Middle School start times

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here is one (aming dozens) explainations of how middle school grades are irrelevant to college admissions. I picked it because it is the simplest explanation. There are many more if you care to look.

https://lsurec.com/do-colleges-look-at-middle-school-grades/

From the article:

"... Do Colleges Consider Middle School Grades?

Middle school grades play no direct role in college admissions.

Admissions committees are exclusively concerned with a student’s performance in high school, focusing on factors such as:

Academic achievements in high school: This includes GPA, class rank, and rigor of coursework.

Extracurricular involvement: Sports, clubs, volunteer work, and other activities pursued during high school.

Personal statements and essays: Colleges value essays that highlight growth, goals, and character development during high school years.

Letters of recommendation: Teachers and mentors from high school provide insights into a student’s academic and personal attributes.

The absence of middle school grades in these considerations makes it clear that they are not a factor in the admissions process. Even the most competitive institutions do not request or evaluate grades from sixth, seventh, or eighth grade...."

They are talking about regular middle school grades. Not the ones that actually go on your GPA. The high school classes taken in middle school will affect your GPA. You don’t want to be getting C’s or below in them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is one (aming dozens) explainations of how middle school grades are irrelevant to college admissions. I picked it because it is the simplest explanation. There are many more if you care to look.

https://lsurec.com/do-colleges-look-at-middle-school-grades/

From the article:

"... Do Colleges Consider Middle School Grades?

Middle school grades play no direct role in college admissions.

Admissions committees are exclusively concerned with a student’s performance in high school, focusing on factors such as:

Academic achievements in high school: This includes GPA, class rank, and rigor of coursework.

Extracurricular involvement: Sports, clubs, volunteer work, and other activities pursued during high school.

Personal statements and essays: Colleges value essays that highlight growth, goals, and character development during high school years.

Letters of recommendation: Teachers and mentors from high school provide insights into a student’s academic and personal attributes.

The absence of middle school grades in these considerations makes it clear that they are not a factor in the admissions process. Even the most competitive institutions do not request or evaluate grades from sixth, seventh, or eighth grade...."

They are talking about regular middle school grades. Not the ones that actually go on your GPA. The high school classes taken in middle school will affect your GPA. You don’t want to be getting C’s or below in them.

If you get a C in middle school courses, you just expunge those grades.

Colleges don't look at your kids classes for high school credit in middle school, no matter how much you say you want the middle school grades to count.

They don't count and colleges don't care about those grades from middle school.

The colleges don't even look at them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a ridiculous conversation. We have enough resouces as a county to make it so all kids can go to school at times that are not detrimental to their health and learning. Let's see FCPS reallocate budget to fund enough buses at the right times, and recruit the staff needed. There's money being wasted elsewhere to pull for this. Or raise school taxes, I don't care.

They have over 5 million in their DEI program they can use now.

$5 million won’t go very far towards new hires and the purchase and maintenance of busses.

We were supposed to get millions of follars worth of federally funded busses this spring. Connolly sent an email about how he secured the funding right at the end of the last administration. I think his email and funding came out in late October 2024.

The biden admin paid for the busses in full, in advance to the tune of millions of dollars, as a pre order.

The bus company got the money, in full, then declared bankruptcy this winter.

We lost millions of dollars because the biden admin paid in full instead of making payments or paying on delivery.

And we don't have any busses to show for it.

Look back through your Connolly emails.

They literally threw away millions of dollars, and FCPS does not get the electric busses Connolly said he secured for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is one (aming dozens) explainations of how middle school grades are irrelevant to college admissions. I picked it because it is the simplest explanation. There are many more if you care to look.

https://lsurec.com/do-colleges-look-at-middle-school-grades/

From the article:

"... Do Colleges Consider Middle School Grades?

Middle school grades play no direct role in college admissions.

Admissions committees are exclusively concerned with a student’s performance in high school, focusing on factors such as:

Academic achievements in high school: This includes GPA, class rank, and rigor of coursework.

Extracurricular involvement: Sports, clubs, volunteer work, and other activities pursued during high school.

Personal statements and essays: Colleges value essays that highlight growth, goals, and character development during high school years.

Letters of recommendation: Teachers and mentors from high school provide insights into a student’s academic and personal attributes.

The absence of middle school grades in these considerations makes it clear that they are not a factor in the admissions process. Even the most competitive institutions do not request or evaluate grades from sixth, seventh, or eighth grade...."

