kids do just fine on their AP exams.

I'm wondering how you know this.

Because I went to public high school on Long Island and so did my spouse.

I'm wondering how you know "those kids do just fine" on their AP exams.

Because I went to public high school on Long Island and so did my spouse