Yay! Another religious holiday!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kindergartener is having a really hard time getting into a solid routine. Her teacher said this is something she is seeing across the whole class and that she doesn't like all the breaks. It's hard because I am generally supportive of what they are trying to do!

My kindergartner cries on Mondays where there is regular school. He thought Monday = “teacher workday” after having a few Mondays off by mid October. This calendar is definitely confusing to the little ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've had 3 (4?) religious holidays so far this year... and endless more to come.

Liberals fought hard to remove any entanglement between public school and Christian religion, now these hypocrites can't add enough religious holidays to the schedule.

Wish my kids were in school and learning. Wish the School Board even cared about that.

+1. I don't know a single family in my neighborhood that is happy about the calendar. In fact, I know zero parents who appreciate this - my fellow liberals included.
We rightfully expect our kids to be in school. Employers don't give us 9 4 day work weeks in the fall so it is unreasonable to expect that families with young kids can sustain this.

I cannot wait to oust this school board. They have zero interest in bettering the education of our children and spend 100% of their time in performance liberalism.

+2 - Perfectly said! I can't wait to oust this school board either, and give them the finger while they exit the door.

So dumb. This thread is a perfect encapsulation of the crap that the SB has to deal with. There is absolutely no agreement and everyone thinks that they are the smartest in the room.

So here’s my two cents - the current calendar is pretty much as good as it gets and they should lock it in long-term. It is an elegant way to both provide necessary teacher workdays while giving a nod to the diversity of the families that attend FCPS. It provides a traditional winter and spring break while no making the summer break excessively long.

I don’t for a second believe that my kid is being “harmed” by several 4 day weeks. That’s nutty.

Kids with learning issues, emotional issues, and various problems thrive on routine and schedules. The inconsistent school week is a problem for them.

Young kids thrive on routines and schedules. The inconsistent school week is a problem for them.

So yeah, for you and me that we have kids who can roll with the changes and do just fine. A pretty large percentage of the kids in the County are not like our kids. Check out the threads about student behavior and issues, there are a lot of kids who are not in a great place right now and the schedule disruptions cannot be helping the Teachers trying to get their classes into a routine.

All of my Teacher friends who work with SN kids (I know at least 4) think this schedule is crazy. It doesn't help them. They all hate January and February with all of the planned days off plus the snow days because it is next to impossible to get their kids back into a routine. Now they get to deal with the same routing issues in the fall because we have added in 4 new days off (3 religious holidays and Veterans Day). Yeah for them!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish some schools were year round around here and we could pick which we'd prefer. I'd like 6 weeks of school followed by 1/2 weeks off. All these random days are killing me.

Btw, I saw all the stands of fireworks for Diwali and that people were buying them like crazy. I was seriously hoping for some firework shows. I do wish that some of these holidays that we get off could be enjoyed by others the way Christmas is.

What do you think non-Christians are enjoying about Christmas? Everything being closed? Mall Santa? Overcrowded movie theaters and shops? "Happy Birthday Jesus" songs (or worse: Wham! every 10 minutes) on the radio for 2 months?
But, sure, the lights are pretty.

My husband is an atheist and my child has never been to Church but we celebrate Christmas in the secular way. We decorate a tree and buy presents and bake cookies.

This. 85%+ of the country celebrates Christmas, whether in a religious or secular way. If schools didn't shut, we would all be out anyway - teachers, staff, students, admin, etc. There would be zero point in opening bc Xmas is already the biggest work and cultural holiday in the country. OF COURSE it is going to be the longest school holiday. Ignoring a Xmas/winter break that reflects our overwhelmingly majority culture would be grossly negligent mismanagement by FCPS.

And btw, Xmas is a fed holiday for the Americas (N and S), Europe, much of Africa and the Middle East. The countries that DON'T celebrate Christmas as a national holiday are actually in the minority so I'm not sure what is being argued here.

