Calendar survey

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Abolish the random days off
Shorten winter break dramatically
Don’t make school after the SOLs count because we all know nothing happens then but glorified babysitting.
Get to teaching!!! We have a lot of ground to catch up on. Stop whining about how your kids need breaks.

So you prefer a 11-12 week summer vacation? Keep in mind that many people do not. Actually, quite a few of us would prefer to move toward year-round -- 9 weeks on, 3 weeks off for each quarter and a 5 week summer.

People want a longer summer break/getting out earlier in June because they really don’t learn a lot or do a lot after Memorial Day anyway so all that time just feels wasted.

This is a big part of it for sure. And why my child is "sick" a lot in that period of time. DC can be home doing other things or sitting around in school. The "last day of school" counting toward those hours they have to be in school, is 2 hours of kids sitting around in he Aux Gym. Even the teachers were encouraging the kids to stay home. It's a joke.

Total joke. That’s why people want longer summers because anything scheduled after exams is no school at all but yet they count it towards the legal requirement. People need to wake up and vote the SB out.

So are you advocating for 165 days of school or for an early August start date? Personally, I would not mind starting on 31 July or 7 August and getting out just before or after Memorial Day weekend.

I’m advocating for no breaks other than federal holidays, winter break, thanksgiving and spring break.

You get 180 days of school. When do you want the school year to start and end? It sounds like you prefer a really long summer?

I want my kids to get educated and for that education to be rigorous, consistent and challenging. I don’t think the weeks in June should count towards the legal requirement. I’m an advocate of 5 day school weeks and shorter breaks. I’m happy with a long summer and for those crying about the summer slide, there are plenty of free fcps programs for students who can’t afford camps and need additional reinforcement.

And this is why FCPS doesn’t care about the parents’ opinion. Not counting 2 weeks of school as school? Just stupid. If you want, rigorous, consistent, and challenging work then you can homeschool. That is why you have a choice or private, public, and homeschool.

[Anonymous]

How can you read this thread and understand there is no unified “parent opinion”? People have lots of different opinions!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How can you read this thread and understand there is no unified “parent opinion”? People have lots of different opinions!

+100

The decisions should be made based on student learning. Period Stop trying to please everyone and instead focus on the hard task of teaching children in the most effective way possible.

There are too many cooks in the kitchen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How can you read this thread and understand there is no unified “parent opinion”? People have lots of different opinions!

+100

The decisions should be made based on student learning. Period Stop trying to please everyone and instead focus on the hard task of teaching children in the most effective way possible.

There are too many cooks in the kitchen.

Do you understand that parents can see the results of what FCPS has deemed “most effective” and are sharing evidence to the contrary? All of these opinions and experiences matter. “Most effective” in what context? In the context of retaining staff, retaining students, reducing stress, improving test scores? It’s not as simple as you make it sound at all. All of it matters, policy making is about balancing. It’s not an exact science. The survey is important. The thing I would like to see more of is a school board that is more transparent about the trade offs they have to make when creating a schedule, and what factors they weight as being most important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get that teachers need more time, but why does that mean a school holiday for kids. If you are salary that often means you will work extended hours on occasion as required. If I am in meetings for 8 hours (happens often) and I have to meet a deadline, that means I am working late that day. An occasional TWD quarterly is fine but we shouldn't get jerking around with lesson plans requiring a day off.

If teachers need training, that should happen during the summer.

“Extended hours on occasion” is everyday from Aug to June for teachers

This. I find parents so far removed on how many extra hours teachers work daily/weekly. Now if the county took things off teacher’s plates, that would help immensely. But we do more than just plan, teach and grade.

Then use the union to get those things off a teachers plate.

Virginia is a right-to-work state. Unions have virtually zero power in our DC (Dear Commonwealth)

Thank God. Look at the crap they tried to pull during Covid.

Yes, how dare they think of their own safety and the safety of their families. Do you realize how big of an entitled a--hole you sound like?

Teacher jumped the line to get vaccinated and still didn’t want to go back to teach in person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are trying to address the inequity of planning time. Secondary teachers get far more planning time than elementary. I’m a teacher too so curious if a staff survey will come out.

They’ve already said religious days are set through 24-25.

I find it hilarious that they put this much time into the questions and they don’t really care what anyone thinks.

They should go back to short days on Monday (or another day). APS still has them, don't they?

AGREED!

