1/2 day Wed for 2025-25 school year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WTAF
Is the rationale the state law?? Or just a basic giveaway to teachers under the guise of better scores?? Will this happen in perpetuity ??
How can she keep doing this?!

How is this happening? It was bad enough this year but the excuse was a last minute state requirement for training. There is nothing like that now. How is she just going to steal instructional time from students? Why is the school board going along with this? Is she going to switch to 4 days of instruction next year like some other school districts in America?

Yes

Let’s hope not.

Two Teachers (MS & ES)

[Anonymous]

In 2014 FCPS School Board and superintendent Garza got rid of the Monday 1/2 days saying ENDING of the 1/2 days would help teachers and parents: “Supporters of the change, including Superintendent Karen Garza, have said it will give teachers more planning time and provide parents with continuity throughout the week.” So FCPS now has 5 full days for ES as a 10 year failed experiment (saying 10 and not 11 as last year started roll out of the 1/2 day).

https://wtop.com/news/2014/06/fairfax-county-school-board-eliminates-monday-half-days/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WTAF
Is the rationale the state law?? Or just a basic giveaway to teachers under the guise of better scores?? Will this happen in perpetuity ??
How can she keep doing this?!

How is this happening? It was bad enough this year but the excuse was a last minute state requirement for training. There is nothing like that now. How is she just going to steal instructional time from students? Why is the school board going along with this? Is she going to switch to 4 days of instruction next year like some other school districts in America?

Yes

Let’s hope not.

Two Teachers (MS & ES)

Next step absolutely will be was helpful to have 8 days and say again test scores increased or whatever stat that can’t actually be definitely linked to the releases— so should double it and at that point will just make every week

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot believe this. Reid claims that Early Release Days mean better scores:

"During my Superintendent Matters report at a recent School Board meeting, I announced our plan to continue limited early release days and move them to Wednesdays for the 2025-26 school year. This decision follows a recommendation from the Early Release Steering Committee—which includes parents, caregivers, school-based staff, and central office staff—working in partnership with the Fairfax Association of Elementary School Principals (FAESP). The recommendation was based on the positive outcomes of this year’s limited early release Mondays.

For example, in grades K-3, we saw an 11 percentage point increase in students meeting reading benchmarks from fall to winter. In grades 3-6, multi-year trend data shows improved reading performance, with more students meeting or approaching grade-level expectations than in previous years. This progress is significant—and a clear indicator that this approach is working. This work matters!"

Gee. If Early Release Days yield such good results, why not just give the teachers a full day every week?

Why not just be honest?

Really. If less instruction time = better results, something stinks in FCPS. Also, wasn't it 7 ER Mondays? Now it quietly got bumped up to 8 Wednesdays? This administration is so stealthy, with the rationale morphing as they go.

I assume the argument is that teaching teachers how to properly teach kids language arts (which should have been done in college but wasn't due to Calkins and F&P) helped them educate better.

But the increase in scores could easily be explained by Benchmark just being better than Teachers Pay Teachers worksheets related to Units of Study...even without the teacher training.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just went to the grocery store today at 2 pm (my kids had an early release Monday) and ran into a teacher. I mean, they can use their time however they want but let’s be real here.

Maybe the teacher took leave.

Maybe the teacher was running an errand for the school.

Maybe the teacher finished a meeting early and then will work again after dinner for a few more hours.

Maybe the teacher isn’t doing anything wrong and deserves the benefit of not being judged.

Sure but then just give four full days off if it’s truly about giving them the time. They aren’t all in a training during those 3 hours. No need to do this disruptive (and more expensive!) 3 hour early release.

[Anonymous]

IS THERE NO WAY TO PROTEST THIS AND EFFECT CHANGE?

Does the School Board not have to publish this proposal for public comment?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They're doing Wednesdays to make their attendance numbers look better. Half day Mondays allowed for nice long weekend trips for families. Can't have that! Reid's stated reasoning is insulting to the intelligence of parents. As is the suggestion that less classroom time benefits students who are are already woefully behind.

At least one of her reasons for switching to Mondays makes A LOT of sense and directly impacted my child this year. My child has art on Mondays - between Monday holidays (President's Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Memorial Day, etc...) and the Monday half days, my child's class is FOUR projects behind in art. I know most of the DCUM parents are strivers and don't care about the arts, but my child cares about art and is really upset that she didn't get picked for the art show this year because she was rushed to complete the project that the art teacher selected for the show (that the other kids had completed weeks before over the course of three classes). So I'm fine with choosing a day other than Monday, that particular reason (that no one here is talking about -- specials like art and music) MATTER, especially to the kids.

