DCPS asks parents to "create your own calendar proposal" for SY 26-29

[Anonymous]

I hate the February break. I am happy it's gone and I hope they don't bring it back. No other school systems in the area have it, public or private. We can't travel for both February and Spring breaks (and we prefer to travel for spring) and my kids are young so that means if there is a February break, they have to go to some kind of camp for at least a few days in a row. That sucks for them, they don't like that in the middle of February.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The tough nut to crack for DCPS is that they have to pencil in 180 days. And that's really hard to do with school closing every year for a General Election or Primary Day + Emancipation Day + 10 PD days for teachers. Pretty impossible to get these kids out before June 15 with those constraints.

There's also the fact that DCPS has a large underserved population who benefit from short summers and longer school years to minimize learning losses and to keep these kids off the street. DCPS has to balance their needs.

I’m the PP who suggested mid-August start and dismissal by June 15. The one consistent thing about DCPS calendars over our 15 years in the system has been nine weeks of summer. School used to follow the two-weeks-before Labor Day start and was always out by mid-June. The shift to late June came with the one-week-before-Labor Day start initiated by Ferebee (although a few calendars in earlier years had this, as well, seemingly tied to the date of Labor Day). The widespread distaste for late-June dismissal seems to have led them to get rid of Feb break in the current calendars. Returning to two weeks before Labor Day would allow them to reintroduce Feb break and still have kids out in June. Pretty simple!

If you setup the calendar so that the kids do two full weeks of school before Labor Day, you can get out by June 15 in basically every scenario and still hit 180 days. And this helps resolve the summer child care issues.

And if you bring back the full Presidents Day week, then the Spring Break tied to Emancipation Day doesn't feel so bad. You still need to do at least one long weekend between Presidents week and Spring Break in order to do record keeping/PD day + the 2nd PTC.

How does that resolve summer child care issues? More aligned with other school districts and thus camp schedules? Or something else?

Yes, camps tend to start in mid-June because so many other school systems are out by then. And camps get very spotty by mid-August (presumably because teachers/college students/HS students who serve as counselors have to return to work). It doesn’t solve all issues, obviously, but it definitely helps.

[Anonymous]

I still love the idea of nearly year-round school, though America appears to not love it at all. I have a year-round job, learning loss is real, and my kids don't need to bring in the harvest. But hey, inertia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hate the February break. I am happy it's gone and I hope they don't bring it back. No other school systems in the area have it, public or private. We can't travel for both February and Spring breaks (and we prefer to travel for spring) and my kids are young so that means if there is a February break, they have to go to some kind of camp for at least a few days in a row. That sucks for them, they don't like that in the middle of February.

I'd much rather have a February break (i.e., a full week break) than a calendar dotted with random days off. The kids need care on all those days regardless of if they are in a row or not, and in a row is a lot logistically easier (and would allow those who can/want to to travel).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate the February break. I am happy it's gone and I hope they don't bring it back. No other school systems in the area have it, public or private. We can't travel for both February and Spring breaks (and we prefer to travel for spring) and my kids are young so that means if there is a February break, they have to go to some kind of camp for at least a few days in a row. That sucks for them, they don't like that in the middle of February.

I'd much rather have a February break (i.e., a full week break) than a calendar dotted with random days off. The kids need care on all those days regardless of if they are in a row or not, and in a row is a lot logistically easier (and would allow those who can/want to to travel).

My kids don't mind popping into HoopEd or whatever a day here and there, so I prefer the random days off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I still love the idea of nearly year-round school, though America appears to not love it at all. I have a year-round job, learning loss is real, and my kids don't need to bring in the harvest. But hey, inertia.

OP of this thread:
I would absolutely LOVE year-round school for our kid in DCPS. He has an IEP and does a lot better during the school year with a regular schedule. He definitely regresses during the summer, both academically and behaviorally.

But yeah, not really many options at all - even if you want to pay for private - year round schooling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate the February break. I am happy it's gone and I hope they don't bring it back. No other school systems in the area have it, public or private. We can't travel for both February and Spring breaks (and we prefer to travel for spring) and my kids are young so that means if there is a February break, they have to go to some kind of camp for at least a few days in a row. That sucks for them, they don't like that in the middle of February.