I wish APS still had them!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get that teachers need more time, but why does that mean a school holiday for kids. If you are salary that often means you will work extended hours on occasion as required. If I am in meetings for 8 hours (happens often) and I have to meet a deadline, that means I am working late that day. An occasional TWD quarterly is fine but we shouldn't get jerking around with lesson plans requiring a day off.

If teachers need training, that should happen during the summer.

“Extended hours on occasion” is everyday from Aug to June for teachers

This. I find parents so far removed on how many extra hours teachers work daily/weekly. Now if the county took things off teacher’s plates, that would help immensely. But we do more than just plan, teach and grade.

Then use the union to get those things off a teachers plate.

Virginia is a right-to-work state. Unions have virtually zero power in our DC (Dear Commonwealth)

Thank God. Look at the crap they tried to pull during Covid.

Yes, how dare they think of their own safety and the safety of their families. Do you realize how big of an entitled a--hole you sound like?

Teacher jumped the line to get vaccinated and still didn’t want to go back to teach in person.

Troll

[Anonymous]

Re: “summer slide”
1. If kids forget what they learned in 2 months, did they actually learn it?
2. If this is actually a concern, what happens when kids graduate, or even just move on to a totally different course?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Abolish the random days off
Shorten winter break dramatically
Don’t make school after the SOLs count because we all know nothing happens then but glorified babysitting.
Get to teaching!!! We have a lot of ground to catch up on. Stop whining about how your kids need breaks.

So you prefer a 11-12 week summer vacation? Keep in mind that many people do not. Actually, quite a few of us would prefer to move toward year-round -- 9 weeks on, 3 weeks off for each quarter and a 5 week summer.

People want a longer summer break/getting out earlier in June because they really don’t learn a lot or do a lot after Memorial Day anyway so all that time just feels wasted.

This is a big part of it for sure. And why my child is "sick" a lot in that period of time. DC can be home doing other things or sitting around in school. The "last day of school" counting toward those hours they have to be in school, is 2 hours of kids sitting around in he Aux Gym. Even the teachers were encouraging the kids to stay home. It's a joke.

Total joke. That’s why people want longer summers because anything scheduled after exams is no school at all but yet they count it towards the legal requirement. People need to wake up and vote the SB out.

So are you advocating for 165 days of school or for an early August start date? Personally, I would not mind starting on 31 July or 7 August and getting out just before or after Memorial Day weekend.

I’m advocating for no breaks other than federal holidays, winter break, thanksgiving and spring break.

You get 180 days of school. When do you want the school year to start and end? It sounds like you prefer a really long summer?

I want my kids to get educated and for that education to be rigorous, consistent and challenging. I don’t think the weeks in June should count towards the legal requirement. I’m an advocate of 5 day school weeks and shorter breaks. I’m happy with a long summer and for those crying about the summer slide, there are plenty of free fcps programs for students who can’t afford camps and need additional reinforcement.

PP here. And I want a 2 week break in between each quarter and an 8-week summer in June and July. That schedule would provide 5 day school weeks and the opportunity for a rigorous, consistent, challenging curriculum as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Then use the union to get those things off a teachers plate.

Virginia is a right-to-work state. Unions have virtually zero power in our DC (Dear Commonwealth)



My mom was a teacher in VA and she had a union.
Jobs like plumbers and electricians have unions and have a great deal of pull here in VA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get that teachers need more time, but why does that mean a school holiday for kids. If you are salary that often means you will work extended hours on occasion as required. If I am in meetings for 8 hours (happens often) and I have to meet a deadline, that means I am working late that day. An occasional TWD quarterly is fine but we shouldn't get jerking around with lesson plans requiring a day off.

If teachers need training, that should happen during the summer.

“Extended hours on occasion” is everyday from Aug to June for teachers

This. I find parents so far removed on how many extra hours teachers work daily/weekly. Now if the county took things off teacher’s plates, that would help immensely. But we do more than just plan, teach and grade.

Then use the union to get those things off a teachers plate.

Virginia is a right-to-work state. Unions have virtually zero power in our DC (Dear Commonwealth)

Thank God. Look at the crap they tried to pull during Covid.

Yes, how dare they think of their own safety and the safety of their families. Do you realize how big of an entitled a--hole you sound like?

Teacher jumped the line to get vaccinated and still didn’t want to go back to teach in person.