The holiday comparisons are misplaced and unreasonable.

The argument is not that we shouldn't have Christmas off. PP stated that Winter Break "happens to coincide" with Christmas, as if the calendar isn't designed to give it off specifically. The implication being that we shouldn't give off minority religion holidays, because we don't intentionally give off Christian ones, which is just flatly untrue.

I'm so tired of the argument that Christian holidays shouldn't count as days off because the majority celebrates them. Missing 4 extra days of school for Jewish, Hindu, and Muslim holidays is not going to break our kids' educations, but by all means, let's continue to bi*ch about how minorities are inconveniencing everyone and their holidays aren't even fun for everyone.

Okay, will do. The current calendar is absurd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've had 3 (4?) religious holidays so far this year... and endless more to come.

Liberals fought hard to remove any entanglement between public school and Christian religion, now these hypocrites can't add enough religious holidays to the schedule.

Wish my kids were in school and learning. Wish the School Board even cared about that.

+1. I don't know a single family in my neighborhood that is happy about the calendar. In fact, I know zero parents who appreciate this - my fellow liberals included.
We rightfully expect our kids to be in school. Employers don't give us 9 4 day work weeks in the fall so it is unreasonable to expect that families with young kids can sustain this.

I cannot wait to oust this school board. They have zero interest in bettering the education of our children and spend 100% of their time in performance liberalism.

+2 - Perfectly said! I can't wait to oust this school board either, and give them the finger while they exit the door.

So dumb. This thread is a perfect encapsulation of the crap that the SB has to deal with. There is absolutely no agreement and everyone thinks that they are the smartest in the room.

So here’s my two cents - the current calendar is pretty much as good as it gets and they should lock it in long-term. It is an elegant way to both provide necessary teacher workdays while giving a nod to the diversity of the families that attend FCPS. It provides a traditional winter and spring break while no making the summer break excessively long.

I don’t for a second believe that my kid is being “harmed” by several 4 day weeks. That’s nutty.

Teacher here. This is why parents shouldn’t be surveyed. Too many differing opinions. With that being said, while I 100 percent support the new holidays off, the SB should gave moved TWD/End of the Quarter around to make more full weeks of school.

End of Quarter 1 should have bern moved to Nov 4 and then that Mon/Tues should have been TWD. Columbus Day and Veteran’s Day should be school days. That would have added two full weeks to Q1.

The holidays are not the issue. The TWD/Planning Days are.

How can they fix this? Once they get the holidays on the calendar, then they place TWD to make sure the calendar is balanced.

Several of the TW fall at the end of quarters while don’t always align well with holidays. How many TWs are non-holiday, non-quarter end? A couple?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've had 3 (4?) religious holidays so far this year... and endless more to come.

Liberals fought hard to remove any entanglement between public school and Christian religion, now these hypocrites can't add enough religious holidays to the schedule.

Wish my kids were in school and learning. Wish the School Board even cared about that.

+1. I don't know a single family in my neighborhood that is happy about the calendar. In fact, I know zero parents who appreciate this - my fellow liberals included.
We rightfully expect our kids to be in school. Employers don't give us 9 4 day work weeks in the fall so it is unreasonable to expect that families with young kids can sustain this.

I cannot wait to oust this school board. They have zero interest in bettering the education of our children and spend 100% of their time in performance liberalism.

+2 - Perfectly said! I can't wait to oust this school board either, and give them the finger while they exit the door.

So dumb. This thread is a perfect encapsulation of the crap that the SB has to deal with. There is absolutely no agreement and everyone thinks that they are the smartest in the room.

So here’s my two cents - the current calendar is pretty much as good as it gets and they should lock it in long-term. It is an elegant way to both provide necessary teacher workdays while giving a nod to the diversity of the families that attend FCPS. It provides a traditional winter and spring break while no making the summer break excessively long.

I don’t for a second believe that my kid is being “harmed” by several 4 day weeks. That’s nutty.

