26-29 SY calendar feedback

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NYC is not a good example at all. They go until the end of June!!

Yes, but DC could differ from NY by staying open on Rosh Hashana (2 days), Eid (2 days), Yom Kippur, Diwali, Holy Thursday, and the last 4 days of the NY spring break (so just close Good Friday-Easter Monday as a 4 day weekend). Even with Emancipation Day, that would allow DC to end two weeks sooner than NYC. Or split the difference and go until the day before Juneteenth.

The real sticking point for DC is the number of PD and parent-teacher conference days. If DCPS could do PD before or after the school year, and if they could do conferences after school, they could have a more compact schedule. I would still want that schedule to go mid-August to early/mid June though, because of the previously-mentioned issues with summer camp in late August and standardized testing in May.

PD days are pointless. P/T conferences should be half days like in MCPS. Also, why are they held more than once a year? Really regretting my decision to move districts. Impact evaluations seem to be the only thing people care about. It’s all stress around unplanned observations. In MCPS, there’s tenure… evaluations are not stressful, our whole year isn’t planned around fear like DCPS. I can’t wait till June.

Well, I mean, the thing is that DC had become really really bad so something had to change.

Long time DCPS teacher here-Impact has done nothing valuable for the students. Instead, it created a culture of fear,lead by power hungry principals who are super subjective in their evaluations. DCPS is such a toxic place BECAUSE of Impact. If I hadn't been vested when it originated, I would have left immediately. Anyone reading this who is considering DCPS: you'd be smart to stay as far away as you can.

[Anonymous]

I agree that the unique thing (and not in a good way) about the DCPS calendar is all those damn PD full days off, particularly when they're paired up with full days off for conferences. I'd love to see some of those PD days eliminated. Can any teachers on this forum tell us what actually happens on those PD days?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree that the unique thing (and not in a good way) about the DCPS calendar is all those damn PD full days off, particularly when they're paired up with full days off for conferences. I'd love to see some of those PD days eliminated. Can any teachers on this forum tell us what actually happens on those PD days?

If lucky, it’s virtual. If not… it’s pointless bs at various locations and you’re forced to come. For a district who loves equity….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree that the unique thing (and not in a good way) about the DCPS calendar is all those damn PD full days off, particularly when they're paired up with full days off for conferences. I'd love to see some of those PD days eliminated. Can any teachers on this forum tell us what actually happens on those PD days?

Four of the PD days are half day at the school where your administrators plan some sort of professional development. The effectiveness of this varies by school. The the second half of those four days are record keeping, which really are necessary to end out the term.

The rest of the pd days are virtual and organized by central office. As a HS teacher they are absolutely useless. I can’t think of any pd I’ve received from central office that has made me a better teacher in the last decade. I’d be fine getting rid of those second kind of PD days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that the unique thing (and not in a good way) about the DCPS calendar is all those damn PD full days off, particularly when they're paired up with full days off for conferences. I'd love to see some of those PD days eliminated. Can any teachers on this forum tell us what actually happens on those PD days?

Four of the PD days are half day at the school where your administrators plan some sort of professional development. The effectiveness of this varies by school. The the second half of those four days are record keeping, which really are necessary to end out the term.

The rest of the pd days are virtual and organized by central office. As a HS teacher they are absolutely useless. I can’t think of any pd I’ve received from central office that has made me a better teacher in the last decade. I’d be fine getting rid of those second kind of PD days.

This is helpful info. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Can someone with more experience teaching in dcps answer this? I’ve been here for 10 years, so I’ve always had IMPACT. It seems that IMPACT is the reason for all the damn PD days- if you’re going to tell lots of teachers they’re ineffective or minimally effective based off this subjective evaluation system, there’s going to be a push from the union to make sure DCPS is providing PD to assist teachers in performing better on evaluations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That option c of ending school July 2nd is insane.

They are just including that to prove a point.

Agreed. They are trying to make clear to the loud (but I think small) subset of people who think school should start after Labor Day what that would actually mean for the end of the year.

