Calendar survey

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My HS junior has had final exams in June since she started taking HS classes in 7th. Who are these HS teachers who stop teaching before June and how can I get my kid in your class????

To be honest I wish they'd treat AP exams as finals. It's so stressful on the kids to do both. Mine do it and excel but it's a lot. Clearly, my kids got all the hard teachers.

My kid did nothing the last two weeks of school. Some review, and cupcake "projects", as well as things like turning in equipment. And she was / is an all honors curriculum.

[Anonymous]

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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!

Lies. No one is teaching in June. At least nothing of note. Don’t come here and lie.

It is not a lie.

The first week of June, I always teach writing an effective counterargument, and we always read one of three short stories. My students are held accountable for writing a persuasive essay about the text, and there is a requirement to write an effective counterargument within their essay. Thise lessons are certainly of substance and "of note."

No work occurs after AP exams.

We need to do what most of the country does. Start mid August. End right after the AP exams or Memorial Day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My HS junior has had final exams in June since she started taking HS classes in 7th. Who are these HS teachers who stop teaching before June and how can I get my kid in your class????

To be honest I wish they'd treat AP exams as finals. It's so stressful on the kids to do both. Mine do it and excel but it's a lot. Clearly, my kids got all the hard teachers.

Maybe it is different for students not involved in AP classes.

Almost no learning takes place in June. Most of the classes are missing half the kids. Finals week is a joke.

[Anonymous]

Fcps needs to drop all these short weeks the first half of the year. It is ridiculous how much all these 3 and 4 day weeks disrupt learning, particularly at the middle and high school level where classes only meet every other day.

It is impossible to get the students into a productive rhythm when they only have 1 full week of school from late September through December.

Everyone I know with middle schoolers are struggling, beyond what is normal, to drag their kids out of bed each morning. I have put 3 through that early middle school start, and have never seen anything like what I am hearing this year, particularly the fist 2 days of the week.

Even people with "strong" students are complaining that their high schoolers are having difficulty with simple things like turning in homework or studying for tests. Teachers that I knkw are saying the same thing, that the short weeks are incredibly disruptive to learning.

Whatever fcps does with the new calender, they need to nix all these short weeks in 1st semester.

The whole point of school is to learn academic subjects well. This school board seems to want to do anythijg but, and to throw in road blocks to learning any way they can, including with the calendar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fcps needs to drop all these short weeks the first half of the year. It is ridiculous how much all these 3 and 4 day weeks disrupt learning, particularly at the middle and high school level where classes only meet every other day.

It is impossible to get the students into a productive rhythm when they only have 1 full week of school from late September through December.

Everyone I know with middle schoolers are struggling, beyond what is normal, to drag their kids out of bed each morning. I have put 3 through that early middle school start, and have never seen anything like what I am hearing this year, particularly the fist 2 days of the week.

Even people with "strong" students are complaining that their high schoolers are having difficulty with simple things like turning in homework or studying for tests. Teachers that I knkw are saying the same thing, that the short weeks are incredibly disruptive to learning.

Whatever fcps does with the new calender, they need to nix all these short weeks in 1st semester.

The whole point of school is to learn academic subjects well. This school board seems to want to do anythijg but, and to throw in road blocks to learning any way they can, including with the calendar.

I 100% agree with all of this and can't believe there are people on here arguing that random days off are good and that there is quality teaching in June. We've barely had any consistent school. It's bad. Our educational system is broken. We need to fix it and one way to start is by having consistent schooling. 5 days should be the norm. Weeks in June shouldn't count because they don't really count.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fcps needs to drop all these short weeks the first half of the year. It is ridiculous how much all these 3 and 4 day weeks disrupt learning, particularly at the middle and high school level where classes only meet every other day.

It is impossible to get the students into a productive rhythm when they only have 1 full week of school from late September through December.

Everyone I know with middle schoolers are struggling, beyond what is normal, to drag their kids out of bed each morning. I have put 3 through that early middle school start, and have never seen anything like what I am hearing this year, particularly the fist 2 days of the week.