I'd much rather have a February break (i.e., a full week break) than a calendar dotted with random days off. The kids need care on all those days regardless of if they are in a row or not, and in a row is a lot logistically easier (and would allow those who can/want to to travel).

My kids don't mind popping into HoopEd or whatever a day here and there, so I prefer the random days off.

You're more organized than I am! I am often caught unawares by the random days and am scrambling to find something at the last minute (and have had the rare occasion where I don't remember/realize until the morning of, and am forced to improvise for the day).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do they continuously make things so difficult? They could have made it a simple survey, do you want 1/1/26 off, yes or no. Do you want 1/2/26 off, yes or no, etc etc.

LOL, yes, so simple to just put every single day up for a vote and then put a calendar together based on the results. What could go wrong.

THANK YOU for putting this person in their place (not that they'll see it). PP made fun of one ridiculous setup by proposing an even more ridiculous setup. LOL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are going to design their own calendar. They are not going to use any of the submitted calendars. This is purely to get feedback from parents and in particular to solicit feedback from the people how hate every calendar.

They'll wind up putting a calendar together the way they do every time. And then people will complain about it endlessly. But at least then they'll be able to say "you had a chance to submit a calendar of your own -- you either didn't do so or the calander you submitted couldn't get consensus support."

Central office has a ton of problems but as someone who has worked in city/state government and dealt with the people who complain about stuff that is always, by necessity, a compromise, I kind of respect this. Everyone thinks they can design a better calendar. Okay then -- do it. I bet you can't.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hate the February break. I am happy it's gone and I hope they don't bring it back. No other school systems in the area have it, public or private. We can't travel for both February and Spring breaks (and we prefer to travel for spring) and my kids are young so that means if there is a February break, they have to go to some kind of camp for at least a few days in a row. That sucks for them, they don't like that in the middle of February.

So you'd rather tack on ANOTHER week to the already too long and miserable and expensive summer?

I understand not being able to afford to travel for both breaks, but my summer is starting to cost up to 10K for both kids in camps for 11 weeks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate the February break. I am happy it's gone and I hope they don't bring it back. No other school systems in the area have it, public or private. We can't travel for both February and Spring breaks (and we prefer to travel for spring) and my kids are young so that means if there is a February break, they have to go to some kind of camp for at least a few days in a row. That sucks for them, they don't like that in the middle of February.

So you'd rather tack on ANOTHER week to the already too long and miserable and expensive summer?

I understand not being able to afford to travel for both breaks, but my summer is starting to cost up to 10K for both kids in camps for 11 weeks!

Why do you have kids in camp for 11 weeks when DCPS summer is only 9 weeks?

I do like that DCPS summers are shorter, because from a childcare standpoint it's more affordable and also just fewer weeks I have to come up with something.

I do like the idea of the summer lining up better with the rest of the region, because I agree that the last two weeks before DCPS starts are always the hardest for which to find camp or other childcare. A lot of camps in the area (even in DC itself) only go through the first week of August. I don't know why they moved back the first day of school to the last week of August -- maybe because it's super hot in those weeks and teachers and parents at schools with crappy AC complained (which I totally get, but that's an argument to fix the AC, not shift the calendar).

I am one of the families who resents two spring breaks because I find it much harder to figure out how to handle two full weeks of no school than the odd day off or long weekend here and there. I sense the only people who really love the two breaks are people who have the means to travel for both (so both more $$ and also enough flexibility to take off both weeks from work). That's not most families, so I personally think that's a failed experiment. We did way better this year with the long weekend in February and then the random days in March and April. Many schools and activities offer one-day camps for those days and it's also way easier for my husband or I to take a day or half day of leave for some random day in March than to arrange for a full week in the middle of February, right after figuring out winter break as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate the February break. I am happy it's gone and I hope they don't bring it back. No other school systems in the area have it, public or private. We can't travel for both February and Spring breaks (and we prefer to travel for spring) and my kids are young so that means if there is a February break, they have to go to some kind of camp for at least a few days in a row. That sucks for them, they don't like that in the middle of February.

