Is the 22-23 Calendar designed to be an f-u to parents?

[Anonymous]

I was just looking at the 2022-2023 FCPS calendar, and there is an asterisk next to some of the holidays (i.e., Diwali), which says "Dates will continue to be recognized as student holidays through the 2024-2025 school year". Is that correct? We have to deal with this crap-tastic calendar for 3 full school years? Why is that?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Why the f are Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur and Diwali holidays now?

...Why are Christmas and Easter 2 weeks and 1 week long, respectively?

Because that is the majority in the country.

You don't need a week to celebrate Easter (maybe a long weekend if you want to include Good Friday) and the entire week before Christmas.

Yes you do. If you celebrated those holidays you would understand. There is a lot of preparation for Christmas and Christmas Eve that takes place the whole month. There are gingerbread houses to be made, cookies, shopping, presents to be wrapped, decorating the house and tree. Going to see lights. It’s the whole month of December. We don’t just roll up to the actual day of the holiday and say Merry Christmas and hope everything comes together. Having that week off is essential.kids there may be traveling.

Oh, please. Gingerbread houses and going to see the lights are wants, not needs. Do them on the weekends or after school/work. Or, you know, just stop whining about school being closed for OTHER religions’ holidays.

Nope. There’s too much homework assigned during the week and our kids never get a break during the week. It’s too much to do on a weekend to prepare. We need the whole week. Other holidays are not as big as Christmas and don’t need much time.

Nope. You don’t “need” any of that. You want it. Too bad.

Or, you know, you can just stop whining about being off for other religions’ holidays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I swear, some of y’all just sit around looking for things to be pissed about. School is school. It’s designed to work for students, teachers, support staff. and admin. It isn’t your personal daycare center. It isn’t your personal babysitting service. You knew this when you decided to have children. And you made a choice. The state is not responsible for your children. You are. So do what the rest of us do. Figure it out.

This.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I swear, some of y’all just sit around looking for things to be pissed about. School is school. It’s designed to work for students, teachers, support staff. and admin. It isn’t your personal daycare center. It isn’t your personal babysitting service. You knew this when you decided to have children. And you made a choice. The state is not responsible for your children. You are. So do what the rest of us do. Figure it out.

+1, the goal has never been to please parents or work around their schedule - never has been and never will be.

I'll fix this for you:

+1, the goal has never been to do what works best for students - never has been and never will be

Nope. It was correct the first time. No “fixing” required.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To OP: Unless you are somehow procreating with the SB and it's county-wide calendar surveys, the 22-23 calendar has nothing to do with your parenthood. Honestly. You have kids...you figure it out. We all do, independently of public school calendar decisions. There are more days during the year than not that YOU will have to determine how to keep your kids safe and (maybe?) productively engaged. Your post is ridiculous.

*thunderous applause*

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Starting on 8/22 and ending on 6/16? Random days off? How the heck are working parents supposed to earn a living? Is this just a product of woke upper class parents? When did the public comment period on this calendar even happen????

It's horrible. And I expect we'll miss a lot of days the last week. I'm not keeping my kid in school until mid-June.

There should be no religious days at all, none. It's a public school. And don't talk about Christmas. Winter break between Xmas and NY is always going to happen for logistics, practical reasons having nothing to do with the holiday. But, IF they are going to add the days, then they need to shave them off somewhere else.

Oh, how convenient. “And don’t talk about my holiday — just take away everyone else’s.”

Now, since it’s an anonymous message board, predictably lie here and say “whatever, we don’t even celebrate Christmas! Gotcha” so we can all laugh at you.

We'll wait while you find Christmas as a specific holiday on the school calendar. Hint: It isn't there.

Then I’m sure you’ll be just fine with a future calendar where your kids are required to attend school and take tests on December 25th. Sounds good.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:For all the parents saying screw this, I did. I had a kid at TJ who had to be back for summer classes, then sport and a kid at the base school with a similar situation. And one week for vacation. And I decided we were doing a big family trip to Europe before my older kid graduated. So, I talked to their counselors and explained we needed some family time, and the APs signed off and the kids knew months in advance and scheduled final papers, projects and exams early. And there were no issues and no teachers griped— across 2 different HS.

The next summer was COVID. I am so thankful we travelled when did. It was an amazing trip, and as it turned out, most teachers wrapped up before finals week and getting out early didn’t mean my kids were working 20 hours a day. It did not affect grades. Certainly didn’t affect admissions.

If your kid is in ES or MS, do it. COVID should have taught us to seize chances when they come. And for HS, it can be done. Just talk to the counselor or AP in advance and hold the line of needing family time. They cancel so much school and don’t teach on so many O Days. I don’t want to hear that my kids will be academically harmed by a week in Europe and not school.

What? We’re wondering how we can get kids in school so we can work and your response is ‘go to Europe’? This highlights exactly how out of touch both this area and school board really are. Wow

LOL! Let them eat cake.