Even people with "strong" students are complaining that their high schoolers are having difficulty with simple things like turning in homework or studying for tests. Teachers that I knkw are saying the same thing, that the short weeks are incredibly disruptive to learning.

Whatever fcps does with the new calender, they need to nix all these short weeks in 1st semester.

The whole point of school is to learn academic subjects well. This school board seems to want to do anythijg but, and to throw in road blocks to learning any way they can, including with the calendar.

Huh. That’s not my experience at all. I have a middle schooler who is thriving. Made straight As. It’s almost too easy. His friends say the same. They love the 4 day weeks. Haven’t had issues getting them up as they go to bed early.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fcps needs to drop all these short weeks the first half of the year. It is ridiculous how much all these 3 and 4 day weeks disrupt learning, particularly at the middle and high school level where classes only meet every other day.

It is impossible to get the students into a productive rhythm when they only have 1 full week of school from late September through December.

Everyone I know with middle schoolers are struggling, beyond what is normal, to drag their kids out of bed each morning. I have put 3 through that early middle school start, and have never seen anything like what I am hearing this year, particularly the fist 2 days of the week.

Even people with "strong" students are complaining that their high schoolers are having difficulty with simple things like turning in homework or studying for tests. Teachers that I knkw are saying the same thing, that the short weeks are incredibly disruptive to learning.

Whatever fcps does with the new calender, they need to nix all these short weeks in 1st semester.

The whole point of school is to learn academic subjects well. This school board seems to want to do anythijg but, and to throw in road blocks to learning any way they can, including with the calendar.

Huh. That’s not my experience at all. I have a middle schooler who is thriving. Made straight As. It’s almost too easy. His friends say the same. They love the 4 day weeks. Haven’t had issues getting them up as they go to bed early.

DCUM likes to believe that all problems are universal.

[Anonymous]

4 day weeks!!!! Just federal holidays

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:4 day weeks!!!! Just federal holidays

You mean 5 day weeks, not 4 day weeks.

The AP classes are receiving several hours less class than the minimum amount of class time recommended by the college board

This is in spite of FCPS moving the start date into August with the purpose of giving the high school kids an earlier start to have more hours to prepare for AP exams.

At what point will FCPS start putting academic achievement, literacy, etc before everything else???

Is the purpose of school to educate, combate illiteracy and ensure our young people can maintain a functioning, successful society?

Or is the purpose to create little political foot soldiers who cannot read or do math beyond a basic level?

What the heck happened to FCPS over the past 2 to 5 years???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:4 day weeks!!!! Just federal holidays

You mean 5 day weeks, not 4 day weeks.

The AP classes are receiving several hours less class than the minimum amount of class time recommended by the college board

This is in spite of FCPS moving the start date into August with the purpose of giving the high school kids an earlier start to have more hours to prepare for AP exams.

At what point will FCPS start putting academic achievement, literacy, etc before everything else???

Is the purpose of school to educate, combate illiteracy and ensure our young people can maintain a functioning, successful society?

Or is the purpose to create little political foot soldiers who cannot read or do math beyond a basic level?

What the heck happened to FCPS over the past 2 to 5 years???

Are they? Are you positive?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:4 day weeks!!!! Just federal holidays

You mean 5 day weeks, not 4 day weeks.

The AP classes are receiving several hours less class than the minimum amount of class time recommended by the college board

This is in spite of FCPS moving the start date into August with the purpose of giving the high school kids an earlier start to have more hours to prepare for AP exams.

At what point will FCPS start putting academic achievement, literacy, etc before everything else???

Is the purpose of school to educate, combate illiteracy and ensure our young people can maintain a functioning, successful society?

Or is the purpose to create little political foot soldiers who cannot read or do math beyond a basic level?

What the heck happened to FCPS over the past 2 to 5 years???

Are they? Are you positive?

Yes.

