Yay! Another religious holiday!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Yes, I went to HS, college and law school when academics used to be difficult. Per the moms on DCUM, we cannot even expect our children to go to school 5 days a week because it is too stressful for them. Can't wait to see how prepared these kids are for the working world. I'm sure they'll accomplish loads. Will they need a mid-work day nap, too? No wonder 60% of STEM grad students in this country are foreign born. US kids cannot handle anything remotely challenging - going to school FT for one.

[Anonymous]

Kids do NOT need the breaks. School is already so easy. Academics are at all time low. It's pathetic that parents think their kids can't handle 5 days/week of school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids do NOT need the breaks. School is already so easy. Academics are at all time low. It's pathetic that parents think their kids can't handle 5 days/week of school.

So you want a longer summer break?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids do NOT need the breaks. School is already so easy. Academics are at all time low. It's pathetic that parents think their kids can't handle 5 days/week of school.

So you want a longer summer break?

I am fine with longer summers. I am also fine with longer quarter breaks --so long as those are it!! Kids need consistency and rigor. Being in school for weeks after the administration of SOLs and other exams is wasted time. We need to step it up. I am also fine with kids getting "hours" of homework.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids do NOT need the breaks. School is already so easy. Academics are at all time low. It's pathetic that parents think their kids can't handle 5 days/week of school.

Speak for yourself. My kid is doing just fine. And I absolutely think they need breaks. You point to academics only but the stress on these kids is at an all time high and that is due to many reasons discussed ad nauseum on here. They need a break and can still have consistency w/o their a---es in a seat 5 days/week. College, grad school . . . they won't be in class 5 days/ week. By HS, they for sure do not need to be 5 days a week all day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids do NOT need the breaks. School is already so easy. Academics are at all time low. It's pathetic that parents think their kids can't handle 5 days/week of school.

Speak for yourself. My kid is doing just fine. And I absolutely think they need breaks. You point to academics only but the stress on these kids is at an all time high and that is due to many reasons discussed ad nauseum on here. They need a break and can still have consistency w/o their a---es in a seat 5 days/week. College, grad school . . . they won't be in class 5 days/ week. By HS, they for sure do not need to be 5 days a week all day.

School (FCPS) is not stressful. If your kids are stressed, it's because of something else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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!

College might not meet every day but each class has required work to do at home, some might be graded but a good amount is not. I taught at the University level. A 3 hour class would have between 3-6 hours of work to be done at home each week. Most students at my University were taking 5 classes a semester so that would be about a 30-45 hour work week. It might not be all in the classroom but the hours are there. And may of those students were working to help pay for school.

If your high school student cannot handle their classes and homework assigned to them then they need to be looking at taking lower level classes. I taught at a couple of MAC Universities, plenty of kids in my classes did not have a multitude of AP exams. The Universities are good schools where a student can get a very good education. It is not as ritzy as the schools people think are the must attend schools here but the education students were receiving was still a good, if not better, education. Maybe take a closer look at the wide variety of schools available and stop being so worried about the flag ship schools that so many people here are freaked out about.

Every parent on this board attended high school and knows the work load. I would guess a good number took AP classes and had a bunch of extra curricular activities. While there were periods of stress it was not a regular issue. There are plenty of colleges that provide merit aid to students who are taking honors classes and not every AP/IB under the sun. If your child is that stressed about grades and merit aid for college then you should be thinking about revisiting what colleges you are applying to. If you are buying into the idea that your student has to have multiple AP classes a year in order to be accepted into a good college and get merit aid then you are a part of their problem. Help them look for Colleges that are a better fit for them then ones that demand that they take classes that are so stressful for them that they "need" 4 shortened school weeks in the first quarter of the year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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!

College might not meet every day but each class has required work to do at home, some might be graded but a good amount is not. I taught at the University level. A 3 hour class would have between 3-6 hours of work to be done at home each week. Most students at my University were taking 5 classes a semester so that would be about a 30-45 hour work week. It might not be all in the classroom but the hours are there. And may of those students were working to help pay for school.

If your high school student cannot handle their classes and homework assigned to them then they need to be looking at taking lower level classes. I taught at a couple of MAC Universities, plenty of kids in my classes did not have a multitude of AP exams. The Universities are good schools where a student can get a very good education. It is not as ritzy as the schools people think are the must attend schools here but the education students were receiving was still a good, if not better, education. Maybe take a closer look at the wide variety of schools available and stop being so worried about the flag ship schools that so many people here are freaked out about.