You're not an epidemiologist, are you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Re: “summer slide”
1. If kids forget what they learned in 2 months, did they actually learn it?
2. If this is actually a concern, what happens when kids graduate, or even just move on to a totally different course?

There's plenty of research on summer slide and why it matters, if you're remotely genuinely interested you can look it up and come back with informed questions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Abolish the random days off
Shorten winter break dramatically
Don’t make school after the SOLs count because we all know nothing happens then but glorified babysitting.
Get to teaching!!! We have a lot of ground to catch up on. Stop whining about how your kids need breaks.

So you prefer a 11-12 week summer vacation? Keep in mind that many people do not. Actually, quite a few of us would prefer to move toward year-round -- 9 weeks on, 3 weeks off for each quarter and a 5 week summer.

People want a longer summer break/getting out earlier in June because they really don’t learn a lot or do a lot after Memorial Day anyway so all that time just feels wasted.

This is a big part of it for sure. And why my child is "sick" a lot in that period of time. DC can be home doing other things or sitting around in school. The "last day of school" counting toward those hours they have to be in school, is 2 hours of kids sitting around in he Aux Gym. Even the teachers were encouraging the kids to stay home. It's a joke.

Total joke. That’s why people want longer summers because anything scheduled after exams is no school at all but yet they count it towards the legal requirement. People need to wake up and vote the SB out.

So are you advocating for 165 days of school or for an early August start date? Personally, I would not mind starting on 31 July or 7 August and getting out just before or after Memorial Day weekend.

I’m advocating for no breaks other than federal holidays, winter break, thanksgiving and spring break.

You get 180 days of school. When do you want the school year to start and end? It sounds like you prefer a really long summer?

I want my kids to get educated and for that education to be rigorous, consistent and challenging. I don’t think the weeks in June should count towards the legal requirement. I’m an advocate of 5 day school weeks and shorter breaks. I’m happy with a long summer and for those crying about the summer slide, there are plenty of free fcps programs for students who can’t afford camps and need additional reinforcement.

Why shouldn't the weeks in June count? We are still teaching until the last day.

The SOL is not a final exam, nor is the AP exam. We still teach after those tests!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Abolish the random days off
Shorten winter break dramatically
Don’t make school after the SOLs count because we all know nothing happens then but glorified babysitting.
Get to teaching!!! We have a lot of ground to catch up on. Stop whining about how your kids need breaks.

So you prefer a 11-12 week summer vacation? Keep in mind that many people do not. Actually, quite a few of us would prefer to move toward year-round -- 9 weeks on, 3 weeks off for each quarter and a 5 week summer.

People want a longer summer break/getting out earlier in June because they really don’t learn a lot or do a lot after Memorial Day anyway so all that time just feels wasted.

This is a big part of it for sure. And why my child is "sick" a lot in that period of time. DC can be home doing other things or sitting around in school. The "last day of school" counting toward those hours they have to be in school, is 2 hours of kids sitting around in he Aux Gym. Even the teachers were encouraging the kids to stay home. It's a joke.

Total joke. That’s why people want longer summers because anything scheduled after exams is no school at all but yet they count it towards the legal requirement. People need to wake up and vote the SB out.

So are you advocating for 165 days of school or for an early August start date? Personally, I would not mind starting on 31 July or 7 August and getting out just before or after Memorial Day weekend.

I’m advocating for no breaks other than federal holidays, winter break, thanksgiving and spring break.

You get 180 days of school. When do you want the school year to start and end? It sounds like you prefer a really long summer?

I want my kids to get educated and for that education to be rigorous, consistent and challenging. I don’t think the weeks in June should count towards the legal requirement. I’m an advocate of 5 day school weeks and shorter breaks. I’m happy with a long summer and for those crying about the summer slide, there are plenty of free fcps programs for students who can’t afford camps and need additional reinforcement.

Why shouldn't the weeks in June count? We are still teaching until the last day.

The SOL is not a final exam, nor is the AP exam. We still teach after those tests!

I do not think that people are saying that they "shouldn't count" but that they don't. Not really. Very little teaching/learning is done in that time. We are in HS and that is still true for HS.

[Anonymous]

I filled out the survey. I said don’t take away days from Spring Break or the Wed before Thanksgiving. I said get rid of the all the religious holidays. And I said I am ok shortening winter break by 1-2 days. Most people will take those two days off anyway if they want to travel. All of that will help us get out earlier in June.