Teacher here. This is why parents shouldn’t be surveyed. Too many differing opinions. With that being said, while I 100 percent support the new holidays off, the SB should gave moved TWD/End of the Quarter around to make more full weeks of school.

End of Quarter 1 should have bern moved to Nov 4 and then that Mon/Tues should have been TWD. Columbus Day and Veteran’s Day should be school days. That would have added two full weeks to Q1.

The holidays are not the issue. The TWD/Planning Days are.

How can they fix this? Once they get the holidays on the calendar, then they place TWD to make sure the calendar is balanced.

Walking and typing is bad news. A more readable reply than the prior one.

Several of the TWs fall at the end of quarters which don’t always align well with holidays. How many TWs are non-holiday, non-quarter end? A couple?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've had 3 (4?) religious holidays so far this year... and endless more to come.

Liberals fought hard to remove any entanglement between public school and Christian religion, now these hypocrites can't add enough religious holidays to the schedule.

Wish my kids were in school and learning. Wish the School Board even cared about that.

+1. I don't know a single family in my neighborhood that is happy about the calendar. In fact, I know zero parents who appreciate this - my fellow liberals included.
We rightfully expect our kids to be in school. Employers don't give us 9 4 day work weeks in the fall so it is unreasonable to expect that families with young kids can sustain this.

I cannot wait to oust this school board. They have zero interest in bettering the education of our children and spend 100% of their time in performance liberalism.

+2 - Perfectly said! I can't wait to oust this school board either, and give them the finger while they exit the door.

So dumb. This thread is a perfect encapsulation of the crap that the SB has to deal with. There is absolutely no agreement and everyone thinks that they are the smartest in the room.

So here’s my two cents - the current calendar is pretty much as good as it gets and they should lock it in long-term. It is an elegant way to both provide necessary teacher workdays while giving a nod to the diversity of the families that attend FCPS. It provides a traditional winter and spring break while no making the summer break excessively long.

I don’t for a second believe that my kid is being “harmed” by several 4 day weeks. That’s nutty.

The multitude of 4 day school weeks leans wealthy, upper class, which this district caters to. It assumes that parents will be home with kids, take off work and/or pay for back up childcare (not everyone has a HS Sr.). If parents have to take off those days, that's 8 days of PTO and/or vacation. Not all of us are feds. DH and I are not and we don't get fed days off. 8 days is significant. And to boot, my kid also had to take a sick day today so that was another day off for one of us. We know that sick days happen and are prepared for them. But the litany of religious observances backed by teacher workdays is just not in tune with the working world.

The Board assumes that parents don't (need to) work. In an area which is overwhelmingly dual income households, that assumption is incredibly misplaced, and it is a slap in the face to the vast majority of us who do work when the board closes school for each and every minority holiday. It is just not sustainable, no matter how many performance points you think you get.

Kids can stay home alone from 6th grade up. They don't need to be a senior in HS. DH and I work full time and are not feds and we have older kids and appreciate the days off for them. You can't please everyone. 6th-12th graders are just as important as K - 5th. The older kids need the reprieve. You will be there one day and see, if your kid is college bound.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've had 3 (4?) religious holidays so far this year... and endless more to come.

Liberals fought hard to remove any entanglement between public school and Christian religion, now these hypocrites can't add enough religious holidays to the schedule.

Wish my kids were in school and learning. Wish the School Board even cared about that.

+1. I don't know a single family in my neighborhood that is happy about the calendar. In fact, I know zero parents who appreciate this - my fellow liberals included.
We rightfully expect our kids to be in school. Employers don't give us 9 4 day work weeks in the fall so it is unreasonable to expect that families with young kids can sustain this.

I cannot wait to oust this school board. They have zero interest in bettering the education of our children and spend 100% of their time in performance liberalism.

+2 - Perfectly said! I can't wait to oust this school board either, and give them the finger while they exit the door.