Every parent on this board attended high school and knows the work load. I would guess a good number took AP classes and had a bunch of extra curricular activities. While there were periods of stress it was not a regular issue. There are plenty of colleges that provide merit aid to students who are taking honors classes and not every AP/IB under the sun. If your child is that stressed about grades and merit aid for college then you should be thinking about revisiting what colleges you are applying to. If you are buying into the idea that your student has to have multiple AP classes a year in order to be accepted into a good college and get merit aid then you are a part of their problem. Help them look for Colleges that are a better fit for them then ones that demand that they take classes that are so stressful for them that they "need" 4 shortened school weeks in the first quarter of the year.

I’m not saying my kids are so stressed they need the break. I’m just saying we like them. And we can’t go out of state for college so don’t have the “wide variety of choices” you speak of.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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!

College might not meet every day but each class has required work to do at home, some might be graded but a good amount is not. I taught at the University level. A 3 hour class would have between 3-6 hours of work to be done at home each week. Most students at my University were taking 5 classes a semester so that would be about a 30-45 hour work week. It might not be all in the classroom but the hours are there. And may of those students were working to help pay for school.

If your high school student cannot handle their classes and homework assigned to them then they need to be looking at taking lower level classes. I taught at a couple of MAC Universities, plenty of kids in my classes did not have a multitude of AP exams. The Universities are good schools where a student can get a very good education. It is not as ritzy as the schools people think are the must attend schools here but the education students were receiving was still a good, if not better, education. Maybe take a closer look at the wide variety of schools available and stop being so worried about the flag ship schools that so many people here are freaked out about.

Every parent on this board attended high school and knows the work load. I would guess a good number took AP classes and had a bunch of extra curricular activities. While there were periods of stress it was not a regular issue. There are plenty of colleges that provide merit aid to students who are taking honors classes and not every AP/IB under the sun. If your child is that stressed about grades and merit aid for college then you should be thinking about revisiting what colleges you are applying to. If you are buying into the idea that your student has to have multiple AP classes a year in order to be accepted into a good college and get merit aid then you are a part of their problem. Help them look for Colleges that are a better fit for them then ones that demand that they take classes that are so stressful for them that they "need" 4 shortened school weeks in the first quarter of the year.

I’m not saying my kids are so stressed they need the break. I’m just saying we like them. And we can’t go out of state for college so don’t have the “wide variety of choices” you speak of.

We all like breaks but breaks aren’t always the best thing—please think outside of your own self for a second!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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!

College might not meet every day but each class has required work to do at home, some might be graded but a good amount is not. I taught at the University level. A 3 hour class would have between 3-6 hours of work to be done at home each week. Most students at my University were taking 5 classes a semester so that would be about a 30-45 hour work week. It might not be all in the classroom but the hours are there. And may of those students were working to help pay for school.

If your high school student cannot handle their classes and homework assigned to them then they need to be looking at taking lower level classes. I taught at a couple of MAC Universities, plenty of kids in my classes did not have a multitude of AP exams. The Universities are good schools where a student can get a very good education. It is not as ritzy as the schools people think are the must attend schools here but the education students were receiving was still a good, if not better, education. Maybe take a closer look at the wide variety of schools available and stop being so worried about the flag ship schools that so many people here are freaked out about.

Every parent on this board attended high school and knows the work load. I would guess a good number took AP classes and had a bunch of extra curricular activities. While there were periods of stress it was not a regular issue. There are plenty of colleges that provide merit aid to students who are taking honors classes and not every AP/IB under the sun. If your child is that stressed about grades and merit aid for college then you should be thinking about revisiting what colleges you are applying to. If you are buying into the idea that your student has to have multiple AP classes a year in order to be accepted into a good college and get merit aid then you are a part of their problem. Help them look for Colleges that are a better fit for them then ones that demand that they take classes that are so stressful for them that they "need" 4 shortened school weeks in the first quarter of the year.

I’m not saying my kids are so stressed they need the break. I’m just saying we like them. And we can’t go out of state for college so don’t have the “wide variety of choices” you speak of.

We all like breaks but breaks aren’t always the best thing—please think outside of your own self for a second!

For a lot of kids they are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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!

College might not meet every day but each class has required work to do at home, some might be graded but a good amount is not. I taught at the University level. A 3 hour class would have between 3-6 hours of work to be done at home each week. Most students at my University were taking 5 classes a semester so that would be about a 30-45 hour work week. It might not be all in the classroom but the hours are there. And may of those students were working to help pay for school.

