Transition day August 25th

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a former kindergarten teacher, I get the idea of a transition day for those students (and their parents). I don't see the rationale for third graders to attend that day unless they attended a primary only elementary school which there are very few of in MCPS.

I didn’t get the impression that the day is for parents. Maybe some schools will include them. Who knows. But why do they need a whole day from 8:30-3pm?

[Anonymous]

What they should’ve done was have half the Kers start on day 1, and the other half on day 2, then all together on day three.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:The SMOB proposed that schools should invite parents to send their kids from any grade that day. They could still participate in the activities even though they wouldn't be new to the school. Staff said they are going to have a committee formed to iron out these kind of specifics of how transition day will work by March.

Except that would defeat the purpose of it being a transition day. At which point it should go back to just being a transition/orientation half day for secondary schools. Many of which were already doing this the Thursday before school opened.

+1 Exactly. I like the idea of a required transition day. All of DD's schools did that and it was really helpful.

+1 My child started K this year and I was not impressed that:

- Some elementary schools offered a day for incoming K students to visit the school in the spring, and others (including ours) didn't
- The "Open House" the Thursday in August before school was for all students and was super chaotic and not particularly helpful

We have friends out of state and their schools actually let incoming K students visit the school on multiple days in the Spring before they start. In one of the MCPS schools that did do a Spring orientation for incoming K students, they got to participate in a lesson with a teacher. I didn't go to MCPS until high school but when I did, in the late 90s there was a transition day for 9th grade.

This is doable and good for students and families. Lately, MCPS has been very combative towards parents and families. I haven't gotten the sense CO GAF about kids. They just want to do whatever is easier for them. It sounds like Taylor is challenging this attitude and I hope he succeeds.

Everyone from parents, to teachers, to CO is asking why does this need to be a whole day, and why does it need to move to Monday? The reason MCPS was trying to stop the K orientations in the Spring is because it required currently enrolled K students only to be off a day or two so that the K teachers could focus on incoming students. This impacted families. The only other alternatives proposed where a) use an existing non-instructional day as the K orientation days, which then takes away from that day being for teachers or b) do it after school hours which again impacted teachers. So its not the CO does GAF about kids, its that they are trying to balance everyone's needs.

Which is why the orientation half-day on the Thursday prior to school made sense logistically.

Other school districts manage things like spring orientation for K students just fine. From an educational perspective, the gains from doing a spring orientation in terms of supporting this critical transition are much greater than what the current K students learn in one day. But you idiots just throw up your hands and say it's too hard! Wahhhh.

All of this whining is testament to why MCPS is in decline.

What educational benefit comes from a bunch of K students going to school for one day with no other students??? Seriously it’s just a long playdate with their classmates. And if it’s soo beneficial why can’t they do it on the Thursday before school starts?

Also, MCPS managed spring orientation also, but they were responding to community concerns that have continually been brought up.

Sorry you don't understand early childhood. For a kid it is the difference between spending the summer anticipating going into a building they've never seen before with no idea what it will be like, to having some frame of reference. Previewing transitions is not some wacky thing that someone made up, it's a real thing that really helps little kids. Btw, MCPS can't just claim they are "responding to community concerns" every time they make a terrible decision. Learn to be the grownup in the room, FFS.

Again what is the educational benefit? Kids are going to anticipate going to school regardless if they’ve seen the school months earlier, days before, or not at all. Neither example will change how a kids learns their ABC’s or numbers.

When little kids are stressed, they don't learn as well, and they're more likely to be disruptive which interferes with other kids' learning as well. Giving kindergarteners as smooth a transition as possible, making them more likely to have positive feelings about school and positive relationships with their teachers, absolutely has an educational benefit. I have no opinion on whether a full-day Monday transition day is the best way to do that, but there is a legitimate educational benefit to doing the transition well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The SMOB proposed that schools should invite parents to send their kids from any grade that day. They could still participate in the activities even though they wouldn't be new to the school. Staff said they are going to have a committee formed to iron out these kind of specifics of how transition day will work by March.

Except that would defeat the purpose of it being a transition day. At which point it should go back to just being a transition/orientation half day for secondary schools. Many of which were already doing this the Thursday before school opened.

+1 Exactly. I like the idea of a required transition day. All of DD's schools did that and it was really helpful.

