Summer is getting shorter. Fix the 26-29 calendars

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, once you get past camp-as-daycare, the market will not adapt for sleepaway and specialty non-local camps, which are what most families are looking from late elementary school onwards. So, yes, I will be able to get my kid a day or a week of quasi-daycare summer camp, but my kid will not be able to do CTY or Interlochen or just the normal YMCA sleepaway camp they've been attending for years if just DC totally changes its schedule.

Classic comedy movies notwithstanding, the population of kids attending sleepaway camps has got to be under 15%. We shouldn't preserve this industry for a minority of families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, once you get past camp-as-daycare, the market will not adapt for sleepaway and specialty non-local camps, which are what most families are looking from late elementary school onwards. So, yes, I will be able to get my kid a day or a week of quasi-daycare summer camp, but my kid will not be able to do CTY or Interlochen or just the normal YMCA sleepaway camp they've been attending for years if just DC totally changes its schedule.

Classic comedy movies notwithstanding, the population of kids attending sleepaway camps has got to be under 15%. We shouldn't preserve this industry for a minority of families.

Maybe the answer is to find ways to get more kids quality summer experiences like sleepaway camp.

I find it depressing that our vision of 1st world life is kids in daycare 5O/weeks per year until work begins, unless work is deferred by college.

Kids need some freedom and some unstructured time! We're doomed if everyone's formative experience is non-stop structured and supervised care. It is not a recipe for a creative and happy society.

And, yes, I get that most of us adults work 24/7, but I should hope that we want something different than fluorescent lights all day, every day for our kids.

[Anonymous]

You have to remember that so much of DCPS is poor kids in urban neighborhoods. They keep summers short so kids stay out of trouble/off the streets and minimize burden on working parents. The DPR summer camps are some of the cheapest I’ve heard of in the US - it’s crazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have to remember that so much of DCPS is poor kids in urban neighborhoods. They keep summers short so kids stay out of trouble/off the streets and minimize burden on working parents. The DPR summer camps are some of the cheapest I’ve heard of in the US - it’s crazy.

Do they automatically stay out of trouble during days off during the school year? Does parents burden go down during other non school days?

Some parts of the country have even longer summers than 10 weeks (teachers come back a week earlier so that is 9 weeks) so 10 weeks isn't crazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, once you get past camp-as-daycare, the market will not adapt for sleepaway and specialty non-local camps, which are what most families are looking from late elementary school onwards. So, yes, I will be able to get my kid a day or a week of quasi-daycare summer camp, but my kid will not be able to do CTY or Interlochen or just the normal YMCA sleepaway camp they've been attending for years if just DC totally changes its schedule.

Classic comedy movies notwithstanding, the population of kids attending sleepaway camps has got to be under 15%. We shouldn't preserve this industry for a minority of families.

Disagree. DC should take into account how the rest of the country operates in setting its school schedule for all sorts of reasons, including summer time enrichment opportunities.

[Anonymous]

If you shorten summer and add in crazy longer breaks during the year you will have very few teachers. The majority of teachers do not live in the District. It is bad enough that our spring break rarely aligns with Virginia or Maryland. If you then make summer shorter and have us working while our kids are off, and then we are off for weeks while our kids are in school, you will have a mass exodus. And yes, I understand that many of you work while your kids are off in the summer, but many of us chose this profession for the work/life balance it allows for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you shorten summer and add in crazy longer breaks during the year you will have very few teachers. The majority of teachers do not live in the District. It is bad enough that our spring break rarely aligns with Virginia or Maryland. If you then make summer shorter and have us working while our kids are off, and then we are off for weeks while our kids are in school, you will have a mass exodus. And yes, I understand that many of you work while your kids are off in the summer, but many of us chose this profession for the work/life balance it allows for.

Speak for yourself some of us would relish a shorter break and could make it work with our kids. My school like many others would also allow me to bring my child to work.

Also not all teachers are parents, I’ve seen so many teachers also say more breaks during the year would support their mental health. So I think a shorter summer would not cause a mass exodus and if it did DCPS will replace you -as they replace many (especially those not in high need positions).

But I do not think it’s on the agenda right now (shorter summers).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you shorten summer and add in crazy longer breaks during the year you will have very few teachers. The majority of teachers do not live in the District. It is bad enough that our spring break rarely aligns with Virginia or Maryland. If you then make summer shorter and have us working while our kids are off, and then we are off for weeks while our kids are in school, you will have a mass exodus. And yes, I understand that many of you work while your kids are off in the summer, but many of us chose this profession for the work/life balance it allows for.

Speak for yourself some of us would relish a shorter break and could make it work with our kids. My school like many others would also allow me to bring my child to work.

Also not all teachers are parents, I’ve seen so many teachers also say more breaks during the year would support their mental health. So I think a shorter summer would not cause a mass exodus and if it did DCPS will replace you -as they replace many (especially those not in high need positions).

But I do not think it’s on the agenda right now (shorter summers).

I’m a teacher and I think the idea that teachers can just bring their kids to work for two extra weeks is
1. Unrealistic
2. Unprofessional

I should not be teaching AP Biology while my first and third grade children color in thr back of the room. You cannot teach effectively that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, once you get past camp-as-daycare, the market will not adapt for sleepaway and specialty non-local camps, which are what most families are looking from late elementary school onwards. So, yes, I will be able to get my kid a day or a week of quasi-daycare summer camp, but my kid will not be able to do CTY or Interlochen or just the normal YMCA sleepaway camp they've been attending for years if just DC totally changes its schedule.

Classic comedy movies notwithstanding, the population of kids attending sleepaway camps has got to be under 15%. We shouldn't preserve this industry for a minority of families.