According to mg kid, the teachers said that with our 3 and 4 day weeks, the AP classes are averaging more than an hour and a half fewer class hours than recommended by the college board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:4 day weeks!!!! Just federal holidays

You mean 5 day weeks, not 4 day weeks.

The AP classes are receiving several hours less class than the minimum amount of class time recommended by the college board

This is in spite of FCPS moving the start date into August with the purpose of giving the high school kids an earlier start to have more hours to prepare for AP exams.

At what point will FCPS start putting academic achievement, literacy, etc before everything else???

Is the purpose of school to educate, combate illiteracy and ensure our young people can maintain a functioning, successful society?

Or is the purpose to create little political foot soldiers who cannot read or do math beyond a basic level?

What the heck happened to FCPS over the past 2 to 5 years???

Are they? Are you positive?

Yes.

According to mg kid, the teachers said that with our 3 and 4 day weeks, the AP classes are averaging more than an hour and a half fewer class hours than recommended by the college board.

On the 4 day weeks, the AP classes average just 3 hours instruction time per week (if the class begins and ends at the bell).

On the 3 day weeks, the AP classes average a max 90 minutes to 3 hours instruction per week.

On the two day weeks, the AP classes have a maximum of 90 minutes instruction per week.

Most AP classes are recommended to have a minumum 5 to 7 hours of instruction per week just to cover the material.

Some of the more difficult or intensive classes recommend a minimum of 7 to 10 hours of class time per week just to cover the material.

This semester, my kid has only had 2 weeks in some of ther very rigorous AP classes where they had 3 days of instruction (4.5 hours).

Most of the weeks, they received less than 3 hours of class instruction, around 1/2 to 1/3 of class time recommended by the college board for AP classes.

FCPS is very much screwing over the high school students by making nearly every week this semester a 3 or 4 day week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:4 day weeks!!!! Just federal holidays

You mean 5 day weeks, not 4 day weeks.

The AP classes are receiving several hours less class than the minimum amount of class time recommended by the college board

This is in spite of FCPS moving the start date into August with the purpose of giving the high school kids an earlier start to have more hours to prepare for AP exams.

At what point will FCPS start putting academic achievement, literacy, etc before everything else???

Is the purpose of school to educate, combate illiteracy and ensure our young people can maintain a functioning, successful society?

Or is the purpose to create little political foot soldiers who cannot read or do math beyond a basic level?

What the heck happened to FCPS over the past 2 to 5 years???

Are they? Are you positive?

Yes.

According to mg kid, the teachers said that with our 3 and 4 day weeks, the AP classes are averaging more than an hour and a half fewer class hours than recommended by the college board.

On the 4 day weeks, the AP classes average just 3 hours instruction time per week (if the class begins and ends at the bell).

On the 3 day weeks, the AP classes average a max 90 minutes to 3 hours instruction per week.

On the two day weeks, the AP classes have a maximum of 90 minutes instruction per week.

Most AP classes are recommended to have a minumum 5 to 7 hours of instruction per week just to cover the material.

Some of the more difficult or intensive classes recommend a minimum of 7 to 10 hours of class time per week just to cover the material.

This semester, my kid has only had 2 weeks in some of ther very rigorous AP classes where they had 3 days of instruction (4.5 hours).

Most of the weeks, they received less than 3 hours of class instruction, around 1/2 to 1/3 of class time recommended by the college board for AP classes.

FCPS is very much screwing over the high school students by making nearly every week this semester a 3 or 4 day week.

And this lack of consistent 5 day week is very much an equity issue for poor or recent immigrant families who are depending on successful AP exam completion to help cut back on the cost of college tuition.

It also is an equity issue for poor, ESOL and lower performing demographics at the elementary and early childhood level who tend to struggle or score lower with literacy and math.

By creating a calendar that makes it impossible for these kids to consistently learn, FCPS is guaranteeing that they will have more difficult adult lives, less chance of college success, lower paying jobs and far less social and economic mobility. Fcps is funneling these kids into a lifetime of poverty or lower earning potential.

