Why do the last weeks of school suck so badly?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Because the schools need to count these days as "attendance" to meet their attendance metrics.

Right. But that’s arbitrary and stupid if learning has ended.

Add it to the list of things that are arbitrary and stupid about public school.

+1. But since we don’t all have private school money, here we are.

I agree, but a question out of curiosity (and to get a sense on whether my kid is getting an inferior education or just having to put up with some administrative nonsense a private school kid wouldn't):

Are private schools offering several weeks more of actual instruction and enrichment, or do they just have shorter school years and the kids spend that time jetting off on vacations with their wealthy, private-school-tuition-affording parents?

Most private schools have a much shorter school year, at least the ones where my friends/relatives' kids go. My sister's kids are done before Memorial Day and only started a couple of days before my kids. So our school year is about 3 weeks longer. And our school day is longer too.

Private school parent here. Yes our school year is shorter, but we don’t take off for all Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Chinese, Jewish holiday so the kids have less days off during the year. And less ‘video watching’ days at the end of the year compared to their public school that we left.

The amount of these the public school gives (1 each) is still less than the amount of rando Catholic holidays my sister's kids get. They get a week and half for Easter alone.

Yeah, I’m sure Catholic schools are closed more than public schools! My kids are at an independent school.

I’ve worked in a MD public and a MD Catholic. The public school rules are 180 instructional days. The Catholic archdiocesan rules are 178. Not a huge difference. Day length is the same.

I will add that I teach more in the Catholic school because it doesn’t have the days devoted to county and state testing. That took up about 15% of the school year when I worked in a county school.

Other Diocese much have different (fewer) required days.

Just checked. ADW requires the full 180. AOB is 178. I couldn’t find Arlington’s, but calendars look consistent with others.

I don’t believe Catholic schools, at least in this region, go to school for fewer days than their public counterparts.

Charlotte does 174. Richmond, while I can't find the published count, started on 8/23 (after FCPS) and ends 6/6 (well before FCPS.)

The issue isn’t only start/stop dates. It’s the days off during the school year.

Also, Catholic schools do not lose days to county testing. My last year in a Maryland public, I kept track of how many days were 100% devoted to county testing. 18. 10% of the school year was wasted on county tests, not even the ones mandated by the state.

Bingo. It is all the days off during the year. We carpool to a sport with a kid who attends a catholic HS, whereas my DC attends public. They had roughly the same start date, but the catholic HS ends 2.5 weeks earlier. BUT, the catholic school didn’t have things like grade prep days, early releases, Election Day, non-catholic religious holidays off, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because the schools need to count these days as "attendance" to meet their attendance metrics.

Right. But that’s arbitrary and stupid if learning has ended.

Add it to the list of things that are arbitrary and stupid about public school.

+1. But since we don’t all have private school money, here we are.

I agree, but a question out of curiosity (and to get a sense on whether my kid is getting an inferior education or just having to put up with some administrative nonsense a private school kid wouldn't):

Are private schools offering several weeks more of actual instruction and enrichment, or do they just have shorter school years and the kids spend that time jetting off on vacations with their wealthy, private-school-tuition-affording parents?

Most private schools have a much shorter school year, at least the ones where my friends/relatives' kids go. My sister's kids are done before Memorial Day and only started a couple of days before my kids. So our school year is about 3 weeks longer. And our school day is longer too.

Private school parent here. Yes our school year is shorter, but we don’t take off for all Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Chinese, Jewish holiday so the kids have less days off during the year. And less ‘video watching’ days at the end of the year compared to their public school that we left.

The amount of these the public school gives (1 each) is still less than the amount of rando Catholic holidays my sister's kids get. They get a week and half for Easter alone.

Yeah, I’m sure Catholic schools are closed more than public schools! My kids are at an independent school.

I’ve worked in a MD public and a MD Catholic. The public school rules are 180 instructional days. The Catholic archdiocesan rules are 178. Not a huge difference. Day length is the same.

I will add that I teach more in the Catholic school because it doesn’t have the days devoted to county and state testing. That took up about 15% of the school year when I worked in a county school.

Other Diocese much have different (fewer) required days.

Just checked. ADW requires the full 180. AOB is 178. I couldn’t find Arlington’s, but calendars look consistent with others.

I don’t believe Catholic schools, at least in this region, go to school for fewer days than their public counterparts.

Charlotte does 174. Richmond, while I can't find the published count, started on 8/23 (after FCPS) and ends 6/6 (well before FCPS.)

The issue isn’t only start/stop dates. It’s the days off during the school year.

Also, Catholic schools do not lose days to county testing. My last year in a Maryland public, I kept track of how many days were 100% devoted to county testing. 18. 10% of the school year was wasted on county tests, not even the ones mandated by the state.

Bingo. It is all the days off during the year. We carpool to a sport with a kid who attends a catholic HS, whereas my DC attends public. They had roughly the same start date, but the catholic HS ends 2.5 weeks earlier. BUT, the catholic school didn’t have things like grade prep days, early releases, Election Day, non-catholic religious holidays off, etc.

