Middle School start times

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or will they just stop doing after-school clubs? I’m curious how important those are to the middle school experience, as my kids are all still in elementary.

After school this week, I saw piles (had to literally step over some, ha) of kids loving finally finding “their people” at D&D club. Drama and music kids rehearsing for the MS musical. Kids painting sets and props for the musical. Community service activities. Tons of kids getting tutoring from their teachers, for free, getting both help and connection. The positive energy was palpable (the musical looks great!). The MS after school program is the heart of middle school.

Yes let’s continue to make kids get up at 5:30 am so they can have this after school program.

Get a grip. E will shift by only 30 minutes and be a win win for all. They can still have their previous after school activities, just half an hour later.

What about the Academic clubs, Mathcounts, science olympiad and language clubs? DS is in MS. He is not a fan of the start time but loves Mathcounts and the D&D club. His friends are doing cooking club, cross country, a science trivia club, and a whole host of other activities. Not every kid does them but a lot do. And the early time home allows for time to do homework and participate in rec sports or other activities.

I am not a fan of a 7:30 start, the 8:00 start would be nice because it wouldn’t impact much. A 9:30 start would be hard to make work. I would guess some clubs might move to a pre-school meeting time which would impact only the kids who were interested in participating. That would diminish social opportunities, which are important for kids, because I doubt that the kids who stay for many clubs would go in early for those activities.

School in the US is more than just what happens in the classroom. I get that is less of a thing in other countries but that is what it is here. It helps kids develop friendships, learn to nivigate the social environment, and provides for fun learning opportunities. I wouldn’t want to lose that.

Misdle school should not get the 8AM start time. That needs to be kept for high school

Keep high school at 8:00.

Find the best time for elementary.

Give middle school what ever is left over

It is only 2 years.

MS can just deal with it.

Agree completely.

[Anonymous]

Option E is going to pass folks. Deal with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

They want to start elementary school at basically 10am? I am screaming this is WILD.

No, Scenario C2 as the OP pointed out has MIDDLE SCHOOL starting at 9:40 and ending at 4:25. Elementary Schools would run 8a - 2:45 or 9:10 - 3:55, and HS 8:30-3:15.

I'm gonna say that this will completely throw a wrench in after school activities for that age group. You're going to have them getting home at 5pm, and then activities running 7-9? 7:30 - 9:30? I feel like this is just going to push 12 and 13yo kids to go to bed even later because they go to school later, which is counter to the entire point of this exercise.

At this point, just leave it like it is and shuffle through the 2 years of Middle School with the early wake up/rise. Yikes.

If school ends that late, they don’t really need after school activities.

[Anonymous]

Change it now FCPS don't wait till 26!!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

They want to start elementary school at basically 10am? I am screaming this is WILD.

No, Scenario C2 as the OP pointed out has MIDDLE SCHOOL starting at 9:40 and ending at 4:25. Elementary Schools would run 8a - 2:45 or 9:10 - 3:55, and HS 8:30-3:15.

I'm gonna say that this will completely throw a wrench in after school activities for that age group. You're going to have them getting home at 5pm, and then activities running 7-9? 7:30 - 9:30? I feel like this is just going to push 12 and 13yo kids to go to bed even later because they go to school later, which is counter to the entire point of this exercise.

At this point, just leave it like it is and shuffle through the 2 years of Middle School with the early wake up/rise. Yikes.

If school ends that late, they don’t really need after school activities.

Are you kidding?

For some kids, the FREE after school activities are the only opportunity they have to play a team sport.

For some kids, the FREE after school activities are the only opportunity they have to access in-person tutoring and academic help, which is extremely helpful in secondary school.

For some kids, the FREE after school activities are the only opportunity they have to participate in the arts.

[Anonymous]

Mateo Dunne sent a survey today and although one of the options was “don’t change the times,” you also had to pick a change option in the next question. Greeeeeeat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or will they just stop doing after-school clubs? I’m curious how important those are to the middle school experience, as my kids are all still in elementary.

After school this week, I saw piles (had to literally step over some, ha) of kids loving finally finding “their people” at D&D club. Drama and music kids rehearsing for the MS musical. Kids painting sets and props for the musical. Community service activities. Tons of kids getting tutoring from their teachers, for free, getting both help and connection. The positive energy was palpable (the musical looks great!). The MS after school program is the heart of middle school.

Yes let’s continue to make kids get up at 5:30 am so they can have this after school program.

Get a grip. E will shift by only 30 minutes and be a win win for all. They can still have their previous after school activities, just half an hour later.