+1 My child started K this year and I was not impressed that:

- Some elementary schools offered a day for incoming K students to visit the school in the spring, and others (including ours) didn't
- The "Open House" the Thursday in August before school was for all students and was super chaotic and not particularly helpful

We have friends out of state and their schools actually let incoming K students visit the school on multiple days in the Spring before they start. In one of the MCPS schools that did do a Spring orientation for incoming K students, they got to participate in a lesson with a teacher. I didn't go to MCPS until high school but when I did, in the late 90s there was a transition day for 9th grade.

This is doable and good for students and families. Lately, MCPS has been very combative towards parents and families. I haven't gotten the sense CO GAF about kids. They just want to do whatever is easier for them. It sounds like Taylor is challenging this attitude and I hope he succeeds.

Everyone from parents, to teachers, to CO is asking why does this need to be a whole day, and why does it need to move to Monday? The reason MCPS was trying to stop the K orientations in the Spring is because it required currently enrolled K students only to be off a day or two so that the K teachers could focus on incoming students. This impacted families. The only other alternatives proposed where a) use an existing non-instructional day as the K orientation days, which then takes away from that day being for teachers or b) do it after school hours which again impacted teachers. So its not the CO does GAF about kids, its that they are trying to balance everyone's needs.

Which is why the orientation half-day on the Thursday prior to school made sense logistically.

Other school districts manage things like spring orientation for K students just fine. From an educational perspective, the gains from doing a spring orientation in terms of supporting this critical transition are much greater than what the current K students learn in one day. But you idiots just throw up your hands and say it's too hard! Wahhhh.

All of this whining is testament to why MCPS is in decline.

What educational benefit comes from a bunch of K students going to school for one day with no other students??? Seriously it’s just a long playdate with their classmates. And if it’s soo beneficial why can’t they do it on the Thursday before school starts?

Also, MCPS managed spring orientation also, but they were responding to community concerns that have continually been brought up.

Sorry you don't understand early childhood. For a kid it is the difference between spending the summer anticipating going into a building they've never seen before with no idea what it will be like, to having some frame of reference. Previewing transitions is not some wacky thing that someone made up, it's a real thing that really helps little kids. Btw, MCPS can't just claim they are "responding to community concerns" every time they make a terrible decision. Learn to be the grownup in the room, FFS.

Again what is the educational benefit? Kids are going to anticipate going to school regardless if they’ve seen the school months earlier, days before, or not at all. Neither example will change how a kids learns their ABC’s or numbers.

When little kids are stressed, they don't learn as well, and they're more likely to be disruptive which interferes with other kids' learning as well. Giving kindergarteners as smooth a transition as possible, making them more likely to have positive feelings about school and positive relationships with their teachers, absolutely has an educational benefit. I have no opinion on whether a full-day Monday transition day is the best way to do that, but there is a legitimate educational benefit to doing the transition well.

There is little to no learning going on in K for the entire first week of school. It’s about learning rules, routines, getting to know the other kids, teachers seeing if there are any immediate issues they see.

[Anonymous]

As an actual K teacher, I am excited about the potential of this. I t would be great to have only our k students in the building the first day of school. Hopefully non k staff works be available to help in each classroom. I could write paragraphs about how this would be useful to kindergartners. Ideally, we’d have half the kids on day 1, the other half on day 2 and everyone on day 3. This would be in addition to an Orientation day in the spring and the Open House on the Thursday before school starts. That’s what a child centered approach would look like. If you know, you know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The SMOB proposed that schools should invite parents to send their kids from any grade that day. They could still participate in the activities even though they wouldn't be new to the school. Staff said they are going to have a committee formed to iron out these kind of specifics of how transition day will work by March.

Except that would defeat the purpose of it being a transition day. At which point it should go back to just being a transition/orientation half day for secondary schools. Many of which were already doing this the Thursday before school opened.

+1 Exactly. I like the idea of a required transition day. All of DD's schools did that and it was really helpful.

+1 My child started K this year and I was not impressed that:

- Some elementary schools offered a day for incoming K students to visit the school in the spring, and others (including ours) didn't
- The "Open House" the Thursday in August before school was for all students and was super chaotic and not particularly helpful

We have friends out of state and their schools actually let incoming K students visit the school on multiple days in the Spring before they start. In one of the MCPS schools that did do a Spring orientation for incoming K students, they got to participate in a lesson with a teacher. I didn't go to MCPS until high school but when I did, in the late 90s there was a transition day for 9th grade.