So dumb. This thread is a perfect encapsulation of the crap that the SB has to deal with. There is absolutely no agreement and everyone thinks that they are the smartest in the room.

So here’s my two cents - the current calendar is pretty much as good as it gets and they should lock it in long-term. It is an elegant way to both provide necessary teacher workdays while giving a nod to the diversity of the families that attend FCPS. It provides a traditional winter and spring break while no making the summer break excessively long.

I don’t for a second believe that my kid is being “harmed” by several 4 day weeks. That’s nutty.

The multitude of 4 day school weeks leans wealthy, upper class, which this district caters to. It assumes that parents will be home with kids, take off work and/or pay for back up childcare (not everyone has a HS Sr.). If parents have to take off those days, that's 8 days of PTO and/or vacation. Not all of us are feds. DH and I are not and we don't get fed days off. 8 days is significant. And to boot, my kid also had to take a sick day today so that was another day off for one of us. We know that sick days happen and are prepared for them. But the litany of religious observances backed by teacher workdays is just not in tune with the working world.

The Board assumes that parents don't (need to) work. In an area which is overwhelmingly dual income households, that assumption is incredibly misplaced, and it is a slap in the face to the vast majority of us who do work when the board closes school for each and every minority holiday. It is just not sustainable, no matter how many performance points you think you get.

Kids can stay home alone from 6th grade up. They don't need to be a senior in HS. DH and I work full time and are not feds and we have older kids and appreciate the days off for them. You can't please everyone. 6th-12th graders are just as important as K - 5th. The older kids need the reprieve. You will be there one day and see, if your kid is college bound.

+1 My junior needs every break she can get.

There are also more 6-12th grade students than there are K-5th grade students. If you're going to lean one way, majority should rule. I don't think parents realize how stressful HS is for these kids and their mental health, especially AP or IB classes. They need the breaks and they can't just lighten their schedule or it hurts their college chances. Not just for admittance but merit money. Despite what people think, everyone in FCPS is not rich. Many students are chasing merit because their parents make too much for financial aid but not enough to afford so many of these schools. So the students have to take a lot of tough classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let me translate for OP:

"ugh, I hate having to take care of my own kids, wish I could go to Monday Barre class"

Yeah, if only it were that simple. I’d love to be going to barre class instead of paying private tutors to get my kids somewhat caught up after the scamdemic school closures, woke ideology run amock and now more holidays and days off. I think everyone and their beliefs should be celebrated but weve truly lost sight of the bigger picture here.

"Scamdemic?" Oh, you're dumb. Your poor kids.

Knowing what we know now, kids should have been in school that year. They were the least likely group to have long lasting repercussions.

The fallout of that decision in kids educations is well known.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/05/us/coronavirus-education-lost-learning.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“ I'm so tired of the argument that Christian holidays shouldn't count as days off because the majority celebrates them. ”

It is not “Christian holidays”. It is literally Christmas. Easter is a Sunday and very few people are insisting spring break simply has to be the week before Easter. Plenty of school districts all around the country have their spring break week during a week not connected to Easter and that is fine.

The entire point on Christmas is that it is celebrated in some way (even by people who are not religious) by an overwhelming majority of the country and celebrated as a general slow down and prime vacation time from 12/24-1/1 for most adults in the US. It would be absolutely impossible to try to hold school then. Teachers would not take those jobs and kids would just not show up.

There is NO other holiday - including all the federal ones during the school year - that looks as large.

Again, no one is saying we shouldn't get Christmas off.

Also, the idea that "people who are not religious" also celebrate Christmas in some way ignores the people who are other religions who don't celebrate it. The whole point of these 4 days off (which is the topic of this thread) is for minority religions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've had 3 (4?) religious holidays so far this year... and endless more to come.

Liberals fought hard to remove any entanglement between public school and Christian religion, now these hypocrites can't add enough religious holidays to the schedule.