But what if your kid has art on Wednesday next year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They're doing Wednesdays to make their attendance numbers look better. Half day Mondays allowed for nice long weekend trips for families. Can't have that! Reid's stated reasoning is insulting to the intelligence of parents. As is the suggestion that less classroom time benefits students who are are already woefully behind.

At least one of her reasons for switching to Mondays makes A LOT of sense and directly impacted my child this year. My child has art on Mondays - between Monday holidays (President's Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Memorial Day, etc...) and the Monday half days, my child's class is FOUR projects behind in art. I know most of the DCUM parents are strivers and don't care about the arts, but my child cares about art and is really upset that she didn't get picked for the art show this year because she was rushed to complete the project that the art teacher selected for the show (that the other kids had completed weeks before over the course of three classes). So I'm fine with choosing a day other than Monday, that particular reason (that no one here is talking about -- specials like art and music) MATTER, especially to the kids.

But what if your kid has art on Wednesday next year?

Exactly. Half days and snow days bring havoc to specials.

Where is the common sense here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot believe this. Reid claims that Early Release Days mean better scores:

"During my Superintendent Matters report at a recent School Board meeting, I announced our plan to continue limited early release days and move them to Wednesdays for the 2025-26 school year. This decision follows a recommendation from the Early Release Steering Committee—which includes parents, caregivers, school-based staff, and central office staff—working in partnership with the Fairfax Association of Elementary School Principals (FAESP). The recommendation was based on the positive outcomes of this year’s limited early release Mondays.

For example, in grades K-3, we saw an 11 percentage point increase in students meeting reading benchmarks from fall to winter. In grades 3-6, multi-year trend data shows improved reading performance, with more students meeting or approaching grade-level expectations than in previous years. This progress is significant—and a clear indicator that this approach is working. This work matters!"

Gee. If Early Release Days yield such good results, why not just give the teachers a full day every week?

Why not just be honest?

Really. If less instruction time = better results, something stinks in FCPS. Also, wasn't it 7 ER Mondays? Now it quietly got bumped up to 8 Wednesdays? This administration is so stealthy, with the rationale morphing as they go.

I assume the argument is that teaching teachers how to properly teach kids language arts (which should have been done in college but wasn't due to Calkins and F&P) helped them educate better.

But the increase in scores could easily be explained by Benchmark just being better than Teachers Pay Teachers worksheets related to Units of Study...even without the teacher training.

This!

They're using data from this year compared to other years and pretending that the only change year over year was the early release trainings.

Benchmark is a boxed curriculum with explicit phoenics instructions that is going to be a significant improvement over the hodge podge of worksheets that a lot of schools used prior to this year. We were covid homeschoolers and used a similar scripted reading curriculum and my kid ended the grade reading 4 grade levels above their grade despite me having no formal educational experience. It's the boxed, scripted curriculum, not the early release Mondays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They're doing Wednesdays to make their attendance numbers look better. Half day Mondays allowed for nice long weekend trips for families. Can't have that! Reid's stated reasoning is insulting to the intelligence of parents. As is the suggestion that less classroom time benefits students who are are already woefully behind.

At least one of her reasons for switching to Mondays makes A LOT of sense and directly impacted my child this year. My child has art on Mondays - between Monday holidays (President's Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Memorial Day, etc...) and the Monday half days, my child's class is FOUR projects behind in art. I know most of the DCUM parents are strivers and don't care about the arts, but my child cares about art and is really upset that she didn't get picked for the art show this year because she was rushed to complete the project that the art teacher selected for the show (that the other kids had completed weeks before over the course of three classes). So I'm fine with choosing a day other than Monday, that particular reason (that no one here is talking about -- specials like art and music) MATTER, especially to the kids.

But don't other kids have art on Wednesdays??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot believe this. Reid claims that Early Release Days mean better scores:

"During my Superintendent Matters report at a recent School Board meeting, I announced our plan to continue limited early release days and move them to Wednesdays for the 2025-26 school year. This decision follows a recommendation from the Early Release Steering Committee—which includes parents, caregivers, school-based staff, and central office staff—working in partnership with the Fairfax Association of Elementary School Principals (FAESP). The recommendation was based on the positive outcomes of this year’s limited early release Mondays.

For example, in grades K-3, we saw an 11 percentage point increase in students meeting reading benchmarks from fall to winter. In grades 3-6, multi-year trend data shows improved reading performance, with more students meeting or approaching grade-level expectations than in previous years. This progress is significant—and a clear indicator that this approach is working. This work matters!"

