Early middle school bell crushing DC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Guess what—every kindergarten parent has a kid that struggled this week. Exhausted and cranky at dinner time. It will pass. Your middle schooler will be fine. Make sure the phone is on YOUR nightstand every night. Kids adjust.

You’re comparing K to middle school start time? Get the f out of here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCPS is weird. ES should go first, then MS, then HS. I mean my ES kid is up at the crack of dawn and we need to wait three hours until school starts.

I disagree and I have 3 kids getting on HS, MS and ES buses. All three are awake before MS bus leaves, so we're a family of early risers. MS is the best "sacrifice" because it's only 2 years for the kids. There's a world of difference between getting up early every morning for 7 years, K to 6, and actually having to be ready to go somewhere by 6:40.

[Anonymous]

Tell me why we can’t do 7:45 or 7:50 am start time for MS, 8:30 am for HS and 9:15 am for ES?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are plenty of solutions. FCPS allows parents to opt students in MS/HS for a partial day. Depending on how bad it really is, you could have them change his schedule to have a free period during the first block. You would have to drive him, but it would allow him to get more sleep.

If he has an IEP or 504, it should be even easier to get approved.

The schools are short staffed and over crowded, so they are thrilled whenever there is one less student in a class.

Do kids typically have free periods in middle school?

No, you have to request it.

And give up an elective? I’d love to give up PE. Ridiculous that kids who participate in team sports can’t opt out. DC swims 10 hrs a week and a PE class is the last thing they need.

Another option if your child is in advanced math is take the math or language class from the FCPS Online Campus. They offer Algebra I, Geometry and a ton of languages. Ask your school if he can enroll and then have a “free period” for blocks 1 or 2.

Once the kids get into high school, they are allowed to take 2 classes from the Online Campus instead of two classes in person. It’s a great option for many kids. And you can take PE during the summer from one of the Online schools such as Keystone for an easy A.

The flexibility for FCPS high school students is huge and most kids are not aware of it. It’s a shame parents of MS students have to know the tricks and ask.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tell me why we can’t do 7:45 or 7:50 am start time for MS, 8:30 am for HS and 9:15 am for ES?

Because FCPS hates kids and their parents. Obviously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Guess what—every kindergarten parent has a kid that struggled this week. Exhausted and cranky at dinner time. It will pass. Your middle schooler will be fine. Make sure the phone is on YOUR nightstand every night. Kids adjust.

You’re comparing K to middle school start time? Get the f out of here.

No, I’m comparing the start of school and a brand new schedule for kids. It’s the first week of school, and kindergarteners and middle schoolers are all starting a schedule they’ve never done before. Kindergarteners have not had to go to school all day without a rest time. Middle schoolers haven’t had to get up this early for school. They’ll adjust. It’s only been 5 days. Give it a minute.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Guess what—every kindergarten parent has a kid that struggled this week. Exhausted and cranky at dinner time. It will pass. Your middle schooler will be fine. Make sure the phone is on YOUR nightstand every night. Kids adjust.

My kid and his friends never adjusted.
It’s simply too early for them. And the Kindergartners would probably be better off starting school at 7:30.

They NEVER adjusted? Yeah, this is a problem with your hyperbole or your family’s sleep schedule. Or both.

[Anonymous]

Even if parents do everything right at home, there are some teens that cannot fall asleep early due to biology.

Our pediatrician suggested giving a very small dose melatonin every night. It worked okay, but during the winter months when there was a lack of direct sunlight, it was a daily struggle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Guess what—every kindergarten parent has a kid that struggled this week. Exhausted and cranky at dinner time. It will pass. Your middle schooler will be fine. Make sure the phone is on YOUR nightstand every night. Kids adjust.

My kid and his friends never adjusted.
It’s simply too early for them. And the Kindergartners would probably be better off starting school at 7:30.

They NEVER adjusted? Yeah, this is a problem with your hyperbole or your family’s sleep schedule. Or both.

They don’t. I’m a different poster and my kid is now in high school. He’s another who never got used to leaving the house at 6:40 and neither did his friends. The only thing that adjusted was our rules and letting them occasionally sleep in or miss school all together by the end of 8th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Guess what—every kindergarten parent has a kid that struggled this week. Exhausted and cranky at dinner time. It will pass. Your middle schooler will be fine. Make sure the phone is on YOUR nightstand every night. Kids adjust.

