Elementary parents, pay attention to start times

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were at a 9:20 start time ES and had no issues with the start or end time. My kids loved sleeping in until 8:30 or so.

But under this plan your school would start at 9:50 am and get out at 4:40. That’s a lot for little kids. They can’t concentrate that well in the late afternoon.

Actually kids can and do pay attention in afternoons. Many many kids going to Curie and RSM etc after school and doing fine learning at 5 and 6 so above isn’t a true statement for a lot of kids.

+1 this exactly. Many elem kids do educational after school activities.

Teacher here. The last hour is the hardest of the day and very little learning happens. I don’t care what parents say. That is the reality. Ask any ES teacher and they will say the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were at a 9:20 start time ES and had no issues with the start or end time. My kids loved sleeping in until 8:30 or so.

But under this plan your school would start at 9:50 am and get out at 4:40. That’s a lot for little kids. They can’t concentrate that well in the late afternoon.

Actually kids can and do pay attention in afternoons. Many many kids going to Curie and RSM etc after school and doing fine learning at 5 and 6 so above isn’t a true statement for a lot of kids.

+1 this exactly. Many elem kids do educational after school activities.

Teacher here. The last hour is the hardest of the day and very little learning happens. I don’t care what parents say. That is the reality. Ask any ES teacher and they will say the same.

That is the case for every kid no matter what time the day ends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were at a 9:20 start time ES and had no issues with the start or end time. My kids loved sleeping in until 8:30 or so.

But under this plan your school would start at 9:50 am and get out at 4:40. That’s a lot for little kids. They can’t concentrate that well in the late afternoon.

Actually kids can and do pay attention in afternoons. Many many kids going to Curie and RSM etc after school and doing fine learning at 5 and 6 so above isn’t a true statement for a lot of kids.

+1 this exactly. Many elem kids do educational after school activities.

Teacher here. The last hour is the hardest of the day and very little learning happens. I don’t care what parents say. That is the reality. Ask any ES teacher and they will say the same.

So elementary schools can get creative if their schedule shifts 30 min later. Make a short recess time at the end of the day for the little ones. Or have a study hall period for the older kids or maybe even intervention time for some grade levels. Acting like this is the end of the world is ridiculous. It’s 30 minutes!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were at a 9:20 start time ES and had no issues with the start or end time. My kids loved sleeping in until 8:30 or so.

But under this plan your school would start at 9:50 am and get out at 4:40. That’s a lot for little kids. They can’t concentrate that well in the late afternoon.

Actually kids can and do pay attention in afternoons. Many many kids going to Curie and RSM etc after school and doing fine learning at 5 and 6 so above isn’t a true statement for a lot of kids.

+1 this exactly. Many elem kids do educational after school activities.

Teacher here. The last hour is the hardest of the day and very little learning happens. I don’t care what parents say. That is the reality. Ask any ES teacher and they will say the same.

So elementary schools can get creative if their schedule shifts 30 min later. Make a short recess time at the end of the day for the little ones. Or have a study hall period for the older kids or maybe even intervention time for some grade levels. Acting like this is the end of the world is ridiculous. It’s 30 minutes!

It's 30 munutes.

The middle school kids need to just keep the schedule they currently have, or take the one that gets out at 4:30.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were at a 9:20 start time ES and had no issues with the start or end time. My kids loved sleeping in until 8:30 or so.

But under this plan your school would start at 9:50 am and get out at 4:40. That’s a lot for little kids. They can’t concentrate that well in the late afternoon.

Actually kids can and do pay attention in afternoons. Many many kids going to Curie and RSM etc after school and doing fine learning at 5 and 6 so above isn’t a true statement for a lot of kids.

+1 this exactly. Many elem kids do educational after school activities.

Teacher here. The last hour is the hardest of the day and very little learning happens. I don’t care what parents say. That is the reality. Ask any ES teacher and they will say the same.

So elementary schools can get creative if their schedule shifts 30 min later. Make a short recess time at the end of the day for the little ones. Or have a study hall period for the older kids or maybe even intervention time for some grade levels. Acting like this is the end of the world is ridiculous. It’s 30 minutes!

It's 30 munutes.

The middle school kids need to just keep the schedule they currently have, or take the one that gets out at 4:30.

30 minutes of extra sleep in the morning is huge for them.

[Anonymous]

Local businesses will have to start providing before care because SAAC isn’t going to begin to cover the need for before care if elementary kids aren’t going to school until 9:50.

On the slip side, the businesses that provide aftercare probably won’t be as needed if those same kids are getting home at 5, 5:30.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were at a 9:20 start time ES and had no issues with the start or end time. My kids loved sleeping in until 8:30 or so.

But under this plan your school would start at 9:50 am and get out at 4:40. That’s a lot for little kids. They can’t concentrate that well in the late afternoon.