Wish my kids were in school and learning. Wish the School Board even cared about that.

+1. I don't know a single family in my neighborhood that is happy about the calendar. In fact, I know zero parents who appreciate this - my fellow liberals included.
We rightfully expect our kids to be in school. Employers don't give us 9 4 day work weeks in the fall so it is unreasonable to expect that families with young kids can sustain this.

I cannot wait to oust this school board. They have zero interest in bettering the education of our children and spend 100% of their time in performance liberalism.

+2 - Perfectly said! I can't wait to oust this school board either, and give them the finger while they exit the door.

So dumb. This thread is a perfect encapsulation of the crap that the SB has to deal with. There is absolutely no agreement and everyone thinks that they are the smartest in the room.

So here’s my two cents - the current calendar is pretty much as good as it gets and they should lock it in long-term. It is an elegant way to both provide necessary teacher workdays while giving a nod to the diversity of the families that attend FCPS. It provides a traditional winter and spring break while no making the summer break excessively long.

I don’t for a second believe that my kid is being “harmed” by several 4 day weeks. That’s nutty.

The multitude of 4 day school weeks leans wealthy, upper class, which this district caters to. It assumes that parents will be home with kids, take off work and/or pay for back up childcare (not everyone has a HS Sr.). If parents have to take off those days, that's 8 days of PTO and/or vacation. Not all of us are feds. DH and I are not and we don't get fed days off. 8 days is significant. And to boot, my kid also had to take a sick day today so that was another day off for one of us. We know that sick days happen and are prepared for them. But the litany of religious observances backed by teacher workdays is just not in tune with the working world.

The Board assumes that parents don't (need to) work. In an area which is overwhelmingly dual income households, that assumption is incredibly misplaced, and it is a slap in the face to the vast majority of us who do work when the board closes school for each and every minority holiday. It is just not sustainable, no matter how many performance points you think you get.

Kids can stay home alone from 6th grade up. They don't need to be a senior in HS. DH and I work full time and are not feds and we have older kids and appreciate the days off for them. You can't please everyone. 6th-12th graders are just as important as K - 5th. The older kids need the reprieve. You will be there one day and see, if your kid is college bound.

+1 My junior needs every break she can get.

There are also more 6-12th grade students than there are K-5th grade students. If you're going to lean one way, majority should rule. I don't think parents realize how stressful HS is for these kids and their mental health, especially AP or IB classes. They need the breaks and they can't just lighten their schedule or it hurts their college chances. Not just for admittance but merit money. Despite what people think, everyone in FCPS is not rich. Many students are chasing merit because their parents make too much for financial aid but not enough to afford so many of these schools. So the students have to take a lot of tough classes.

If your kids are incapable of going to school 5 days a week and need eight 4-day school weeks in a period of 2.5 months, I would take a look at whether or not they can actually handle college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've had 3 (4?) religious holidays so far this year... and endless more to come.

Liberals fought hard to remove any entanglement between public school and Christian religion, now these hypocrites can't add enough religious holidays to the schedule.

Wish my kids were in school and learning. Wish the School Board even cared about that.

+1. I don't know a single family in my neighborhood that is happy about the calendar. In fact, I know zero parents who appreciate this - my fellow liberals included.
We rightfully expect our kids to be in school. Employers don't give us 9 4 day work weeks in the fall so it is unreasonable to expect that families with young kids can sustain this.

I cannot wait to oust this school board. They have zero interest in bettering the education of our children and spend 100% of their time in performance liberalism.

+2 - Perfectly said! I can't wait to oust this school board either, and give them the finger while they exit the door.

So dumb. This thread is a perfect encapsulation of the crap that the SB has to deal with. There is absolutely no agreement and everyone thinks that they are the smartest in the room.

