New to FCPS - what was the rationale for starting and ending school a week early?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't like the 2 week Christmas break. Way too long and then we can't get a full week of school in January and February from weather issues. It totally kills the momentum.
Would be great to start after Labor day that way we can all enjoy the actual holiday. This really affected our vacation tradition.
I'm fine with ending school mid June.

+1

[Anonymous]

Love the two week Christmas break.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Love the two week Christmas break.

Why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Love the two week Christmas break.

Why?

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Love the two week Christmas break.

Why?

As a teacher, I love the two week break. I get to travel and spend time with family AND have down time at home to rest, catch up on reading, etc. Also
Like have the 3 weekends versus 2 weekends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Love the two week Christmas break.

Why?

DP. But I work and I like it. Usually the week of Christmas is a popular week for others to take off. I cover at work that week, then I can still take the second week off and have a week off at winter break with my kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Love the two week Christmas break.

Why?

As a teacher, I love the two week break. I get to travel and spend time with family AND have down time at home to rest, catch up on reading, etc. Also
Like have the 3 weekends versus 2 weekends.

I too like the week to travel and then the week at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Love the two week Christmas break.

Why?

The Christmas holiday season is so busy, especially if you travel to see family.

2 weeks is perfect...it gives you a few days to prep for the holidays at the beginning and a few days to rest and relax at the end. It also gives people a ton more flexibility when choosing plane tickets...you are not locked into leaving and returning the exact same two days everyone else is trying to fly.

The smart thing for fcps to do is to start the school year the 3rd week of August and arrange the long weekends so that the semester ends right before you go on break over the holidays. 2nd semester should start when you come back in January and the year should end the last week of May or first week of June, so fcps is aligned with the majority of the country with school ending shortly after AP exams.

[Anonymous]

I'm not a troll

Have a few conversations with current high school students parents about academic teacher methodogy - how the kids are being taught content in their classrooms. The teachers are just phoning it in everyday. Scores remain fairly high because most FCPS families are well educated. The students do it all on their own or are tutored by parents and friends. That may work fine for your family, but the FCPS instructional institution remain vastly overrated.

Sports, theater, music extra curriculars are excellent, but daily academic instruction is exceedingly poor. It's a do it yourself - teach yourself curriculum

How is this even possible? Teachers must be present every day (not everyday). They simply cannot "phone it in." Go visit a classroom sometime.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are various reasons.

1. When you start after labor day, you don't end until the 23rd-ish of June. That is quite late.

2. The high school crowd has fixed dates for national tests. If your HS students start 2-4 weeks later than other HS students (in other districts or states), they are at a disadvantage b/c the AP tests and SATs are set on certain dates for everyone in the US.

3. When you start after Labor Day, that is sometimes Sept. 7th or 8th... again, quite late. The whole "back to school" mindset is in August. In the meantime, we are all just waiting to get back to school.

4. Older students can end up missing out on summer internships and other summer programs b/c they aren't getting out of school until June 23. Lots of high schools get out in mid-to-late May, so college have programs and employers are seeking those who are available in June.

5. Teachers (and students) seem to check out when the calendar say June 1st. June = "summer" mindset. The later in June you go, the more time that is just wasted. Late August = "back to school" mindset. Time is used more productively in late August than in June.

You can argue against any of these, but these were things that some people liked.

Fact was, 2/3rds of all school districts in VA had (and probably still have) a waiver to start BEFORE Labor Day. So, it UNusual to wait until After Labor Day.

Gov. Hogan of MD categorically denies all of this.

[Anonymous]

It's interesting to note that the states best known for top notch public k-12 education, like New Jersey, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Connecticut, etc. are all on the "start after Labor Day, out mid-late June" calendar. Not saying that these states have superior outcomes BECAUSE of that schedule, but the "but the standardized tests!!!!" argument holds very little merit when you consider this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's interesting to note that the states best known for top notch public k-12 education, like New Jersey, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Connecticut, etc. are all on the "start after Labor Day, out mid-late June" calendar. Not saying that these states have superior outcomes BECAUSE of that schedule, but the "but the standardized tests!!!!" argument holds very little merit when you consider this.

You need to look a little closer at the data. First, Minnesota has very few SAT takers -- ACT is more common and the only kids taking the SAT are those who want to go to higher-end/East Coast schools. The same is true for Iowa (and it's SAT scores are even higher than Minnesota's) -- and look at Wisconsin and Mississippi's SAT average score for white kids -- sky high -- but very few kids are taking it.

OK, so let's get back to your allegation -- that states like MA, CT and NJ are doing really well on standardized tests (I assume you mean the ones that are national, b/c otherwise a comparison of "standardized tests" would be useless). We have to look at the average scores of kids different groups, and compare similar groups, otherwise, you are simply penalizing states that have a higher proportion of kids in disadvantaged groups. So, when we compare white kids to white kids in states where lots of kids take the SAT, looks like Maryland (when they were starting PRIOR to Labor Day) had higher average scores for white student than New Jersey, Massachusettes and Virginia (all of which started AFTER Labor Day when these SATs were taken).

I don't know if there will be any change now that Va is starting earlier. But, your premise is faulty. NY, MA, and CT == starting after Labor Day == have not historically been higher scoring than a state that started before Labor Day.

https://lesacreduprintemps19.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/sat-participation-scores-by-state-and-race.pdf (see p. 92).

[Anonymous]

Oop... I meant to say "NJ" in that last paragraph. But, NY works too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's interesting to note that the states best known for top notch public k-12 education, like New Jersey, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Connecticut, etc. are all on the "start after Labor Day, out mid-late June" calendar. Not saying that these states have superior outcomes BECAUSE of that schedule, but the "but the standardized tests!!!!" argument holds very little merit when you consider this.

The argument is NOT because of standardized tests.

The argument is because of AP tests, which are completely different from standardized tests in elementary.

[Anonymous]

I much prefer Arlington's choice to open after Labor Day. The work schedule in DC is somewhat unique, in that business really dies down in August - it's much easier to get time off at the end of August than end of June.