I'm the pp with the sister in Charlotte. They have tons of extra Catholic holidays off that balance out all of the random religious holidays we get. They get 2 extra days at Spring Break and any "Holy Day of Obligation" or whatever they are called. And their teachers still get days to write report cards and hold conferences. It is definitely a week or two less school even when you add it all up. They also get tons of half days that we don't do here where I live in Loudoun. I agree with another PP that they don't do any standardized testing though.

[Anonymous]

My 1st grader is watching a movie in school today. No idea why. I don’t think they are even old enough to feel the summer-is-coming slacking off that happens to older kids. They could be learning more math or putting time into their writing instead. The whole month has been full of “fun extras” like this. Sometime next week is a field day for the entire school day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because the schools need to count these days as "attendance" to meet their attendance metrics.

Right. But that’s arbitrary and stupid if learning has ended.

Add it to the list of things that are arbitrary and stupid about public school.

+1. But since we don’t all have private school money, here we are.

I agree, but a question out of curiosity (and to get a sense on whether my kid is getting an inferior education or just having to put up with some administrative nonsense a private school kid wouldn't):

Are private schools offering several weeks more of actual instruction and enrichment, or do they just have shorter school years and the kids spend that time jetting off on vacations with their wealthy, private-school-tuition-affording parents?

Most private schools have a much shorter school year, at least the ones where my friends/relatives' kids go. My sister's kids are done before Memorial Day and only started a couple of days before my kids. So our school year is about 3 weeks longer. And our school day is longer too.

Private school parent here. Yes our school year is shorter, but we don’t take off for all Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Chinese, Jewish holiday so the kids have less days off during the year. And less ‘video watching’ days at the end of the year compared to their public school that we left.

The amount of these the public school gives (1 each) is still less than the amount of rando Catholic holidays my sister's kids get. They get a week and half for Easter alone.

Yeah, I’m sure Catholic schools are closed more than public schools! My kids are at an independent school.

I’ve worked in a MD public and a MD Catholic. The public school rules are 180 instructional days. The Catholic archdiocesan rules are 178. Not a huge difference. Day length is the same.

I will add that I teach more in the Catholic school because it doesn’t have the days devoted to county and state testing. That took up about 15% of the school year when I worked in a county school.

Other Diocese much have different (fewer) required days.

Just checked. ADW requires the full 180. AOB is 178. I couldn’t find Arlington’s, but calendars look consistent with others.

I don’t believe Catholic schools, at least in this region, go to school for fewer days than their public counterparts.

Charlotte does 174. Richmond, while I can't find the published count, started on 8/23 (after FCPS) and ends 6/6 (well before FCPS.)

The issue isn’t only start/stop dates. It’s the days off during the school year.

Also, Catholic schools do not lose days to county testing. My last year in a Maryland public, I kept track of how many days were 100% devoted to county testing. 18. 10% of the school year was wasted on county tests, not even the ones mandated by the state.

Bingo. It is all the days off during the year. We carpool to a sport with a kid who attends a catholic HS, whereas my DC attends public. They had roughly the same start date, but the catholic HS ends 2.5 weeks earlier. BUT, the catholic school didn’t have things like grade prep days, early releases, Election Day, non-catholic religious holidays off, etc.

I'm the pp with the sister in Charlotte. They have tons of extra Catholic holidays off that balance out all of the random religious holidays we get. They get 2 extra days at Spring Break and any "Holy Day of Obligation" or whatever they are called. And their teachers still get days to write report cards and hold conferences. It is definitely a week or two less school even when you add it all up. They also get tons of half days that we don't do here where I live in Loudoun. I agree with another PP that they don't do any standardized testing though.

Interesting they would take the Holy Days of Obligation off. Since the obligation is that you attend Mass, schools in our district just make sure that’s a Mass day at school. Students are in class the rest of the day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 1st grader is watching a movie in school today. No idea why. I don’t think they are even old enough to feel the summer-is-coming slacking off that happens to older kids. They could be learning more math or putting time into their writing instead. The whole month has been full of “fun extras” like this. Sometime next week is a field day for the entire school day.

I showed a movie today too. No, it wasn't because I wanted a break. I have to test every student in my class one at a time. I can get a few subtests done during small group time but I need to make a bigger dent in the testing so it was movie day.

[Anonymous]

I'm a teacher and I also want to know why the last weeks of school suck so badly. We have 3 more weeks where I'm at and we're still going strong on all the academic instruction we normally have. No change of routine. The kids are acting feral. I'm a veteran teacher known for being able to handle tough kids and I've cried in my car twice this week. The last month of school is hell. Even the youngest kids are ignoring the simplest of directions and acting in ways that are shockingly disrespectful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a teacher and I also want to know why the last weeks of school suck so badly. We have 3 more weeks where I'm at and we're still going strong on all the academic instruction we normally have. No change of routine. The kids are acting feral. I'm a veteran teacher known for being able to handle tough kids and I've cried in my car twice this week. The last month of school is hell. Even the youngest kids are ignoring the simplest of directions and acting in ways that are shockingly disrespectful.

You have to care way less. I have a few in my class that never get anything done. I’ve just stopped caring. If they don’t want to learn, that’s on them. I just thank God I don’t have to take them home to my house! I’m in a push in/pull out role and it’s great in the sense that I never have to be with any kid or group of kids more than an hour. When I’m fed up, “oh time’s up! See you tomorrow!”