They are talking about regular middle school grades. Not the ones that actually go on your GPA. The high school classes taken in middle school will affect your GPA. You don’t want to be getting C’s or below in them.

If you get a C in middle school courses, you just expunge those grades.

Colleges don't look at your kids classes for high school credit in middle school, no matter how much you say you want the middle school grades to count.

They don't count and colleges don't care about those grades from middle school.

The colleges don't even look at them.

Then you have to retake the course which puts you behind the pack. Then your chances at t20 schools are really gone. It is important to do well in your high school classes that you take in middle school period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is one (aming dozens) explainations of how middle school grades are irrelevant to college admissions. I picked it because it is the simplest explanation. There are many more if you care to look.

https://lsurec.com/do-colleges-look-at-middle-school-grades/

From the article:

"... Do Colleges Consider Middle School Grades?

Middle school grades play no direct role in college admissions.

Admissions committees are exclusively concerned with a student’s performance in high school, focusing on factors such as:

Academic achievements in high school: This includes GPA, class rank, and rigor of coursework.

Extracurricular involvement: Sports, clubs, volunteer work, and other activities pursued during high school.

Personal statements and essays: Colleges value essays that highlight growth, goals, and character development during high school years.

Letters of recommendation: Teachers and mentors from high school provide insights into a student’s academic and personal attributes.

The absence of middle school grades in these considerations makes it clear that they are not a factor in the admissions process. Even the most competitive institutions do not request or evaluate grades from sixth, seventh, or eighth grade...."

They are talking about regular middle school grades. Not the ones that actually go on your GPA. The high school classes taken in middle school will affect your GPA. You don’t want to be getting C’s or below in them.

If you get a C in middle school courses, you just expunge those grades.

Colleges don't look at your kids classes for high school credit in middle school, no matter how much you say you want the middle school grades to count.

They don't count and colleges don't care about those grades from middle school.

The colleges don't even look at them.

Why would you even have to expunge any grades if they don’t count at all? You seriously sound unhinged. No one’s buying what you’re selling. lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or will they just stop doing after-school clubs? I’m curious how important those are to the middle school experience, as my kids are all still in elementary.

After school this week, I saw piles (had to literally step over some, ha) of kids loving finally finding “their people” at D&D club. Drama and music kids rehearsing for the MS musical. Kids painting sets and props for the musical. Community service activities. Tons of kids getting tutoring from their teachers, for free, getting both help and connection. The positive energy was palpable (the musical looks great!). The MS after school program is the heart of middle school.

Yes let’s continue to make kids get up at 5:30 am so they can have this after school program.

Get a grip. E will shift by only 30 minutes and be a win win for all. They can still have their previous after school activities, just half an hour later.

HELLO HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT LATE START ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS??? I don't want my 6 year old getting home from school at 5:10pm. YES, with school ending at 4:45, my kid won't get home until after 5:00pm. How is anyone okay with that?????

Nobody wants that except a handful of crazy loud middle school parents who don't seem to realize that

A) elementary school is 3-4x as many years as middle school

B) high school is twice as long as middle school

C) high school grades matter. Middle school grades don't, not even the ones they take for high school credit (colleges don't care about middle school grades)

D) the late schedule is far too late for High School and far too late for Elementary School

AND

Middle school is only 2 years.

This. ES kids outnumber any group this affects due to being K-6. ES should absolutely not have 7-8 years of a terrible schedule. People don’t realize that ES builds foundational skills and why grades may not matter, they are setting the skills in place for secondary school. You will have an hour and a half of wasted learning time with Option E. Cause the kids are DONE by 3 and the last hour is whack a mole and making sure we all survive.

Please stop speaking as if you speak for all ES families. The option E schedule would work the best for our family. Does it work for anyone else, that is not for any one poster here to say.

I am speaking as a teacher at a late ES. If you surveyed families and teachers I am sure the majority will say E is awful. There will always be exceptions but you saying E is better for ES kids is an exception. I teach and see the kids daily. They are done by 3 and very little learning happens. Does it mean everyone of my students is incapable of learning then? No. But they are also the exception. The MAJORITY of little kids really struggle the last hour of school compared to the morning. Pushing back would be a nightmare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is one (aming dozens) explainations of how middle school grades are irrelevant to college admissions. I picked it because it is the simplest explanation. There are many more if you care to look.

https://lsurec.com/do-colleges-look-at-middle-school-grades/

From the article:

"... Do Colleges Consider Middle School Grades?

Middle school grades play no direct role in college admissions.

