New MCPS Elementary School times

[Anonymous]

It is unfortunate mcps couldn't figure out later starts for older kids without messing with the elementary schedule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Many kids participate in after school clubs after school and walk home. So they will be walking home in the dark.

Middle school activities at my child's middle school used to end at 4:15. So I suppose that they will now end at 4:35. I don't think that will make a big difference for not dark vs. dark. There's plenty of twilight in December. We don't live in the tropics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All of the schools could basically start at the same time if it were for transportation. The county could have cut way back on bus service and make people get their kids to school on their own. Would that have helped?

No.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're at a Tier 2 school, and my kids will start at 925am, meaning about a 9am bus stop. It's awful - the school bus now comes later than the Metro buses in our neighborhood, which makes it impossible for anyone to use public transportation. And it puts many of us on the roads into DC after the rush hour protocols have ended, which will extend commute times considerably. Meanwhile, in the afternoon, the kids will be getting on the bus after rush hour has already begun in our area (near NIH.) So, much longer trips home. Thanks MCPS!

I'm all for pushing back bell times for older kids, BTW. But I doubt they get much benefit from a 20 minute AM reprieve. And there should have been much more careful consideration of the impact of simply randomly pushing back ALL bell times.

I live in the NIH neighborhood, although must be at a different school, because we are Tier 1. (Not really sure where you could live, because the Wyngate catch area circles around most of NIH -- maybe you're south of NIH?). At any rate, the metro buses and ride on run pretty regularly even after 9 -- I regularly go in after 9, and take either the metro bus or ride on. Or you can always walk to metro, which I also do if I just miss a bus. The only rush hour protocols I can think of are Connecticut Avenue, which run until 9:30, so if you leave after the school bus pickup, you'll be pretty far down CT by the time they stop the reversibles. And traffic gets pretty light at that time of day.
I agree that it's bad news for all those people that need to be at work by 9 or 9:30, but, if you think it will make it "impossible for anyone to use public transportation," I respectfully suggest that you double-check the bus times, because they do run pretty frequently even after 9. I am anxious to see how the evening commute will screw up the afternoon buses..but my observation is that the commuting tangle in our neighborhood starts around 3 (or earlier), so I'm not sure that the 3:25 end will make that much of a difference.

I'm the first poster in this, and we live east of NIH in the Rosemary Hills/CCES&NCC/BCC zone. I respectfully suggest that what works in your neighborhood doesn't necessarily work in every neighborhood, PP. You have a Tier 1 start time and can walk to the metro, good for you. Surprise surprise, that's not true for everyone.

If you want the specifics, the J1 was changed last year, so it's last AM time was already a bit of stretch (e.g., parents would leave the kid at the busstop with other parents and try to catch the last bus), but now the last J1 will arrive at least 1/2 hour before the MCPS bus. Taking the L8 on Conn Ave at the 9am hour is basically impossible; it can be an hour plus to get to Friendship Heights metro, by the time I could get to downtown it would 1030am.

And no, if I put my kid on the bus at 9/905am (since it's never on time) and head for downtown, I will not make it through Van Ness and Cleveland Park before the 930am switch from 4 open inbound lanes to 2 open inbound lanes. I've done this every day for 6 years now, so I know the traffic patterns all too well. With an 845/850 bus pickup, I used to be able to squeak into the office at 930am some days, and close enough on others. Now the baseline will be 10am.

But PP, if you'd like I'd be happy to switch - your elementary can start at 925 and then you can lecture me on how easy it is for working parents.

NP (no snark) but have you considered before care? I agree the new tier 2 time sucks ass and a lot of parents in this cluster will be in the same boat.

[Anonymous]

The bell time for our Tier II ES now means parents cannot catch the last MARC train of the morning. Many of us bought into the neighborhood for that transportation option. Marc station is short walk. Now we'll all be driving to Metro or just driving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We'll be doing before care at the school this year. Our bus won't come until 9:05, and school starts at 9:25. Luckily our before care is not full yet.

I do find it pretty crazy though that the school bus isn't scheduled to leave the school until 3:57! That seems so late. Meaning DD won't get off the bus until about 4:20?

