Proposed APS Calendar Policy

[Anonymous]

We are going back to 180-181 days which is what we always had pre-Covid. There has been a big push for this by the county and parents - extending hours don't really do anything except make it legal for the state. IN order to do this with the added holidays and 2 weeks winter break, we need to start earlier. We are also following FCPS which makes complete sense to me since so many teachers do not live in Arlington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With a kid taking AP tests next week competing for 5s with kids who had 2-3 more weeks on instruction, I understand the benefit of starting earlier. HOWEVER, we need to get out earlier, too. It’s infuriating that they keep shrinking summer.

+1. Why do we do this to our kids? I'm amazed more parents don't care about this. My guess is they have 2nd graders now and don't get it yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With a kid taking AP tests next week competing for 5s with kids who had 2-3 more weeks on instruction, I understand the benefit of starting earlier. HOWEVER, we need to get out earlier, too. It’s infuriating that they keep shrinking summer.

AP students represent a fraction of the student population, so I don’t think it makes sense to dictate the schedule according to their needs.

Plus, our start date moves up, but then they throw in an extra week of Christmas break and a bunch of teacher workdays, so by the time May rolls around they haven’t actually gotten any more instruction.

There’s not a fixed number of 5s to be awarded, so your kid isn’t competing.

And there’s nothing stopping your kid from picking up a prep book two (or even three!) weeks before school starts.

Tell me how starting 2 weeks earlier hurts your kid? or any kid?

I am just hearing a lot of whining about I don't waaaaant to start 2 weeks earlier!

But no real reasons not to.

[Anonymous]

In my experience, APS doesn't teach anything in June, so we may as well end in May if we are starting mid-August. But my kid is a senior, so I can no longer get myself to care deeply about this stuff. Basically, though, they will not be learning anything as far as I can tell from here on out. Exams next week, then teachers are literally just filling time until the end of the year, which is a complete waste.

In contrast, my kid in Catholic school has exams literally on the last day of school, so will be learning right up until the end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In my experience, APS doesn't teach anything in June, so we may as well end in May if we are starting mid-August. But my kid is a senior, so I can no longer get myself to care deeply about this stuff. Basically, though, they will not be learning anything as far as I can tell from here on out. Exams next week, then teachers are literally just filling time until the end of the year, which is a complete waste.

In contrast, my kid in Catholic school has exams literally on the last day of school, so will be learning right up until the end.

I take it you don't know any HS teachers in your actual bubble life. They work hard, all year. And yes, they will still be teaching post-AP exams! Now if you've made it known to your student that nothing matters after their AP exam, they will most likely slack off and make sure everyone knows it. Learning isn't all about being tested on it. So yes, kids will still be able to learn plenty, if they show up willing and ready. Which I assume wont' be the case for your kid with this type of family attitude.

Talk to a HS teacher in real life and ask them what they think of the time post-AP exams. Most of them will tell you they are still teaching, but struggle to keep the kids engaged because their parents have told them class doesn't matter anymore.

[Anonymous]

Hey, before you make assumptions, this is what my senior told me. Not what I told my senior! Kid also said one of her teachers is doing nothing the rest of the year but grading AP exams and the class won't even be meeting anymore. Kid also said, and I quote, "we've covered the whole curriculum, so we won't be learning anything new." However this is a pattern that has existed since elementary school, in the whole "after the SOLs" time which was largely wasted from an academic perspective. And I did not blame the teachers. My parents, grandparents, etc. are all teachers. But the current APS calendar includes a lot of wasted time, and that's fact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With a kid taking AP tests next week competing for 5s with kids who had 2-3 more weeks on instruction, I understand the benefit of starting earlier. HOWEVER, we need to get out earlier, too. It’s infuriating that they keep shrinking summer.

AP students represent a fraction of the student population, so I don’t think it makes sense to dictate the schedule according to their needs.

Plus, our start date moves up, but then they throw in an extra week of Christmas break and a bunch of teacher workdays, so by the time May rolls around they haven’t actually gotten any more instruction.

There’s not a fixed number of 5s to be awarded, so your kid isn’t competing.

And there’s nothing stopping your kid from picking up a prep book two (or even three!) weeks before school starts.

You are wrong. The teacher and AP tutor both confirmed that there can only be so many 5s and it is curved if too many get a score that translates to a 5.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With a kid taking AP tests next week competing for 5s with kids who had 2-3 more weeks on instruction, I understand the benefit of starting earlier. HOWEVER, we need to get out earlier, too. It’s infuriating that they keep shrinking summer.

+1. Why do we do this to our kids? I'm amazed more parents don't care about this. My guess is they have 2nd graders now and don't get it yet.

The comment above that not a lot of kids take APs shows that there are lots of ES parents. AP classes start in 9th or 10th depending upon your HS. By 11th and 12th grade, it’s not uncommon for students to be taking 3-6 APs a year. It impacts a lot of kids.

[Anonymous]

And even for kids not taking APs, APS does the SOLs in May, so it's the same issue. Nothing new to learn after the test is over.