Admissions committees are exclusively concerned with a student’s performance in high school, focusing on factors such as:

Academic achievements in high school: This includes GPA, class rank, and rigor of coursework.

Extracurricular involvement: Sports, clubs, volunteer work, and other activities pursued during high school.

Personal statements and essays: Colleges value essays that highlight growth, goals, and character development during high school years.

Letters of recommendation: Teachers and mentors from high school provide insights into a student’s academic and personal attributes.

The absence of middle school grades in these considerations makes it clear that they are not a factor in the admissions process. Even the most competitive institutions do not request or evaluate grades from sixth, seventh, or eighth grade...."

They are talking about regular middle school grades. Not the ones that actually go on your GPA. The high school classes taken in middle school will affect your GPA. You don’t want to be getting C’s or below in them.

If you get a C in middle school courses, you just expunge those grades.

Colleges don't look at your kids classes for high school credit in middle school, no matter how much you say you want the middle school grades to count.

They don't count and colleges don't care about those grades from middle school.

The colleges don't even look at them.

Why would you even have to expunge any grades if they don’t count at all? You seriously sound unhinged. No one’s buying what you’re selling. lol.

Well, you are wrong

And if you get a C in middle school algebra, your kid should expunge and retake the class. Algebra is the most important foundational class in math.

The middle school grades do not count for college admissions, no matter how much you argue or how much you want to use those middle school classes as justification to screw up the schedule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is one (aming dozens) explainations of how middle school grades are irrelevant to college admissions. I picked it because it is the simplest explanation. There are many more if you care to look.

https://lsurec.com/do-colleges-look-at-middle-school-grades/

From the article:

"... Do Colleges Consider Middle School Grades?

Middle school grades play no direct role in college admissions.

Admissions committees are exclusively concerned with a student’s performance in high school, focusing on factors such as:

Academic achievements in high school: This includes GPA, class rank, and rigor of coursework.

Extracurricular involvement: Sports, clubs, volunteer work, and other activities pursued during high school.

Personal statements and essays: Colleges value essays that highlight growth, goals, and character development during high school years.

Letters of recommendation: Teachers and mentors from high school provide insights into a student’s academic and personal attributes.

The absence of middle school grades in these considerations makes it clear that they are not a factor in the admissions process. Even the most competitive institutions do not request or evaluate grades from sixth, seventh, or eighth grade...."

They are talking about regular middle school grades. Not the ones that actually go on your GPA. The high school classes taken in middle school will affect your GPA. You don’t want to be getting C’s or below in them.

If you get a C in middle school courses, you just expunge those grades.

Colleges don't look at your kids classes for high school credit in middle school, no matter how much you say you want the middle school grades to count.

They don't count and colleges don't care about those grades from middle school.

The colleges don't even look at them.

Why would you even have to expunge any grades if they don’t count at all? You seriously sound unhinged. No one’s buying what you’re selling. lol.

Well, you are wrong

And if you get a C in middle school algebra, your kid should expunge and retake the class. Algebra is the most important foundational class in math.

The middle school grades do not count for college admissions, no matter how much you argue or how much you want to use those middle school classes as justification to screw up the schedule.

Correct. You’ve just made my point - middle school classes (the high school ones) are important. And therefore getting out at 4:25 pm and not getting home until 5 pm would be at a disadvantage for middle school kids when it comes to competing their very important math homework for that very important foundational class. That’s why E is the better schedule option. Thanks for making it clear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or will they just stop doing after-school clubs? I’m curious how important those are to the middle school experience, as my kids are all still in elementary.

After school this week, I saw piles (had to literally step over some, ha) of kids loving finally finding “their people” at D&D club. Drama and music kids rehearsing for the MS musical. Kids painting sets and props for the musical. Community service activities. Tons of kids getting tutoring from their teachers, for free, getting both help and connection. The positive energy was palpable (the musical looks great!). The MS after school program is the heart of middle school.

Yes let’s continue to make kids get up at 5:30 am so they can have this after school program.

Get a grip. E will shift by only 30 minutes and be a win win for all. They can still have their previous after school activities, just half an hour later.

HELLO HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT LATE START ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS??? I don't want my 6 year old getting home from school at 5:10pm. YES, with school ending at 4:45, my kid won't get home until after 5:00pm. How is anyone okay with that?????