So here’s my two cents - the current calendar is pretty much as good as it gets and they should lock it in long-term. It is an elegant way to both provide necessary teacher workdays while giving a nod to the diversity of the families that attend FCPS. It provides a traditional winter and spring break while no making the summer break excessively long.

I don’t for a second believe that my kid is being “harmed” by several 4 day weeks. That’s nutty.

The multitude of 4 day school weeks leans wealthy, upper class, which this district caters to. It assumes that parents will be home with kids, take off work and/or pay for back up childcare (not everyone has a HS Sr.). If parents have to take off those days, that's 8 days of PTO and/or vacation. Not all of us are feds. DH and I are not and we don't get fed days off. 8 days is significant. And to boot, my kid also had to take a sick day today so that was another day off for one of us. We know that sick days happen and are prepared for them. But the litany of religious observances backed by teacher workdays is just not in tune with the working world.

The Board assumes that parents don't (need to) work. In an area which is overwhelmingly dual income households, that assumption is incredibly misplaced, and it is a slap in the face to the vast majority of us who do work when the board closes school for each and every minority holiday. It is just not sustainable, no matter how many performance points you think you get.

Kids can stay home alone from 6th grade up. They don't need to be a senior in HS. DH and I work full time and are not feds and we have older kids and appreciate the days off for them. You can't please everyone. 6th-12th graders are just as important as K - 5th. The older kids need the reprieve. You will be there one day and see, if your kid is college bound.

My oldest two are in 6th and 8th. They do not need that many days off. MS is just not that difficult. My DD is in all honors classes with nothing less than an A. She barely gets any homework and coasts through. The MS kids in FCPS need to be in school not on a 4 day week schedule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let me translate for OP:

"ugh, I hate having to take care of my own kids, wish I could go to Monday Barre class"

Yeah, if only it were that simple. I’d love to be going to barre class instead of paying private tutors to get my kids somewhat caught up after the scamdemic school closures, woke ideology run amock and now more holidays and days off. I think everyone and their beliefs should be celebrated but weve truly lost sight of the bigger picture here.

"Scamdemic?" Oh, you're dumb. Your poor kids.

Knowing what we know now, kids should have been in school that year. They were the least likely group to have long lasting repercussions.

The fallout of that decision in kids educations is well known.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/05/us/coronavirus-education-lost-learning.html

And who would have taught them? Teachers, some of whom are elderly, needed to be home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've had 3 (4?) religious holidays so far this year... and endless more to come.

Liberals fought hard to remove any entanglement between public school and Christian religion, now these hypocrites can't add enough religious holidays to the schedule.

Wish my kids were in school and learning. Wish the School Board even cared about that.

+1. I don't know a single family in my neighborhood that is happy about the calendar. In fact, I know zero parents who appreciate this - my fellow liberals included.
We rightfully expect our kids to be in school. Employers don't give us 9 4 day work weeks in the fall so it is unreasonable to expect that families with young kids can sustain this.

I cannot wait to oust this school board. They have zero interest in bettering the education of our children and spend 100% of their time in performance liberalism.

+2 - Perfectly said! I can't wait to oust this school board either, and give them the finger while they exit the door.

So dumb. This thread is a perfect encapsulation of the crap that the SB has to deal with. There is absolutely no agreement and everyone thinks that they are the smartest in the room.

So here’s my two cents - the current calendar is pretty much as good as it gets and they should lock it in long-term. It is an elegant way to both provide necessary teacher workdays while giving a nod to the diversity of the families that attend FCPS. It provides a traditional winter and spring break while no making the summer break excessively long.

I don’t for a second believe that my kid is being “harmed” by several 4 day weeks. That’s nutty.

The multitude of 4 day school weeks leans wealthy, upper class, which this district caters to. It assumes that parents will be home with kids, take off work and/or pay for back up childcare (not everyone has a HS Sr.). If parents have to take off those days, that's 8 days of PTO and/or vacation. Not all of us are feds. DH and I are not and we don't get fed days off. 8 days is significant. And to boot, my kid also had to take a sick day today so that was another day off for one of us. We know that sick days happen and are prepared for them. But the litany of religious observances backed by teacher workdays is just not in tune with the working world.