Yes, they will be walking home as the sun is getting ready to set in December. My DD is in tier 2 and it is terrible. It also messed up sports practices too. The only option is 6-7pm and by late Sept that is too dark. So luckily the county allowed a :30 start time for 5:30 which they normally won't.

I agree that 3:50 pm is late to get out of school. But it's useful to have some perspective. The earliest sunset of the year is 4:43 pm, for December 3-12. Unless the child really dawdles on their walk home, they're not going to be walking home at sunset, even in the first week of December.

My child walked in the door everyday at 4:12pm from the bus stop last year. That was late enough but it will now be 4:35 from the bus schedule. And how about for walkers that walk 1/2 to a full mile to school? That is a safety issue being so late to sunset and closer to rush hour. And how are these kids supposed to play after school when it is getting dark out and almost dinner time? Sorry but the times are too late. Tier 2 got screwed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're at a Tier 2 school, and my kids will start at 925am, meaning about a 9am bus stop. It's awful - the school bus now comes later than the Metro buses in our neighborhood, which makes it impossible for anyone to use public transportation. And it puts many of us on the roads into DC after the rush hour protocols have ended, which will extend commute times considerably. Meanwhile, in the afternoon, the kids will be getting on the bus after rush hour has already begun in our area (near NIH.) So, much longer trips home. Thanks MCPS!

I'm all for pushing back bell times for older kids, BTW. But I doubt they get much benefit from a 20 minute AM reprieve. And there should have been much more careful consideration of the impact of simply randomly pushing back ALL bell times.

I live in the NIH neighborhood, although must be at a different school, because we are Tier 1. (Not really sure where you could live, because the Wyngate catch area circles around most of NIH -- maybe you're south of NIH?). At any rate, the metro buses and ride on run pretty regularly even after 9 -- I regularly go in after 9, and take either the metro bus or ride on. Or you can always walk to metro, which I also do if I just miss a bus. The only rush hour protocols I can think of are Connecticut Avenue, which run until 9:30, so if you leave after the school bus pickup, you'll be pretty far down CT by the time they stop the reversibles. And traffic gets pretty light at that time of day.
I agree that it's bad news for all those people that need to be at work by 9 or 9:30, but, if you think it will make it "impossible for anyone to use public transportation," I respectfully suggest that you double-check the bus times, because they do run pretty frequently even after 9. I am anxious to see how the evening commute will screw up the afternoon buses..but my observation is that the commuting tangle in our neighborhood starts around 3 (or earlier), so I'm not sure that the 3:25 end will make that much of a difference.

I'm the first poster in this, and we live east of NIH in the Rosemary Hills/CCES&NCC/BCC zone. I respectfully suggest that what works in your neighborhood doesn't necessarily work in every neighborhood, PP. You have a Tier 1 start time and can walk to the metro, good for you. Surprise surprise, that's not true for everyone.

If you want the specifics, the J1 was changed last year, so it's last AM time was already a bit of stretch (e.g., parents would leave the kid at the busstop with other parents and try to catch the last bus), but now the last J1 will arrive at least 1/2 hour before the MCPS bus. Taking the L8 on Conn Ave at the 9am hour is basically impossible; it can be an hour plus to get to Friendship Heights metro, by the time I could get to downtown it would 1030am.

And no, if I put my kid on the bus at 9/905am (since it's never on time) and head for downtown, I will not make it through Van Ness and Cleveland Park before the 930am switch from 4 open inbound lanes to 2 open inbound lanes. I've done this every day for 6 years now, so I know the traffic patterns all too well. With an 845/850 bus pickup, I used to be able to squeak into the office at 930am some days, and close enough on others. Now the baseline will be 10am.

But PP, if you'd like I'd be happy to switch - your elementary can start at 925 and then you can lecture me on how easy it is for working parents.

NP (no snark) but have you considered before care? I agree the new tier 2 time sucks ass and a lot of parents in this cluster will be in the same boat.

Not the PP but our tier 2 ES has a wait list of 34 kids for beforecare. Zero for aftercare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is unfortunate mcps couldn't figure out later starts for older kids without messing with the elementary schedule.

the older kids don't need later start times. They need no electronics in their bedrooms and less homework. That is the cheapest solution right there.