The person posting was simply making the point that you should try not to let FCPS and their operations rule your life. If there’s something you want to do and you can do try not to let the school schedule hinder you. For her it’s a family vacation to Europe, for me it might be a road trip to Ohio for a big family wedding.

The world can change in an instant and some opportunities and events are worth missing school.

DCUM posters are the most TONE DEAF women and men in America. Dear ladies and gentlemen of the UMC to uber rich/family money/too wealthy to fail crowd, THE REST OF US HAVE TO WORK FOR A LIVING!! We have day jobs. 9-5, M-F, as it were. What in the name of good god do you not understand about that? What, never had to work in your lives? Oh, I get it now. I operate a business that I cannot leave. Many of us in this country depend on schools for the education of our children where they should be for most of the day during the school year.

And to all those folks that say "you shouldn't depend on schools to take care of your children", please. Sit the F down. Compulsory schooling laws have been in place in this country for nearly 200 years. 200 YEARS! Parents and families have had a reasonable reliance on public schools for two centuries for the care of children during the better part of the day. It has also been mandated by law that we send our kids off during the day. As such, the cultural normals and societal expectation during this time has been that children are in school during the day. It has been that way for generations so that parents have a) been able to work; and b) created a cultural routine around that reasonable (nay, obligatory) reliance. It is UNREASONABLE for schools to be closing during that compulsory schooling period at excessive intervals where parents have FT jobs and work obligations and cannot find one-off back up care.

The school board closures for holidays are mere virtue signaling. It does nothing to bring children back from the pandemic, create an more reliable routine, or put education first. Virginia families sent a strong message in November as to what their priorities were and school board did not listen. Now I did not vote Youngkin this year, but I am 100% not re-electing this school board next year. They did not get the message and I think most parents will remember.

It’s compulsory “schooling,” not “compulsory childcare on the schedule I demand.” There are a required number of days, which are being met.

You “sit the F down.”

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Most of the parents who are upset have young kids who need someone to watch them and the ones who are happy with the calendar have older kids who can fend for themselves and need the break. Here is the good news, your young kids will grow up and you will welcome this gift of breaks.

This sounds like it is coming from someone who is a SAHM or works from home.

Here's a little secret: MS and HS kids also need to be in school.

And they are. For 180 days.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Do you think summer break is too long? I think it’s actually too short! I prefer the mid June end and starting after Labor Day.

Agree. It is far too short. It is ridiculous that school gets out so late. It is the same number of days just stretched out. Seems easier to have a routine over a longer summer period. Actually I’d prefer a trimester system with longer in between breaks than the usual death by a thousand cuts approach.

I would love a trimester system! Or the standard year-round timeline: 9 weeks in school, 3 weeks off, with a 5 week "summer" break between grade levels. (But since we can't even switch to the metric system in the US, this is just a dream.)

Some schools in the Raleigh metro area are like this .. 9 weeks in school, 3 weeks off year round + 2 weeks off winter break and 5 weeks summer vacation. It was great. There are several “track out camps” options for the 3 weeks breaks. So no problem for working parents. Kids went back to school refreshed after those breaks. Also, the short summer vacation meant the summer slide was lesser. Most importantly, families could go to popular vacation spots during the non-peak times because of those 3 weeks breaks.

So disrupt the whole school calendar (change to year round school) so families can travel easier? Ok….

I don't know about "most important," but sure, thats a good reason. The school is here to serve us, not the other way around.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:There never will be happy parents in FCPS. I, for one, am happy that for once my family's holidays (Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur) are recognized and that at least my youngest child won't have to endure tests and quizzes on the Holy Days. This year, despite that BS thing called "Religious Observance", my middle child had to take THREE tests on Yom Kippur. No one gave a shit that it was a religious holiday. And dear me, we will have 9 weeks of summer break and not 10. Are you people filthy rich? Aren't you tired of paying for summer care week after week.

No one cared because there was no secular reason for Yom Kippur to be a day off at school. Religion is completely optional and has no place in public schools. If you want your child to take off religious holidays without disruption then go to one of the many private religious schools out there.

+100% YES

+1. Agreed. If you want to take off a religious holiday, take your kids out of school. The rest of us do not have to miss school or claim holidays for the myriad of religious or cultural holidays that people want off. Secular schools please!!

Lmao chill we’re not dropping Christmas nor spring break. We’re adding Diwali and other stuff so chill xD

Quit bringing up Christmas. They will always have that off. Always. It's part of winter break and too many people celebrate SOME aspect of it. It's just different, even if it's unfair. Spring break and Easter have been decoupled (a good move). The rest should be no part of the calendar in any way.

Yep. No other religions should be part of the school calendar.