Gee. If Early Release Days yield such good results, why not just give the teachers a full day every week?

Why not just be honest?

Really. If less instruction time = better results, something stinks in FCPS. Also, wasn't it 7 ER Mondays? Now it quietly got bumped up to 8 Wednesdays? This administration is so stealthy, with the rationale morphing as they go.

I assume the argument is that teaching teachers how to properly teach kids language arts (which should have been done in college but wasn't due to Calkins and F&P) helped them educate better.

But the increase in scores could easily be explained by Benchmark just being better than Teachers Pay Teachers worksheets related to Units of Study...even without the teacher training.

This!

They're using data from this year compared to other years and pretending that the only change year over year was the early release trainings.

Benchmark is a boxed curriculum with explicit phoenics instructions that is going to be a significant improvement over the hodge podge of worksheets that a lot of schools used prior to this year. We were covid homeschoolers and used a similar scripted reading curriculum and my kid ended the grade reading 4 grade levels above their grade despite me having no formal educational experience. It's the boxed, scripted curriculum, not the early release Mondays.

+1 On changing multiple variables and arbitrarily choosing the one you want to attribute the positive change to. Common sense would dictate that more time in class leads to more learning. If that is not the case, FCPS needs to get better teachers or better materials. Also ditto on my kids progressing more during the shutdown than their grade level. Why? I speculate it was fewer disruptions from other kids, no morning meetings, and focus on the core subjects. Now that they are back in school, they are slowly losing their "lead."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They're doing Wednesdays to make their attendance numbers look better. Half day Mondays allowed for nice long weekend trips for families. Can't have that! Reid's stated reasoning is insulting to the intelligence of parents. As is the suggestion that less classroom time benefits students who are are already woefully behind.

At least one of her reasons for switching to Mondays makes A LOT of sense and directly impacted my child this year. My child has art on Mondays - between Monday holidays (President's Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Memorial Day, etc...) and the Monday half days, my child's class is FOUR projects behind in art. I know most of the DCUM parents are strivers and don't care about the arts, but my child cares about art and is really upset that she didn't get picked for the art show this year because she was rushed to complete the project that the art teacher selected for the show (that the other kids had completed weeks before over the course of three classes). So I'm fine with choosing a day other than Monday, that particular reason (that no one here is talking about -- specials like art and music) MATTER, especially to the kids.

But don't other kids have art on Wednesdays??

The issue is that when the 1 half day a month falls on Mondays that's on top of the other Mondays when school is out for holidays meaning taken together Mondays end up with much much fewer specials. Shifting the 1/2 day to a day when holidays less commonly fall means there are fewer (not none) conflicts on that given day.

[Anonymous]

I really don't like it being on Wednesdays. The half day Mondays was due to Governor, but now this is more permanent by FCPS?

[Anonymous]

Why won’t the school board stop this nonsense? They need to tell Reid that kids need instructional time and kill this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They're doing Wednesdays to make their attendance numbers look better. Half day Mondays allowed for nice long weekend trips for families. Can't have that! Reid's stated reasoning is insulting to the intelligence of parents. As is the suggestion that less classroom time benefits students who are are already woefully behind.

At least one of her reasons for switching to Mondays makes A LOT of sense and directly impacted my child this year. My child has art on Mondays - between Monday holidays (President's Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Memorial Day, etc...) and the Monday half days, my child's class is FOUR projects behind in art. I know most of the DCUM parents are strivers and don't care about the arts, but my child cares about art and is really upset that she didn't get picked for the art show this year because she was rushed to complete the project that the art teacher selected for the show (that the other kids had completed weeks before over the course of three classes). So I'm fine with choosing a day other than Monday, that particular reason (that no one here is talking about -- specials like art and music) MATTER, especially to the kids.

But don't other kids have art on Wednesdays??

The issue is that when the 1 half day a month falls on Mondays that's on top of the other Mondays when school is out for holidays meaning taken together Mondays end up with much much fewer specials. Shifting the 1/2 day to a day when holidays less commonly fall means there are fewer (not none) conflicts on that given day.

This issue could be solved at the local level. When there is an early release Monday, have the Monday schedule on Tuesday that week and skip Tuesday. The next time, have the Monday schedule on Wednesday and skip the Wednesday schedule that week.

I hope every parent here that objects to this becoming a permanent thing is emailing Dr. Reid and their school board reps.