The Board assumes that parents don't (need to) work. In an area which is overwhelmingly dual income households, that assumption is incredibly misplaced, and it is a slap in the face to the vast majority of us who do work when the board closes school for each and every minority holiday. It is just not sustainable, no matter how many performance points you think you get.

Kids can stay home alone from 6th grade up. They don't need to be a senior in HS. DH and I work full time and are not feds and we have older kids and appreciate the days off for them. You can't please everyone. 6th-12th graders are just as important as K - 5th. The older kids need the reprieve. You will be there one day and see, if your kid is college bound.

My oldest two are in 6th and 8th. They do not need that many days off. MS is just not that difficult. My DD is in all honors classes with nothing less than an A. She barely gets any homework and coasts through. The MS kids in FCPS need to be in school not on a 4 day week schedule.

My youngest is in AAP in 7th and gets plenty of work and As. Does he need a break? No but is it welcome so he doesn't get burned out? Yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've had 3 (4?) religious holidays so far this year... and endless more to come.

Liberals fought hard to remove any entanglement between public school and Christian religion, now these hypocrites can't add enough religious holidays to the schedule.

Wish my kids were in school and learning. Wish the School Board even cared about that.

+1. I don't know a single family in my neighborhood that is happy about the calendar. In fact, I know zero parents who appreciate this - my fellow liberals included.
We rightfully expect our kids to be in school. Employers don't give us 9 4 day work weeks in the fall so it is unreasonable to expect that families with young kids can sustain this.

I cannot wait to oust this school board. They have zero interest in bettering the education of our children and spend 100% of their time in performance liberalism.

+2 - Perfectly said! I can't wait to oust this school board either, and give them the finger while they exit the door.

So dumb. This thread is a perfect encapsulation of the crap that the SB has to deal with. There is absolutely no agreement and everyone thinks that they are the smartest in the room.

So here’s my two cents - the current calendar is pretty much as good as it gets and they should lock it in long-term. It is an elegant way to both provide necessary teacher workdays while giving a nod to the diversity of the families that attend FCPS. It provides a traditional winter and spring break while no making the summer break excessively long.

I don’t for a second believe that my kid is being “harmed” by several 4 day weeks. That’s nutty.

The multitude of 4 day school weeks leans wealthy, upper class, which this district caters to. It assumes that parents will be home with kids, take off work and/or pay for back up childcare (not everyone has a HS Sr.). If parents have to take off those days, that's 8 days of PTO and/or vacation. Not all of us are feds. DH and I are not and we don't get fed days off. 8 days is significant. And to boot, my kid also had to take a sick day today so that was another day off for one of us. We know that sick days happen and are prepared for them. But the litany of religious observances backed by teacher workdays is just not in tune with the working world.

The Board assumes that parents don't (need to) work. In an area which is overwhelmingly dual income households, that assumption is incredibly misplaced, and it is a slap in the face to the vast majority of us who do work when the board closes school for each and every minority holiday. It is just not sustainable, no matter how many performance points you think you get.

Kids can stay home alone from 6th grade up. They don't need to be a senior in HS. DH and I work full time and are not feds and we have older kids and appreciate the days off for them. You can't please everyone. 6th-12th graders are just as important as K - 5th. The older kids need the reprieve. You will be there one day and see, if your kid is college bound.

+1 My junior needs every break she can get.

There are also more 6-12th grade students than there are K-5th grade students. If you're going to lean one way, majority should rule. I don't think parents realize how stressful HS is for these kids and their mental health, especially AP or IB classes. They need the breaks and they can't just lighten their schedule or it hurts their college chances. Not just for admittance but merit money. Despite what people think, everyone in FCPS is not rich. Many students are chasing merit because their parents make too much for financial aid but not enough to afford so many of these schools. So the students have to take a lot of tough classes.