Disagree. DC should take into account how the rest of the country operates in setting its school schedule for all sorts of reasons, including summer time enrichment opportunities.

This is really important. Dc does operate in a vacuum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shorter summer, longer fall and spring breaks, get rid of the random PD days and replace with a week of PD at the end of the school year.

Learning loss over the summer is real. A month of camp is reasonable (or 2-3 weeks of camp plus a family holiday for those who can do it). 10 weeks off is not and results in boredom, backsliding, and is a major financial hit for families that comes all at once instead of spread out throughout the year. It also creates a planning stress because no camp lasts all summer, many families have to piecemeal the summer together.

Having longer breaks throughout the year combats fatigue and boredom for kids and teachers, getting rid of the lengthy summer break facilitates both teaching and learning.

If one month seems too short for people, then let's try 6 weeks of summer.

But OP wanting to lengthen summer flies in the face of both family practicalities and everything we know about learning and retention.

Who exactly is going to provide camps for 3 weeks in the summer, 2 random weeks during the late winter (esp. when the camp can't be outside), etc.? Nobody will be there for your desired schedule.

Trust me, the market will adapt - it is capitalism after all isn't it? Also, the PP said 6 weeks not 3 of summer.

How is that going to happen?
--------------------------------
A 6 week summer does NOT mean 6 weeks of camp. No high schooler is going to want to be a counselor if camp is EVERY week of the summer. A 6 week summer most likely means 4 weeks of camp. England has this year round schedule with 6 weeks of summer but its climate is apparently a lot different. https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/comments/q9crjn/do_you_think_summer_camps_could_be_successful_in/

Trust me, every one else has figured out a way and we will figure out a way - I'm not going into specifics, because it's not actually happening. However, the market WILL ADAPT. There are so many "school's out" camps already. It won't be HS kids running it, but if parents with $$$ need a solution, the market will adapt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you shorten summer and add in crazy longer breaks during the year you will have very few teachers. The majority of teachers do not live in the District. It is bad enough that our spring break rarely aligns with Virginia or Maryland. If you then make summer shorter and have us working while our kids are off, and then we are off for weeks while our kids are in school, you will have a mass exodus. And yes, I understand that many of you work while your kids are off in the summer, but many of us chose this profession for the work/life balance it allows for.

Speak for yourself some of us would relish a shorter break and could make it work with our kids. My school like many others would also allow me to bring my child to work.

Also not all teachers are parents, I’ve seen so many teachers also say more breaks during the year would support their mental health. So I think a shorter summer would not cause a mass exodus and if it did DCPS will replace you -as they replace many (especially those not in high need positions).

But I do not think it’s on the agenda right now (shorter summers).

I’m a teacher and I think the idea that teachers can just bring their kids to work for two extra weeks is
1. Unrealistic
2. Unprofessional

I should not be teaching AP Biology while my first and third grade children color in thr back of the room. You cannot teach effectively that way.

I mean you could pay for childcare then, sorry you or your school can’t think outside of the box.

Not sure why this got to you, it’s not on the agenda.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you shorten summer and add in crazy longer breaks during the year you will have very few teachers. The majority of teachers do not live in the District. It is bad enough that our spring break rarely aligns with Virginia or Maryland. If you then make summer shorter and have us working while our kids are off, and then we are off for weeks while our kids are in school, you will have a mass exodus. And yes, I understand that many of you work while your kids are off in the summer, but many of us chose this profession for the work/life balance it allows for.

Speak for yourself some of us would relish a shorter break and could make it work with our kids. My school like many others would also allow me to bring my child to work.

Also not all teachers are parents, I’ve seen so many teachers also say more breaks during the year would support their mental health. So I think a shorter summer would not cause a mass exodus and if it did DCPS will replace you -as they replace many (especially those not in high need positions).

But I do not think it’s on the agenda right now (shorter summers).

I’m a teacher and I think the idea that teachers can just bring their kids to work for two extra weeks is
1. Unrealistic
2. Unprofessional

I should not be teaching AP Biology while my first and third grade children color in thr back of the room. You cannot teach effectively that way.

I mean you could pay for childcare then, sorry you or your school can’t think outside of the box.

Not sure why this got to you, it’s not on the agenda.

It got to me because teachers already get called unprofessional all the time. We don’t get much respect, bringing our kids to school would not help us get more respect.

[Anonymous]

Other countries have shorter summer breaks but they have more real breaks throughout the year. Somewhere like England, for example, they get about 6 weeks for summer break but they get a lot of one or two week breaks throughout the school year. DCPS can’t even give kids a full week for Thanksgiving. Good luck if you have out of state family to visit. That’s an unauthorized absence for you.

The constant PD days plus the use of schools for voting really needs to be reassessed.

[Anonymous]

DC tried extended school year didn’t they? Or was it just extended day? I know Montgomery County just ended an innovative year calendar for next year. I suspect the cost-benefit for academics isn’t there and probably low attendance. You’re always going to have families with means say we are going on summer vacation/camp and pull their kids. Unless the whole region changes at the same time I don’t think DC will change. Maryland also recently tried to require schools to start after Labor Day as an economic boost to beach areas. Not sure how that went down but I remember it being a thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC tried extended school year didn’t they? Or was it just extended day? I know Montgomery County just ended an innovative year calendar for next year. I suspect the cost-benefit for academics isn’t there and probably low attendance. You’re always going to have families with means say we are going on summer vacation/camp and pull their kids. Unless the whole region changes at the same time I don’t think DC will change. Maryland also recently tried to require schools to start after Labor Day as an economic boost to beach areas. Not sure how that went down but I remember it being a thing.

It was extended school year and that failed because of numerous reasons -if all DCPS schools were operating on a 6 week summer break instead I am sure the results would be different.