If your high school student cannot handle their classes and homework assigned to them then they need to be looking at taking lower level classes. I taught at a couple of MAC Universities, plenty of kids in my classes did not have a multitude of AP exams. The Universities are good schools where a student can get a very good education. It is not as ritzy as the schools people think are the must attend schools here but the education students were receiving was still a good, if not better, education. Maybe take a closer look at the wide variety of schools available and stop being so worried about the flag ship schools that so many people here are freaked out about.

Every parent on this board attended high school and knows the work load. I would guess a good number took AP classes and had a bunch of extra curricular activities. While there were periods of stress it was not a regular issue. There are plenty of colleges that provide merit aid to students who are taking honors classes and not every AP/IB under the sun. If your child is that stressed about grades and merit aid for college then you should be thinking about revisiting what colleges you are applying to. If you are buying into the idea that your student has to have multiple AP classes a year in order to be accepted into a good college and get merit aid then you are a part of their problem. Help them look for Colleges that are a better fit for them then ones that demand that they take classes that are so stressful for them that they "need" 4 shortened school weeks in the first quarter of the year.

They can handle it. College has breaks too, in the form of maybe no classes on one day a week or a fall break.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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!

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Yes, I went to HS, college and law school when academics used to be difficult. Per the moms on DCUM, we cannot even expect our children to go to school 5 days a week because it is too stressful for them. Can't wait to see how prepared these kids are for the working world. I'm sure they'll accomplish loads. Will they need a mid-work day nap, too? No wonder 60% of STEM grad students in this country are foreign born. US kids cannot handle anything remotely challenging - going to school FT for one.

It doesn't sound like you have been to college or law school if you cannot understand how much more free time it offers than HS. Academics are difficult. Even more so than when you went. No one said we can't expect kids to go 5 days a week. Some of us are saying the breaks are welcome. Kids will do what needs to be done. If you asked for 7 days, they'd do it, but the point was as a parent of HS kids, the breaks are appreciated for my already stressed-out teen. I have young adults in the workforce who had breaks in FCPS and somehow have graduated college just fine and are accomplishing "loads." One is in STEM, the other in business school and both are doing just fine. I agree with whoever wrote the above about needed breaks for students and those who agree. If you don't like it, leave. Many of us think it's a welcome reprieve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids do NOT need the breaks. School is already so easy. Academics are at all time low. It's pathetic that parents think their kids can't handle 5 days/week of school.

Speak for yourself. My kid is doing just fine. And I absolutely think they need breaks. You point to academics only but the stress on these kids is at an all time high and that is due to many reasons discussed ad nauseum on here. They need a break and can still have consistency w/o their a---es in a seat 5 days/week. College, grad school . . . they won't be in class 5 days/ week. By HS, they for sure do not need to be 5 days a week all day.

School (FCPS) is not stressful. If your kids are stressed, it's because of something else.

Maybe you go to a crappy school or your kid has crappy teachers or a weak schedule. My junior has 5 AP courses - AP Lang, AP Calc BC, AP Physics C, AP US history, and AP French plus some other random classes. He plays 2 Varsity sports and volunteers on weekends. He's stressed. He needs any break he can get to just study or get ahead in reading assignments. It's not like he spends it napping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids do NOT need the breaks. School is already so easy. Academics are at all time low. It's pathetic that parents think their kids can't handle 5 days/week of school.

Speak for yourself. My kid is doing just fine. And I absolutely think they need breaks. You point to academics only but the stress on these kids is at an all time high and that is due to many reasons discussed ad nauseum on here. They need a break and can still have consistency w/o their a---es in a seat 5 days/week. College, grad school . . . they won't be in class 5 days/ week. By HS, they for sure do not need to be 5 days a week all day.

School (FCPS) is not stressful. If your kids are stressed, it's because of something else.

Maybe you go to a crappy school or your kid has crappy teachers or a weak schedule. My junior has 5 AP courses - AP Lang, AP Calc BC, AP Physics C, AP US history, and AP French plus some other random classes. He plays 2 Varsity sports and volunteers on weekends. He's stressed. He needs any break he can get to just study or get ahead in reading assignments. It's not like he spends it napping.

I'm pretty the poster above is trolling you or has a kindergartener. High school in the DMV is kind of a ridiculous treadmill.