This is doable and good for students and families. Lately, MCPS has been very combative towards parents and families. I haven't gotten the sense CO GAF about kids. They just want to do whatever is easier for them. It sounds like Taylor is challenging this attitude and I hope he succeeds.

Everyone from parents, to teachers, to CO is asking why does this need to be a whole day, and why does it need to move to Monday? The reason MCPS was trying to stop the K orientations in the Spring is because it required currently enrolled K students only to be off a day or two so that the K teachers could focus on incoming students. This impacted families. The only other alternatives proposed where a) use an existing non-instructional day as the K orientation days, which then takes away from that day being for teachers or b) do it after school hours which again impacted teachers. So its not the CO does GAF about kids, its that they are trying to balance everyone's needs.

Which is why the orientation half-day on the Thursday prior to school made sense logistically.

Other school districts manage things like spring orientation for K students just fine. From an educational perspective, the gains from doing a spring orientation in terms of supporting this critical transition are much greater than what the current K students learn in one day. But you idiots just throw up your hands and say it's too hard! Wahhhh.

All of this whining is testament to why MCPS is in decline.

What educational benefit comes from a bunch of K students going to school for one day with no other students??? Seriously it’s just a long playdate with their classmates. And if it’s soo beneficial why can’t they do it on the Thursday before school starts?

Also, MCPS managed spring orientation also, but they were responding to community concerns that have continually been brought up.

Sorry you don't understand early childhood. For a kid it is the difference between spending the summer anticipating going into a building they've never seen before with no idea what it will be like, to having some frame of reference. Previewing transitions is not some wacky thing that someone made up, it's a real thing that really helps little kids. Btw, MCPS can't just claim they are "responding to community concerns" every time they make a terrible decision. Learn to be the grownup in the room, FFS.

Again what is the educational benefit? Kids are going to anticipate going to school regardless if they’ve seen the school months earlier, days before, or not at all. Neither example will change how a kids learns their ABC’s or numbers.

When little kids are stressed, they don't learn as well, and they're more likely to be disruptive which interferes with other kids' learning as well. Giving kindergarteners as smooth a transition as possible, making them more likely to have positive feelings about school and positive relationships with their teachers, absolutely has an educational benefit. I have no opinion on whether a full-day Monday transition day is the best way to do that, but there is a legitimate educational benefit to doing the transition well.

There is little to no learning going on in K for the entire first week of school. It’s about learning rules, routines, getting to know the other kids, teachers seeing if there are any immediate issues they see.

The transition day isn't about making the first week of school easier and more successful for kindergarteners. It’s about making the whole year easier and more successful for kindergarteners.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As an actual K teacher, I am excited about the potential of this. I t would be great to have only our k students in the building the first day of school. Hopefully non k staff works be available to help in each classroom. I could write paragraphs about how this would be useful to kindergartners. Ideally, we’d have half the kids on day 1, the other half on day 2 and everyone on day 3. This would be in addition to an Orientation day in the spring and the Open House on the Thursday before school starts. That’s what a child centered approach would look like. If you know, you know.

+1 the people I know who were advocating for a spring orientation are K teachers. These are the people CO dismisses and ignores. Shame on them.

[Anonymous]

For K, 6 and 9, there has always be a pre-school orientation so its a waste of a day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For K, 6 and 9, there has always be a pre-school orientation so its a waste of a day.

My kid just started k this year. There was no dedicated orientation open to incoming k students. Just a chaotic open house for the whole ES.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Again, I still do not understand: If this "transition day" is for K, 6 and 9, new transfer students or special education students, what is the guidance for all of the teachers and students for whom that DOES NOT apply to? Stay home?

Probably an extra day of planning or being tasked to nominally help with orientation and then extra day of planning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For K, 6 and 9, there has always be a pre-school orientation so its a waste of a day.

K teacher back and I’m sorry, but that is incorrect. I have taught k in mcps since 2002 (when it was still half day).
Prior to this year there was Kindergarten Orientation which took place in the spring. This was a day (or 2 depending on the size of enrollment) for parents to register for Kindergarten. Parents would complete their paperwork and get basic information. Meanwhile children would go with the kindergarten teaching team to complete some activities while teachers tried to make basic notes with which to organize classes. This was taken away this year because it was deemed too disruptive for current kindergartners to miss 1 or 2 days of school in the spring.
There still is and always has been an Open House the week before school starts. This is an hour long event where parents bring their child to meet the teacher and see the classroom. It is not a half day. It is not instructional. It is a brief, often chaotic, meet and greet. It is not a transition day.
I envision this transition day to be the first day of school, minus everyone who is returning to the same school they were in the previous year. Maybe I’m too optimistic but I’m fully in support of this. I do think it should count as an instructional day though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The SMOB proposed that schools should invite parents to send their kids from any grade that day. They could still participate in the activities even though they wouldn't be new to the school. Staff said they are going to have a committee formed to iron out these kind of specifics of how transition day will work by March.