Nobody wants that except a handful of crazy loud middle school parents who don't seem to realize that

A) elementary school is 3-4x as many years as middle school

B) high school is twice as long as middle school

C) high school grades matter. Middle school grades don't, not even the ones they take for high school credit (colleges don't care about middle school grades)

D) the late schedule is far too late for High School and far too late for Elementary School

AND

Middle school is only 2 years.

This. ES kids outnumber any group this affects due to being K-6. ES should absolutely not have 7-8 years of a terrible schedule. People don’t realize that ES builds foundational skills and why grades may not matter, they are setting the skills in place for secondary school. You will have an hour and a half of wasted learning time with Option E. Cause the kids are DONE by 3 and the last hour is whack a mole and making sure we all survive.

Please stop speaking as if you speak for all ES families. The option E schedule would work the best for our family. Does it work for anyone else, that is not for any one poster here to say.

I am speaking as a teacher at a late ES. If you surveyed families and teachers I am sure the majority will say E is awful. There will always be exceptions but you saying E is better for ES kids is an exception. I teach and see the kids daily. They are done by 3 and very little learning happens. Does it mean everyone of my students is incapable of learning then? No. But they are also the exception. The MAJORITY of little kids really struggle the last hour of school compared to the morning. Pushing back would be a nightmare.

Another big concern is the number of elementary kids who would be walking home in darkness during winter under the new plan.

Right now some middle schoolers do walk to the bus and school in the dark, but middle schoolers are at least older than elementary schoolers, and traffic isn't as heavy in the early AM hours as it is right after dark, which is during peak rush hour (and when many drivers don't put their lights on).

[Anonymous]

E is terrible for the late ES, but at least a modest improvement for MS. My fear is they're going to punt on this decision because... insert reason. We need to wait on boundaries or we're going to switch to a 6th grade MS model across the entirety of the country or whatever else, and in the meantime the MS kids will continue to struggle with an early start time.

[Anonymous]

Someone started a ES start time thread that is already 7 pages in about 5 hours. The MS thread is 14 pages but that took 4 days!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:E is terrible for the late ES, but at least a modest improvement for MS. My fear is they're going to punt on this decision because... insert reason. We need to wait on boundaries or we're going to switch to a 6th grade MS model across the entirety of the country or whatever else, and in the meantime the MS kids will continue to struggle with an early start time.

That’s my fear too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is one (aming dozens) explainations of how middle school grades are irrelevant to college admissions. I picked it because it is the simplest explanation. There are many more if you care to look.

https://lsurec.com/do-colleges-look-at-middle-school-grades/

From the article:

"... Do Colleges Consider Middle School Grades?

Middle school grades play no direct role in college admissions.

Admissions committees are exclusively concerned with a student’s performance in high school, focusing on factors such as:

Academic achievements in high school: This includes GPA, class rank, and rigor of coursework.

Extracurricular involvement: Sports, clubs, volunteer work, and other activities pursued during high school.

Personal statements and essays: Colleges value essays that highlight growth, goals, and character development during high school years.

Letters of recommendation: Teachers and mentors from high school provide insights into a student’s academic and personal attributes.

The absence of middle school grades in these considerations makes it clear that they are not a factor in the admissions process. Even the most competitive institutions do not request or evaluate grades from sixth, seventh, or eighth grade...."

They are talking about regular middle school grades. Not the ones that actually go on your GPA. The high school classes taken in middle school will affect your GPA. You don’t want to be getting C’s or below in them.

If you get a C in middle school courses, you just expunge those grades.

Colleges don't look at your kids classes for high school credit in middle school, no matter how much you say you want the middle school grades to count.

They don't count and colleges don't care about those grades from middle school.

The colleges don't even look at them.

Why would you even have to expunge any grades if they don’t count at all? You seriously sound unhinged. No one’s buying what you’re selling. lol.

Well, you are wrong

And if you get a C in middle school algebra, your kid should expunge and retake the class. Algebra is the most important foundational class in math.

The middle school grades do not count for college admissions, no matter how much you argue or how much you want to use those middle school classes as justification to screw up the schedule.

Correct. You’ve just made my point - middle school classes (the high school ones) are important. And therefore getting out at 4:25 pm and not getting home until 5 pm would be at a disadvantage for middle school kids when it comes to competing their very important math homework for that very important foundational class. That’s why E is the better schedule option. Thanks for making it clear.

E is the worst option.

Put middle school in the last slot

They can get out at 4:30/4:45.