[Anonymous]

I assume everyone posting here submitted their comments to the School Board when the proposal was pending. I know I submitted a comment that suggested the school board leave the elementary times alone, because moving them back, even a little, would create problems for working parents. I wasn't pleased with the Board decision, but that's life and our family has figured it out without too much trauma.

If you didn't comment to the Board of Ed, I encourage you to follow these issues and have your voice heard during the decision making process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The bell time for our Tier II ES now means parents cannot catch the last MARC train of the morning. Many of us bought into the neighborhood for that transportation option. Marc station is short walk. Now we'll all be driving to Metro or just driving.

Much of the county (including me) already couldn't catch the last MARC train of the morning with the previous start time. There should be a later train.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

My child walked in the door everyday at 4:12pm from the bus stop last year. That was late enough but it will now be 4:35 from the bus schedule. And how about for walkers that walk 1/2 to a full mile to school? That is a safety issue being so late to sunset and closer to rush hour. And how are these kids supposed to play after school when it is getting dark out and almost dinner time? Sorry but the times are too late. Tier 2 got screwed.

Did your child previously used to play outside after school in December? For most of the rest of the school year, it will not be close to sunset when your child gets home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I assume everyone posting here submitted their comments to the School Board when the proposal was pending. I know I submitted a comment that suggested the school board leave the elementary times alone, because moving them back, even a little, would create problems for working parents. I wasn't pleased with the Board decision, but that's life and our family has figured it out without too much trauma.

If you didn't comment to the Board of Ed, I encourage you to follow these issues and have your voice heard during the decision making process.

I commented to the BOE and watched their discussion online. My preference was to start ES first, before HS and MS since that is consistent with the younger child's sleep pattern and also the older child's. That option was far from perfect, of course, as the MS bells would have been 9:30 AM. (I have a MS child.) I am so thankful we are done with ES and aren't impacted by the Tier II start times. My boy commented in the survey he filled out for MCPS that it was too late for the ES students and they would have more rush hour traffic with the later start times.

I was surprised with the number of working parents who testified that an early start time for ES would be "terrible" for them because they would then have to pay for after care.

From going to PTA meetings at our ES, it's clear that BOE didn't fully consider how an ES will implement the extra 10 minutes for lunch only. It's easy to implement in smaller schools with 2-3 lunch periods, but the schools with 6 lunch periods... what a disaster. Our principal said the memo from BOE that was delivered in May (ish), dictated lunch only, not "lunch and recess" as was stated in BOE meeting and proposals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Many kids participate in after school clubs after school and walk home. So they will be walking home in the dark.

Middle school activities at my child's middle school used to end at 4:15. So I suppose that they will now end at 4:35. I don't think that will make a big difference for not dark vs. dark. There's plenty of twilight in December. We don't live in the tropics.

Yes, but people are primarily discussing Tier 2 elementary schools, not middle schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

My child walked in the door everyday at 4:12pm from the bus stop last year. That was late enough but it will now be 4:35 from the bus schedule. And how about for walkers that walk 1/2 to a full mile to school? That is a safety issue being so late to sunset and closer to rush hour. And how are these kids supposed to play after school when it is getting dark out and almost dinner time? Sorry but the times are too late. Tier 2 got screwed.

Did your child previously used to play outside after school in December? For most of the rest of the school year, it will not be close to sunset when your child gets home.

Not the PP but my kids play outside everyday, especially after school - unless it is raining hard/thunderstorms. They only have 20 minutes of recess at school and it is not healthy to have them indoors and inactive 5 days a week all days. Kids ages 5-11 should be playing for at least 60 minutes. I am in a tier 1 and already think they get too late.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Many kids participate in after school clubs after school and walk home. So they will be walking home in the dark.

Middle school activities at my child's middle school used to end at 4:15. So I suppose that they will now end at 4:35. I don't think that will make a big difference for not dark vs. dark. There's plenty of twilight in December. We don't live in the tropics.

Yes, but people are primarily discussing Tier 2 elementary schools, not middle schools.

Many kids participate in after-school clubs in elementary school and then walk home by themselves?