They are hindering kids who might be able to afford a college degree by knocking off a year with successful AP exams. And guaranteeing an income divide for lower performing demographics by preventing early elementary kids from having a productive and consistent 5 day school week to master literacy and math.

For all their talk about "equity" the leadership and school board of fcps are just a bunch of sanctimonious hypocrites. If they really cared about "equity" and wanted all fcps students to succeed, they would give us a normal school schedule that is not full of 3 and 4 day weeks, particularly 1st semester when the weather is good, kids are fresh and ready to learn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:4 day weeks!!!! Just federal holidays

You mean 5 day weeks, not 4 day weeks.

The AP classes are receiving several hours less class than the minimum amount of class time recommended by the college board

This is in spite of FCPS moving the start date into August with the purpose of giving the high school kids an earlier start to have more hours to prepare for AP exams.

At what point will FCPS start putting academic achievement, literacy, etc before everything else???

Is the purpose of school to educate, combate illiteracy and ensure our young people can maintain a functioning, successful society?

Or is the purpose to create little political foot soldiers who cannot read or do math beyond a basic level?

What the heck happened to FCPS over the past 2 to 5 years???

All of this. It's astounding that random people on the internet can make a better academic calendar than the elected officials responsible for it.

They suck. Vote them all out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:4 day weeks!!!! Just federal holidays

You mean 5 day weeks, not 4 day weeks.

The AP classes are receiving several hours less class than the minimum amount of class time recommended by the college board

This is in spite of FCPS moving the start date into August with the purpose of giving the high school kids an earlier start to have more hours to prepare for AP exams.

At what point will FCPS start putting academic achievement, literacy, etc before everything else???

Is the purpose of school to educate, combate illiteracy and ensure our young people can maintain a functioning, successful society?

Or is the purpose to create little political foot soldiers who cannot read or do math beyond a basic level?

What the heck happened to FCPS over the past 2 to 5 years???

Are they? Are you positive?

Yes.

According to mg kid, the teachers said that with our 3 and 4 day weeks, the AP classes are averaging more than an hour and a half fewer class hours than recommended by the college board.

On the 4 day weeks, the AP classes average just 3 hours instruction time per week (if the class begins and ends at the bell).

On the 3 day weeks, the AP classes average a max 90 minutes to 3 hours instruction per week.

On the two day weeks, the AP classes have a maximum of 90 minutes instruction per week.

Most AP classes are recommended to have a minumum 5 to 7 hours of instruction per week just to cover the material.

Some of the more difficult or intensive classes recommend a minimum of 7 to 10 hours of class time per week just to cover the material.

This semester, my kid has only had 2 weeks in some of ther very rigorous AP classes where they had 3 days of instruction (4.5 hours).

Most of the weeks, they received less than 3 hours of class instruction, around 1/2 to 1/3 of class time recommended by the college board for AP classes.

FCPS is very much screwing over the high school students by making nearly every week this semester a 3 or 4 day week.

And this lack of consistent 5 day week is very much an equity issue for poor or recent immigrant families who are depending on successful AP exam completion to help cut back on the cost of college tuition.

It also is an equity issue for poor, ESOL and lower performing demographics at the elementary and early childhood level who tend to struggle or score lower with literacy and math.

By creating a calendar that makes it impossible for these kids to consistently learn, FCPS is guaranteeing that they will have more difficult adult lives, less chance of college success, lower paying jobs and far less social and economic mobility. Fcps is funneling these kids into a lifetime of poverty or lower earning potential.

They are hindering kids who might be able to afford a college degree by knocking off a year with successful AP exams. And guaranteeing an income divide for lower performing demographics by preventing early elementary kids from having a productive and consistent 5 day school week to master literacy and math.

For all their talk about "equity" the leadership and school board of fcps are just a bunch of sanctimonious hypocrites. If they really cared about "equity" and wanted all fcps students to succeed, they would give us a normal school schedule that is not full of 3 and 4 day weeks, particularly 1st semester when the weather is good, kids are fresh and ready to learn.

Wow, you are really reaching.