Actually kids can and do pay attention in afternoons. Many many kids going to Curie and RSM etc after school and doing fine learning at 5 and 6 so above isn’t a true statement for a lot of kids.

+1 this exactly. Many elem kids do educational after school activities.

Teacher here. The last hour is the hardest of the day and very little learning happens. I don’t care what parents say. That is the reality. Ask any ES teacher and they will say the same.

So elementary schools can get creative if their schedule shifts 30 min later. Make a short recess time at the end of the day for the little ones. Or have a study hall period for the older kids or maybe even intervention time for some grade levels. Acting like this is the end of the world is ridiculous. It’s 30 minutes!

To start school at almost 10 is ridiculous when kids learn better in the morning. Little kids would be walking home in the dark. Secondly, who is watching all these kids when most people work? The county should make some cuts and make sure ALL grades go to school between 8:00-3:30. They aren’t problem solving with these scenarios. If they have to choose though, things should stay the same or middle school should have the late crappy schedule.

[Anonymous]

I’d love any and all action items to provide my input against this plan. Tell me who to call, email, etc.

[Anonymous]

My ES kid has soccer practice 3x a week at 4:45. It’s rush to make it on time as it is since we are at a late school. Adding 30 minutes to the day of a late school is crazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were at a 9:20 start time ES and had no issues with the start or end time. My kids loved sleeping in until 8:30 or so.

But under this plan your school would start at 9:50 am and get out at 4:40. That’s a lot for little kids. They can’t concentrate that well in the late afternoon.

Actually kids can and do pay attention in afternoons. Many many kids going to Curie and RSM etc after school and doing fine learning at 5 and 6 so above isn’t a true statement for a lot of kids.

+1 this exactly. Many elem kids do educational after school activities.

Teacher here. The last hour is the hardest of the day and very little learning happens. I don’t care what parents say. That is the reality. Ask any ES teacher and they will say the same.

So elementary schools can get creative if their schedule shifts 30 min later. Make a short recess time at the end of the day for the little ones. Or have a study hall period for the older kids or maybe even intervention time for some grade levels. Acting like this is the end of the world is ridiculous. It’s 30 minutes!

To start school at almost 10 is ridiculous when kids learn better in the morning. Little kids would be walking home in the dark. Secondly, who is watching all these kids when most people work? The county should make some cuts and make sure ALL grades go to school between 8:00-3:30. They aren’t problem solving with these scenarios. If they have to choose though, things should stay the same or middle school should have the late crappy schedule.

How much would that cost and what would you cut to cover the cost? What specific numbers and ideas do you have?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’d love any and all action items to provide my input against this plan. Tell me who to call, email, etc.

Email your school board rep. I did last week after I saw that E is even possibly still being considered. I made a list of issues with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My ES kid has soccer practice 3x a week at 4:45. It’s rush to make it on time as it is since we are at a late school. Adding 30 minutes to the day of a late school is crazy.

That is strange since county field permits never, ever begin before 5 pm. Which field is this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d love any and all action items to provide my input against this plan. Tell me who to call, email, etc.

Email your school board rep. I did last week after I saw that E is even possibly still being considered. I made a list of issues with it.

Would you care to share the list?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My ES kid has soccer practice 3x a week at 4:45. It’s rush to make it on time as it is since we are at a late school. Adding 30 minutes to the day of a late school is crazy.

That is strange since county field permits never, ever begin before 5 pm. Which field is this?

Police Field

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is a separate thread for middle school start times.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1257582.page

Elementary parents, you might not be paying attention to the middle school start time discussion because the emails from FCPS frame it as solely a middle school issue.

However, changing MS start times means changing everyone's start time, in ways that are detrimental to high school and especially elementary school, just for 2 years of middle school.

It sounds like there is heavy lobbying by some MS school parents to switch to a schedule that moves everyone 30 minutes later. This means that elementary kids will start close to 10:00 AM and get out after 4:30 PM, with busses arriving home between 5:00-5:15 PM.

Imagine having that schedule for early elementary.

If you are not paying attention to the "Middle School Start Times" emails, you need to rapidly engage, get informed by reading the emails and the FCPS website, tell your friends and neighbors, and start connecting with your school board reps.

The school board is finalizing the new schedule soon.

If you don't start organizing soon, you might end up with a crap schedule and more childcare issues come fall 2026, because right now, the loudest voices with Dr. Reid's ear are a handful of vocal middle school parents who want to blow up elementary and high school schedules so the 2 years of middle school can get the best schedule, even if it means kindergartens are going to school until dinner time.

There is at least one schedule option tgat is not too bad, but it puts middle school last so middle school parents are lobbying against that one.

Get informed and make your preferences known.

The "Middle School" schedule emails are about changing everyone's schedule, not just middle school.

It honestly sounds great to me.

Me too! Little kids are up early anyway! They should be in school NLT 8am.