How conveeeeenient for you. Luckily, that’s not going to happen.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:There never will be happy parents in FCPS. I, for one, am happy that for once my family's holidays (Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur) are recognized and that at least my youngest child won't have to endure tests and quizzes on the Holy Days. This year, despite that BS thing called "Religious Observance", my middle child had to take THREE tests on Yom Kippur. No one gave a shit that it was a religious holiday. And dear me, we will have 9 weeks of summer break and not 10. Are you people filthy rich? Aren't you tired of paying for summer care week after week.

No one cared because there was no secular reason for Yom Kippur to be a day off at school. Religion is completely optional and has no place in public schools. If you want your child to take off religious holidays without disruption then go to one of the many private religious schools out there.

+100% YES

+1. Agreed. If you want to take off a religious holiday, take your kids out of school. The rest of us do not have to miss school or claim holidays for the myriad of religious or cultural holidays that people want off. Secular schools please!!

Lmao chill we’re not dropping Christmas nor spring break. We’re adding Diwali and other stuff so chill xD

Quit bringing up Christmas. They will always have that off. Always. It's part of winter break and too many people celebrate SOME aspect of it. It's just different, even if it's unfair. Spring break and Easter have been decoupled (a good move). The rest should be no part of the calendar in any way.

Nah, I bring it up because it’s the most important break of the year. So important that Muslims, Hindus and other religion followers even take advantage of it and love being off during that time. I don’t see anyone going so thrilled about you kippur or Diwali or something else. So nah, I will keep bringing up CHRISTMAS. and GOD BLESS YOU AND AMERICA

Oh, you’re dumb. Sorry. Didn’t realize.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:There never will be happy parents in FCPS. I, for one, am happy that for once my family's holidays (Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur) are recognized and that at least my youngest child won't have to endure tests and quizzes on the Holy Days. This year, despite that BS thing called "Religious Observance", my middle child had to take THREE tests on Yom Kippur. No one gave a shit that it was a religious holiday. And dear me, we will have 9 weeks of summer break and not 10. Are you people filthy rich? Aren't you tired of paying for summer care week after week.

No one cared because there was no secular reason for Yom Kippur to be a day off at school. Religion is completely optional and has no place in public schools. If you want your child to take off religious holidays without disruption then go to one of the many private religious schools out there.

+100% YES

+1. Agreed. If you want to take off a religious holiday, take your kids out of school. The rest of us do not have to miss school or claim holidays for the myriad of religious or cultural holidays that people want off. Secular schools please!!

YES - I have no desire to take two weeks off in December. PLEASE just take your kids out of school for Christmas and let us have normal school those weeks. So sick of Christians thinking they own this country. Christmas should also NOT be a federal holiday. It's total BS.

Lmao good thing dreaming is free of charge.

I don’t recall the folk who made the treacherous and Brave trip across the ocean observing yomkippur. We do not own the country. But we founded it. You should’ve come before. Oh well, time for you to sit down and keep crying

Wow. You actually are a moron. Fascinating.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I thought routine was supposed to be good for kids? I'd love to have the teachers weigh in on this. Especially at the elementary school level, doesn't a regular schedule make classroom management and routines easier?

My main problem with this calendar is that it's so choppy. But if the dedicated teachers think that is easier for teaching, then I'm happy to defer to their experience. My sense is that teachers weren't consulted on this calendar any more than parents were.

Teacher here. While I am happy to have these new holidays off, they should have moved some of the TWD to make less choppy weeks. There were a few things they could have done to add more full weeks without getting rid of the new holidays. I sent my suggestions to SB and obviously they did not listen.

Or, maybe they did listen... AND listened to many other voices and considered many other factors in addition to yours that you may not be aware of or considering. Not adopting your suggestions =/= Not listening to and considering them.

Or maybe they don't listen to anybody other than their hand picked committee of stooges.

Maybe, the calendar reflects almost all of what the majority of people voted for.

I don't recall being asked to vote for taking Yom Kippur off (or any other religious holiday). Put kids in school.

No.

[Anonymous]

“ Then I’m sure you’ll be just fine with a future calendar where your kids are required to attend school and take tests on December 25th. Sounds good.”

🙄
No one is required to go to school on their major holiday. Kids are able to skip and make it up.
That said all of us saying “good luck with trying to hold school over Xmas!” Would have zero intention of sending our kids that day. It’s impossible to see how school would be staffed since most people would quit rather than be forced to work on Xmas but if they somehow found a way…so be it but my kid would just not show up.

That is what should be done in other cases too. Your family SHOULD have your kid stay home on important holidays and your kid SHOULD be able to make up tests or work missed that day(s). Literally no one thinks otherwise. We just do not think we all need to be off that day that only a handful of kids need to miss school for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was just looking at the 2022-2023 FCPS calendar, and there is an asterisk next to some of the holidays (i.e., Diwali), which says "Dates will continue to be recognized as student holidays through the 2024-2025 school year". Is that correct? We have to deal with this crap-tastic calendar for 3 full school years? Why is that?

Take a chill pill. Some of those holidays will fall on a weekend in 2023-2024