Other districts still manage to end in June and start in early September or very late August.

Those schools don’t do 180 instruction days + Election Day + 10 PD + shutting down school for 2 full days for RK/PTC.

My sister’s kids in rural’ish NC only do like 170 days. And that includes like 2.5 weeks off for Christmas. They start same date as DCPS and are always done around June 2/3/4. And they get an extra day off for spring break week.

180 days is required by law

[Anonymous]

Will one of the PD days be a CPR class now that everyone must be certified?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone with more experience teaching in dcps answer this? I’ve been here for 10 years, so I’ve always had IMPACT. It seems that IMPACT is the reason for all the damn PD days- if you’re going to tell lots of teachers they’re ineffective or minimally effective based off this subjective evaluation system, there’s going to be a push from the union to make sure DCPS is providing PD to assist teachers in performing better on evaluations.

New to DCPS so I can't really answer your question, but coming from MCPS-Impact is absolutely insane. The fact there are trainings, PDs, websites, videos, etc...all for an observation....as the kids say...they are doing too much.

MCPS- you're evaluated twice the first three years...Second observation can be an SLO chat...Teachers choose the class/subject they want to be formally evaluated on. Then you receive tenure, when you're evaluated every 5 years. No one is stressed about observations. They aren't tied to money. No one is "rated". If DCPS wants to retain teachers, they'd be smart to get rid of this HIGHLY subjective system. I'll be going back to MCPS come the end of this year, because I'm not going to spend my time stressing about this nonsense. My entire school is stressed and this is all anyone talks about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Will one of the PD days be a CPR class now that everyone must be certified?

I haven’t heard anything about it but so far I’ve had to do:
-mental health training to learn how to talk to kids about their feelings
-sexual harassment training
-language access training to be told that we much translate documents but there’s no one but Google to do the translations
-mandated reporter training
-dyslexia training to be told there’s a screener but nothing we can do at my grade level
-cyber security training
-school safety (can’t remember what this was about)
-Title IX

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Will one of the PD days be a CPR class now that everyone must be certified?

I haven’t heard anything about it but so far I’ve had to do:
-mental health training to learn how to talk to kids about their feelings
-sexual harassment training
-language access training to be told that we much translate documents but there’s no one but Google to do the translations
-mandated reporter training
-dyslexia training to be told there’s a screener but nothing we can do at my grade level
-cyber security training
-school safety (can’t remember what this was about)
-Title IX

School safety was about remembering to close the doors to the building and watching kids during less structured times.

I’ve also sat and listened to how to give kids productive struggle in math and how to implement the ela required curricular tasks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish we could have year round schooling.

Tbh it would really be the best thing for low income kids in DC. Summer learning loss is real, kids get in a lot more trouble in the summer than in the winter. It would be great for basically all kids.

The issue with year round school is that you have multiple 2-3 weeks breaks throughout the year. It would be difficult to staff camps for those kids during those breaks. Right now so many of the day camps are staffed by college kids and older HS students on summer break. It’s a labor issue.

DCPS had year round, research showed kids did not do better and in fact had more absences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't have a single family member or friend in other districts whose kids start before labor day and they all end mid June when DCPS does. This isn't rocket science. They need to consult with other districts who have figured this out easily each year and eliminate the 5000 PD days.

Half the country starts the 1st week of August and ends before memorial day.

[Anonymous]

I would rather see a year -round calendar. With 2 -3 week breaks every quarter. Maybe 4 weeks in the summer.
Save on burn out, spreads out breaks for parents. Rec centers can still staff up with employees & highschool students if needed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would rather see a year -round calendar. With 2 -3 week breaks every quarter. Maybe 4 weeks in the summer.
Save on burn out, spreads out breaks for parents. Rec centers can still staff up with employees & highschool students if needed

DC tried that with a pilot program for a handful of low-income schools. It didn't work, and in fact made things worse.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/district-eliminates-extended-school-year-invests-more-in-classroom-technology/2019/02/21/e9478500-3484-11e9-a400-e481bf264fdc_story.html