Except that would defeat the purpose of it being a transition day. At which point it should go back to just being a transition/orientation half day for secondary schools. Many of which were already doing this the Thursday before school opened.

+1 Exactly. I like the idea of a required transition day. All of DD's schools did that and it was really helpful.

+1 My child started K this year and I was not impressed that:

- Some elementary schools offered a day for incoming K students to visit the school in the spring, and others (including ours) didn't
- The "Open House" the Thursday in August before school was for all students and was super chaotic and not particularly helpful

We have friends out of state and their schools actually let incoming K students visit the school on multiple days in the Spring before they start. In one of the MCPS schools that did do a Spring orientation for incoming K students, they got to participate in a lesson with a teacher. I didn't go to MCPS until high school but when I did, in the late 90s there was a transition day for 9th grade.

This is doable and good for students and families. Lately, MCPS has been very combative towards parents and families. I haven't gotten the sense CO GAF about kids. They just want to do whatever is easier for them. It sounds like Taylor is challenging this attitude and I hope he succeeds.

Here is the issue. Historically mcps would allow elementary schools to cancel school for just kindergarten and do orientation for incoming Kindergarten students. This practice was unfair to cancel school for one grade.

Mcps could have offered to pay Kindergarten teachers to do orientation during the summer but chose not do that. Some schools were able to scramble and figure out coverage so that schools could offer spring orientation or squeeze in a quick orientation event during a very busy pre-service week where everyone is franticly glorying to get their room ready plus attend dozens of first week of school meetings. So this solution does offer a way for teachers to be paid to do orientation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a former kindergarten teacher, I get the idea of a transition day for those students (and their parents). I don't see the rationale for third graders to attend that day unless they attended a primary only elementary school which there are very few of in MCPS.

That was my assumption was it was only for third graders attending school in a new building which is just 6 intermediate schools in mcps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The SMOB proposed that schools should invite parents to send their kids from any grade that day. They could still participate in the activities even though they wouldn't be new to the school. Staff said they are going to have a committee formed to iron out these kind of specifics of how transition day will work by March.

Except that would defeat the purpose of it being a transition day. At which point it should go back to just being a transition/orientation half day for secondary schools. Many of which were already doing this the Thursday before school opened.

+1 Exactly. I like the idea of a required transition day. All of DD's schools did that and it was really helpful.

+1 My child started K this year and I was not impressed that:

- Some elementary schools offered a day for incoming K students to visit the school in the spring, and others (including ours) didn't
- The "Open House" the Thursday in August before school was for all students and was super chaotic and not particularly helpful

We have friends out of state and their schools actually let incoming K students visit the school on multiple days in the Spring before they start. In one of the MCPS schools that did do a Spring orientation for incoming K students, they got to participate in a lesson with a teacher. I didn't go to MCPS until high school but when I did, in the late 90s there was a transition day for 9th grade.

This is doable and good for students and families. Lately, MCPS has been very combative towards parents and families. I haven't gotten the sense CO GAF about kids. They just want to do whatever is easier for them. It sounds like Taylor is challenging this attitude and I hope he succeeds.

Here is the issue. Historically mcps would allow elementary schools to cancel school for just kindergarten and do orientation for incoming Kindergarten students. This practice was unfair to cancel school for one grade.

Mcps could have offered to pay Kindergarten teachers to do orientation during the summer but chose not do that. Some schools were able to scramble and figure out coverage so that schools could offer spring orientation or squeeze in a quick orientation event during a very busy pre-service week where everyone is franticly glorying to get their room ready plus attend dozens of first week of school meetings. So this solution does offer a way for teachers to be paid to do orientation

Total failure on CO's part. Other districts do it just fine. MCPS sucks.

[Anonymous]

Almost my entire school is EMLs (ESOL students), so all teachers would be working, there’s no classroom without them. But some have siblings who have exited out of the program—would their siblings come but they have to stay home? It’s a little dicey.