What about the Academic clubs, Mathcounts, science olympiad and language clubs? DS is in MS. He is not a fan of the start time but loves Mathcounts and the D&D club. His friends are doing cooking club, cross country, a science trivia club, and a whole host of other activities. Not every kid does them but a lot do. And the early time home allows for time to do homework and participate in rec sports or other activities.

I am not a fan of a 7:30 start, the 8:00 start would be nice because it wouldn’t impact much. A 9:30 start would be hard to make work. I would guess some clubs might move to a pre-school meeting time which would impact only the kids who were interested in participating. That would diminish social opportunities, which are important for kids, because I doubt that the kids who stay for many clubs would go in early for those activities.

School in the US is more than just what happens in the classroom. I get that is less of a thing in other countries but that is what it is here. It helps kids develop friendships, learn to nivigate the social environment, and provides for fun learning opportunities. I wouldn’t want to lose that.

Misdle school should not get the 8AM start time. That needs to be kept for high school

Keep high school at 8:00.

Find the best time for elementary.

Give middle school what ever is left over

It is only 2 years.

MS can just deal with it.

+1 I know it is rough for MS but it’s only 2 years, sorry to say.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:E allows MS and HS a later start which they need. There’s no cost, too. This looks like a winner. Elem Sch can start later, too. Less SACC time needed.

No more SACC will be needed in morning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Option E is going to pass folks. Deal with it.

They will have a mass exodus of ES teachers which has the highest shortages after SPED.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can’t imagine many ES teachers would be happy with a school day ending at 4:35.

I would leave. I know of several teachers in my building who would as well. I already commute from another county and it won’t be worth it at that point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or will they just stop doing after-school clubs? I’m curious how important those are to the middle school experience, as my kids are all still in elementary.

After school this week, I saw piles (had to literally step over some, ha) of kids loving finally finding “their people” at D&D club. Drama and music kids rehearsing for the MS musical. Kids painting sets and props for the musical. Community service activities. Tons of kids getting tutoring from their teachers, for free, getting both help and connection. The positive energy was palpable (the musical looks great!). The MS after school program is the heart of middle school.

Yes let’s continue to make kids get up at 5:30 am so they can have this after school program.

Get a grip. E will shift by only 30 minutes and be a win win for all. They can still have their previous after school activities, just half an hour later.

Clearly you don’t have an ES kid because the only parents who think E is a good option are MS parents. E is not a win for PreK-6th grade.

[Anonymous]

I have a MS kid and I prefer they stay the same, the best solution is to get more bus without mess up ES/HS school current schedule. If they must change, I think ES should get the earliest time like 8am, they may be too young to stay home then go to school bus stop/ walk to school, if parents need to go to work ( there may not be enough before care if a lot of people are going back to office), also younger kids have to go to bed early, if they get dismissal at 4:45pm then they arrive home after 5pm, it push their bed then to an hour later. Then MS can get like 8:30am, but frankly speaking, for my MS kid with lot of homework, getting home 1 hour late also push to a later bedtime. For HS they can get 9am, since most HS kids don’t really go to bed early, they’re almost adult and can decide their bedtime.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or will they just stop doing after-school clubs? I’m curious how important those are to the middle school experience, as my kids are all still in elementary.

After school this week, I saw piles (had to literally step over some, ha) of kids loving finally finding “their people” at D&D club. Drama and music kids rehearsing for the MS musical. Kids painting sets and props for the musical. Community service activities. Tons of kids getting tutoring from their teachers, for free, getting both help and connection. The positive energy was palpable (the musical looks great!). The MS after school program is the heart of middle school.

Yes let’s continue to make kids get up at 5:30 am so they can have this after school program.

Get a grip. E will shift by only 30 minutes and be a win win for all. They can still have their previous after school activities, just half an hour later.

Clearly you don’t have an ES kid because the only parents who think E is a good option are MS parents. E is not a win for PreK-6th grade.

Yep E is a terrible option for those of us with ES kids (I have 2 and one is at a late start school) and both parents working out of the home most days. This would mean having to find and pay for before school care, while not knowing if our elementary school boundaries will change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t imagine many ES teachers would be happy with a school day ending at 4:35.

I would leave. I know of several teachers in my building who would as well. I already commute from another county and it won’t be worth it at that point.

Elementary should be the earliest start time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t imagine many ES teachers would be happy with a school day ending at 4:35.

I would leave. I know of several teachers in my building who would as well. I already commute from another county and it won’t be worth it at that point.

Elementary should be the earliest start time.

Agree. Loudoun does it without an issue.