If your kids are incapable of going to school 5 days a week and need eight 4-day school weeks in a period of 2.5 months, I would take a look at whether or not they can actually handle college.

Not PP but this makes no sense. College schedules are chosen by students (sometimes you do get stuck with a crap class time). They take 15 credit hours a semester. They don't even have classes every day, on most days. And they certainly do not have class for 6 hours and 45 mins a day. Have YOU even been to college?

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Anonymous wrote:We've had 3 (4?) religious holidays so far this year... and endless more to come.

Liberals fought hard to remove any entanglement between public school and Christian religion, now these hypocrites can't add enough religious holidays to the schedule.

Wish my kids were in school and learning. Wish the School Board even cared about that.

+1. I don't know a single family in my neighborhood that is happy about the calendar. In fact, I know zero parents who appreciate this - my fellow liberals included.
We rightfully expect our kids to be in school. Employers don't give us 9 4 day work weeks in the fall so it is unreasonable to expect that families with young kids can sustain this.

I cannot wait to oust this school board. They have zero interest in bettering the education of our children and spend 100% of their time in performance liberalism.

+2 - Perfectly said! I can't wait to oust this school board either, and give them the finger while they exit the door.

So dumb. This thread is a perfect encapsulation of the crap that the SB has to deal with. There is absolutely no agreement and everyone thinks that they are the smartest in the room.

So here’s my two cents - the current calendar is pretty much as good as it gets and they should lock it in long-term. It is an elegant way to both provide necessary teacher workdays while giving a nod to the diversity of the families that attend FCPS. It provides a traditional winter and spring break while no making the summer break excessively long.

I don’t for a second believe that my kid is being “harmed” by several 4 day weeks. That’s nutty.

The multitude of 4 day school weeks leans wealthy, upper class, which this district caters to. It assumes that parents will be home with kids, take off work and/or pay for back up childcare (not everyone has a HS Sr.). If parents have to take off those days, that's 8 days of PTO and/or vacation. Not all of us are feds. DH and I are not and we don't get fed days off. 8 days is significant. And to boot, my kid also had to take a sick day today so that was another day off for one of us. We know that sick days happen and are prepared for them. But the litany of religious observances backed by teacher workdays is just not in tune with the working world.

The Board assumes that parents don't (need to) work. In an area which is overwhelmingly dual income households, that assumption is incredibly misplaced, and it is a slap in the face to the vast majority of us who do work when the board closes school for each and every minority holiday. It is just not sustainable, no matter how many performance points you think you get.

Kids can stay home alone from 6th grade up. They don't need to be a senior in HS. DH and I work full time and are not feds and we have older kids and appreciate the days off for them. You can't please everyone. 6th-12th graders are just as important as K - 5th. The older kids need the reprieve. You will be there one day and see, if your kid is college bound.

+1 My junior needs every break she can get.

There are also more 6-12th grade students than there are K-5th grade students. If you're going to lean one way, majority should rule. I don't think parents realize how stressful HS is for these kids and their mental health, especially AP or IB classes. They need the breaks and they can't just lighten their schedule or it hurts their college chances. Not just for admittance but merit money. Despite what people think, everyone in FCPS is not rich. Many students are chasing merit because their parents make too much for financial aid but not enough to afford so many of these schools. So the students have to take a lot of tough classes.

If your kids are incapable of going to school 5 days a week and need eight 4-day school weeks in a period of 2.5 months, I would take a look at whether or not they can actually handle college.

Most college course are either M, W, F or Tues/Thurs. Many times students are able to schedule a day of no classes. It depends on their schedule. They also aren’t in those classes all day, like in high school. College is easier in many ways than being in a school for 8 hours straight. You have a lot more free time during the day to get things done. 4 day weeks are great for junior and high school kids! We love them!