This is so different - your kindergartener is not going from a 9:20 start time to a 7:30am start time - that's a huge adjustment. My ES kids wake up at 8:00 to get on the bus at 9:00. Next year, my current 6th grader will have to wake up at least two hours earlier to get on the bus at 6:45. That's a MUCH bigger adjustment than a preschooler going to kindergarten (my kids schedule didn't change from preschool to kindergarten - if anything, they went to school later).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Guess what—every kindergarten parent has a kid that struggled this week. Exhausted and cranky at dinner time. It will pass. Your middle schooler will be fine. Make sure the phone is on YOUR nightstand every night. Kids adjust.

This is so different - your kindergartener is not going from a 9:20 start time to a 7:30am start time - that's a huge adjustment. My ES kids wake up at 8:00 to get on the bus at 9:00. Next year, my current 6th grader will have to wake up at least two hours earlier to get on the bus at 6:45. That's a MUCH bigger adjustment than a preschooler going to kindergarten (my kids schedule didn't change from preschool to kindergarten - if anything, they went to school later).

I teach at a 9:20 ES and it is awful. We have kids not getting home till 5pm. The last hour is a joke cause no one can focus.
School should be 8:00-3:00 ES, 8:30-3:30 Middle and High School

They need to do the following:
Get rid of bussing to AAP centers when your school has LL4
Change walking distances depending on location. I would say we gave two bus routes that could absolutely walk/bike to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Guess what—every kindergarten parent has a kid that struggled this week. Exhausted and cranky at dinner time. It will pass. Your middle schooler will be fine. Make sure the phone is on YOUR nightstand every night. Kids adjust.

This is so different - your kindergartener is not going from a 9:20 start time to a 7:30am start time - that's a huge adjustment. My ES kids wake up at 8:00 to get on the bus at 9:00. Next year, my current 6th grader will have to wake up at least two hours earlier to get on the bus at 6:45. That's a MUCH bigger adjustment than a preschooler going to kindergarten (my kids schedule didn't change from preschool to kindergarten - if anything, they went to school later).

I teach at a 9:20 ES and it is awful. We have kids not getting home till 5pm. The last hour is a joke cause no one can focus.
School should be 8:00-3:00 ES, 8:30-3:30 Middle and High School

They need to do the following:
Get rid of bussing to AAP centers when your school has LL4
Change walking distances depending on location. I would say we gave two bus routes that could absolutely walk/bike to school.

ES also have the most runs. There are 140 something ES and like 15 high schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Guess what—every kindergarten parent has a kid that struggled this week. Exhausted and cranky at dinner time. It will pass. Your middle schooler will be fine. Make sure the phone is on YOUR nightstand every night. Kids adjust.

My kid and his friends never adjusted.
It’s simply too early for them. And the Kindergartners would probably be better off starting school at 7:30.

They NEVER adjusted? Yeah, this is a problem with your hyperbole or your family’s sleep schedule. Or both.

They don’t. I’m a different poster and my kid is now in high school. He’s another who never got used to leaving the house at 6:40 and neither did his friends. The only thing that adjusted was our rules and letting them occasionally sleep in or miss school all together by the end of 8th grade.

A big reason they don’t adjust.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are plenty of solutions. FCPS allows parents to opt students in MS/HS for a partial day. Depending on how bad it really is, you could have them change his schedule to have a free period during the first block. You would have to drive him, but it would allow him to get more sleep.

If he has an IEP or 504, it should be even easier to get approved.

The schools are short staffed and over crowded, so they are thrilled whenever there is one less student in a class.

Do kids typically have free periods in middle school?

No, you have to request it.

And give up an elective? I’d love to give up PE. Ridiculous that kids who participate in team sports can’t opt out. DC swims 10 hrs a week and a PE class is the last thing they need.

Another option if your child is in advanced math is take the math or language class from the FCPS Online Campus. They offer Algebra I, Geometry and a ton of languages. Ask your school if he can enroll and then have a “free period” for blocks 1 or 2.

Once the kids get into high school, they are allowed to take 2 classes from the Online Campus instead of two classes in person. It’s a great option for many kids. And you can take PE during the summer from one of the Online schools such as Keystone for an easy A.

The flexibility for FCPS high school students is huge and most kids are not aware of it. It’s a shame parents of MS students have to know the tricks and ask.

Generally, this is terrible advice for a middle school kid.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, our oldest did the out to the bus before the sun was up thing. Then we moved and new HS started at 9 a.m. It made a huge difference for her! Better sleep, better mood, less overall stress. I never figured out why the schools tortured the kids like that.