Their grades don't count and it is only 2 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is one (aming dozens) explainations of how middle school grades are irrelevant to college admissions. I picked it because it is the simplest explanation. There are many more if you care to look.

https://lsurec.com/do-colleges-look-at-middle-school-grades/

From the article:

"... Do Colleges Consider Middle School Grades?

Middle school grades play no direct role in college admissions.

Admissions committees are exclusively concerned with a student’s performance in high school, focusing on factors such as:

Academic achievements in high school: This includes GPA, class rank, and rigor of coursework.

Extracurricular involvement: Sports, clubs, volunteer work, and other activities pursued during high school.

Personal statements and essays: Colleges value essays that highlight growth, goals, and character development during high school years.

Letters of recommendation: Teachers and mentors from high school provide insights into a student’s academic and personal attributes.

The absence of middle school grades in these considerations makes it clear that they are not a factor in the admissions process. Even the most competitive institutions do not request or evaluate grades from sixth, seventh, or eighth grade...."

They are talking about regular middle school grades. Not the ones that actually go on your GPA. The high school classes taken in middle school will affect your GPA. You don’t want to be getting C’s or below in them.

If you get a C in middle school courses, you just expunge those grades.

Colleges don't look at your kids classes for high school credit in middle school, no matter how much you say you want the middle school grades to count.

They don't count and colleges don't care about those grades from middle school.

The colleges don't even look at them.

Why would you even have to expunge any grades if they don’t count at all? You seriously sound unhinged. No one’s buying what you’re selling. lol.

Well, you are wrong

And if you get a C in middle school algebra, your kid should expunge and retake the class. Algebra is the most important foundational class in math.

The middle school grades do not count for college admissions, no matter how much you argue or how much you want to use those middle school classes as justification to screw up the schedule.

Correct. You’ve just made my point - middle school classes (the high school ones) are important. And therefore getting out at 4:25 pm and not getting home until 5 pm would be at a disadvantage for middle school kids when it comes to competing their very important math homework for that very important foundational class. That’s why E is the better schedule option. Thanks for making it clear.

E is the worst option.

Put middle school in the last slot

They can get out at 4:30/4:45.

Their grades don't count and it is only 2 years.

That’s way too big of a change. Elem can compromise with 30 min later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is one (aming dozens) explainations of how middle school grades are irrelevant to college admissions. I picked it because it is the simplest explanation. There are many more if you care to look.

https://lsurec.com/do-colleges-look-at-middle-school-grades/

From the article:

"... Do Colleges Consider Middle School Grades?

Middle school grades play no direct role in college admissions.

Admissions committees are exclusively concerned with a student’s performance in high school, focusing on factors such as:

Academic achievements in high school: This includes GPA, class rank, and rigor of coursework.

Extracurricular involvement: Sports, clubs, volunteer work, and other activities pursued during high school.

Personal statements and essays: Colleges value essays that highlight growth, goals, and character development during high school years.

Letters of recommendation: Teachers and mentors from high school provide insights into a student’s academic and personal attributes.

The absence of middle school grades in these considerations makes it clear that they are not a factor in the admissions process. Even the most competitive institutions do not request or evaluate grades from sixth, seventh, or eighth grade...."

They are talking about regular middle school grades. Not the ones that actually go on your GPA. The high school classes taken in middle school will affect your GPA. You don’t want to be getting C’s or below in them.

If you get a C in middle school courses, you just expunge those grades.

Colleges don't look at your kids classes for high school credit in middle school, no matter how much you say you want the middle school grades to count.

They don't count and colleges don't care about those grades from middle school.

The colleges don't even look at them.

Why would you even have to expunge any grades if they don’t count at all? You seriously sound unhinged. No one’s buying what you’re selling. lol.

Well, you are wrong

And if you get a C in middle school algebra, your kid should expunge and retake the class. Algebra is the most important foundational class in math.

The middle school grades do not count for college admissions, no matter how much you argue or how much you want to use those middle school classes as justification to screw up the schedule.

Correct. You’ve just made my point - middle school classes (the high school ones) are important. And therefore getting out at 4:25 pm and not getting home until 5 pm would be at a disadvantage for middle school kids when it comes to competing their very important math homework for that very important foundational class. That’s why E is the better schedule option. Thanks for making it clear.

E is the worst option.

Put middle school in the last slot

They can get out at 4:30/4:45.

Their grades don't count and it is only 2 years.

That’s way too big of a change. Elem can compromise with 30 min later.

I don't remember my high school or college caring about my middle school grades. Also, that's way to late to get out of school for kids.