[Anonymous]

Curious what teachers think is the best for the students as far as a schedule goes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With a kid taking AP tests next week competing for 5s with kids who had 2-3 more weeks on instruction, I understand the benefit of starting earlier. HOWEVER, we need to get out earlier, too. It’s infuriating that they keep shrinking summer.

AP students represent a fraction of the student population, so I don’t think it makes sense to dictate the schedule according to their needs.

Plus, our start date moves up, but then they throw in an extra week of Christmas break and a bunch of teacher workdays, so by the time May rolls around they haven’t actually gotten any more instruction.

There’s not a fixed number of 5s to be awarded, so your kid isn’t competing.

And there’s nothing stopping your kid from picking up a prep book two (or even three!) weeks before school starts.

You are wrong. The teacher and AP tutor both confirmed that there can only be so many 5s and it is curved if too many get a score that translates to a 5.

Well then neither the teacher or the tutor must do AP stats, because they don't know the difference between norming a test and curving the test. AP tests are normed, or "pre-curved". That means they are given to actual college students and then graded in a way that makes them consistent with previous years and determines which raw scores translate to cutoffs for the 1-5 system. Once your student sits down to take the test, however, nothing that happens on anyone else's test will impact your student's score. Their raw score gets translated to the 1-5 grade based on the previous modeling. There's no situation where too many kids taking the test the same day get top scores, and as a result, your student gets locked out of getting a 5.

[Anonymous]

I don’t mind the calendar since the breaks seem good for my kids. What I wish existed was an optional Extended Day camp for full days off. I would gladly pay 1 fee for coverage of all single day holidays. There could be a hybrid option for holidays and early release days.

I bet parents would pay for that even if it was at a central location for each section of Arlington. Like using ATS for ATS, Ashlawn, Tuckahoe, and Cardinal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t mind the calendar since the breaks seem good for my kids. What I wish existed was an optional Extended Day camp for full days off. I would gladly pay 1 fee for coverage of all single day holidays. There could be a hybrid option for holidays and early release days.

I bet parents would pay for that even if it was at a central location for each section of Arlington. Like using ATS for ATS, Ashlawn, Tuckahoe, and Cardinal.

That would be amazing if there was an option for extended day over the breaks. I know lots of folks that would pay for that setup.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With a kid taking AP tests next week competing for 5s with kids who had 2-3 more weeks on instruction, I understand the benefit of starting earlier. HOWEVER, we need to get out earlier, too. It’s infuriating that they keep shrinking summer.

AP students represent a fraction of the student population, so I don’t think it makes sense to dictate the schedule according to their needs.

Plus, our start date moves up, but then they throw in an extra week of Christmas break and a bunch of teacher workdays, so by the time May rolls around they haven’t actually gotten any more instruction.

There’s not a fixed number of 5s to be awarded, so your kid isn’t competing.

And there’s nothing stopping your kid from picking up a prep book two (or even three!) weeks before school starts.

Tell me how starting 2 weeks earlier hurts your kid? or any kid?

I am just hearing a lot of whining about I don't waaaaant to start 2 weeks earlier!

But no real reasons not to.

So far, you've said that starting two weeks earlier makes a difference for APs because the tests are all given in May. But in Arlington, the rest of the calendar is so packed with non-school days that the amount of actual instruction before the test hasn't changed. So unless you're advocating for streamlining Christmas break, eliminating teacher work days, eliminating certain holidays (or combining them with teacher work days), you're not actually doing anything to meet your stated goal of giving AP students a leg up.

So rather than putting it on everyone else to explain how a certain calendar "hurts" their kid, maybe you should start with making a coherent case for why your preferences would help your kid (or better yet, help the system in general...)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With a kid taking AP tests next week competing for 5s with kids who had 2-3 more weeks on instruction, I understand the benefit of starting earlier. HOWEVER, we need to get out earlier, too. It’s infuriating that they keep shrinking summer.

AP students represent a fraction of the student population, so I don’t think it makes sense to dictate the schedule according to their needs.

Plus, our start date moves up, but then they throw in an extra week of Christmas break and a bunch of teacher workdays, so by the time May rolls around they haven’t actually gotten any more instruction.

There’s not a fixed number of 5s to be awarded, so your kid isn’t competing.

And there’s nothing stopping your kid from picking up a prep book two (or even three!) weeks before school starts.

Tell me how starting 2 weeks earlier hurts your kid? or any kid?

I am just hearing a lot of whining about I don't waaaaant to start 2 weeks earlier!

For younger kids - it cuts into the time we have for special interest camps and vacation. We don’t go on vacation until after summer swim ends the 3rd week of July.
For older kids - it cuts into time to actually relax and rest before they start conditioning for fall sports.
For low income kids - it cuts into time for full-time jobs and earning money.
For teachers - it cuts into time many use to relax before beginning prep for the following year. Unlike most working adults, teachers can’t take vacation whenever they want.
For schools - shorter summer cuts into the time needed to maintain and update school buildings, repair busses, etc.

But no real reasons not to.