So you'd rather tack on ANOTHER week to the already too long and miserable and expensive summer?

I understand not being able to afford to travel for both breaks, but my summer is starting to cost up to 10K for both kids in camps for 11 weeks!

Why do you have kids in camp for 11 weeks when DCPS summer is only 9 weeks?

I do like that DCPS summers are shorter, because from a childcare standpoint it's more affordable and also just fewer weeks I have to come up with something.

I do like the idea of the summer lining up better with the rest of the region, because I agree that the last two weeks before DCPS starts are always the hardest for which to find camp or other childcare. A lot of camps in the area (even in DC itself) only go through the first week of August. I don't know why they moved back the first day of school to the last week of August -- maybe because it's super hot in those weeks and teachers and parents at schools with crappy AC complained (which I totally get, but that's an argument to fix the AC, not shift the calendar).

I am one of the families who resents two spring breaks because I find it much harder to figure out how to handle two full weeks of no school than the odd day off or long weekend here and there. I sense the only people who really love the two breaks are people who have the means to travel for both (so both more $$ and also enough flexibility to take off both weeks from work). That's not most families, so I personally think that's a failed experiment. We did way better this year with the long weekend in February and then the random days in March and April. Many schools and activities offer one-day camps for those days and it's also way easier for my husband or I to take a day or half day of leave for some random day in March than to arrange for a full week in the middle of February, right after figuring out winter break as well.

I don’t get this at all. All the day off camps I use also offer weeklong camps during weeklong school breaks. Maybe signing up for a bunch of different one day camps is not really any harder than signing up for a single weeklong camp, but I don’t see any possible way it could be *easier*.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate the February break. I am happy it's gone and I hope they don't bring it back. No other school systems in the area have it, public or private. We can't travel for both February and Spring breaks (and we prefer to travel for spring) and my kids are young so that means if there is a February break, they have to go to some kind of camp for at least a few days in a row. That sucks for them, they don't like that in the middle of February.

So you'd rather tack on ANOTHER week to the already too long and miserable and expensive summer?

I understand not being able to afford to travel for both breaks, but my summer is starting to cost up to 10K for both kids in camps for 11 weeks!

Why do you have kids in camp for 11 weeks when DCPS summer is only 9 weeks?

I do like that DCPS summers are shorter, because from a childcare standpoint it's more affordable and also just fewer weeks I have to come up with something.

I do like the idea of the summer lining up better with the rest of the region, because I agree that the last two weeks before DCPS starts are always the hardest for which to find camp or other childcare. A lot of camps in the area (even in DC itself) only go through the first week of August. I don't know why they moved back the first day of school to the last week of August -- maybe because it's super hot in those weeks and teachers and parents at schools with crappy AC complained (which I totally get, but that's an argument to fix the AC, not shift the calendar).

I am one of the families who resents two spring breaks because I find it much harder to figure out how to handle two full weeks of no school than the odd day off or long weekend here and there. I sense the only people who really love the two breaks are people who have the means to travel for both (so both more $$ and also enough flexibility to take off both weeks from work). That's not most families, so I personally think that's a failed experiment. We did way better this year with the long weekend in February and then the random days in March and April. Many schools and activities offer one-day camps for those days and it's also way easier for my husband or I to take a day or half day of leave for some random day in March than to arrange for a full week in the middle of February, right after figuring out winter break as well.

This might very well be true, but I think it also skews toward people with older (MS/HS) kids who don’t need care and often really appreciate the breaks because of increased workload/stress. I have HS kids, and they really missed the Feb break this year.

[Anonymous]

Why not have spring break in March like most of the other local schools. Then you don't need a February break. Or what feels like an endless winter to get to a mid-April break. I heard they always tie spring break to Emancipation Day, but why not just offer Emancipation Day as a one-off No School Day?

[Anonymous]

I will say that this year our spring break cost was reduced significantly by how late it was and places aren't as crowded. I didn't like how late it was but there was that benefit at least.