2026-2027 calendar updates

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think that the kids should go back earlier. Unless you have a beach house or are a SAHP that last week of summer is tough to manage. I do not think the calendar should change for 2026 but it would be good to announce for 2027 now!

Uh, you do realize that if they start school a week earlier, the week before will still be hard to find camps. It will be no different than the current situation, just a week sooner.

+1 And you do realize that students all over the county go back to school in July, or early August or even in mid-August in Virginia--yet somehow people there don't lose their minds whining that summer has been ruined and that it will be impossible to go to camp or the beach.

I think you got that post in reverse order as going back in July is the WORST and that is HORRIBLE! Going back in early August is rough too but if they get out equivalently early I guess it's survivable. Nobody should go back in July and if they go back in early August they should get out three weeks earlier than a late August start.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think that the kids should go back earlier. Unless you have a beach house or are a SAHP that last week of summer is tough to manage. I do not think the calendar should change for 2026 but it would be good to announce for 2027 now!

Uh, you do realize that if they start school a week earlier, the week before will still be hard to find camps. It will be no different than the current situation, just a week sooner.

+1 And you do realize that students all over the county go back to school in July, or early August or even in mid-August in Virginia--yet somehow people there don't lose their minds whining that summer has been ruined and that it will be impossible to go to camp or the beach.

And yet none of those school systems are proposing changes on less than four months notice. 🤔

How do you know that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think that the kids should go back earlier. Unless you have a beach house or are a SAHP that last week of summer is tough to manage. I do not think the calendar should change for 2026 but it would be good to announce for 2027 now!

Uh, you do realize that if they start school a week earlier, the week before will still be hard to find camps. It will be no different than the current situation, just a week sooner.

+1 And you do realize that students all over the county go back to school in July, or early August or even in mid-August in Virginia--yet somehow people there don't lose their minds whining that summer has been ruined and that it will be impossible to go to camp or the beach.

I think you got that post in reverse order as going back in July is the WORST and that is HORRIBLE! Going back in early August is rough too but if they get out equivalently early I guess it's survivable. Nobody should go back in July and if they go back in early August they should get out three weeks earlier than a late August start.

Thousands of American school districts start school in July despite your opinion that "no one should do this." It's normal for them. This isn't a "thoughts and prayers" type of situation.

[Anonymous]

Many also start only after labor day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many also start only after labor day.

Yes, like Maryland used to just a few years ago. People have the capacity to adjust to change (despite the drama llamas on this thread screaming that the sky is falling because we might start school a few days earlier in August.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many also start only after labor day.

Yes, like Maryland used to just a few years ago. People have the capacity to adjust to change (despite the drama llamas on this thread screaming that the sky is falling because we might start school a few days earlier in August.)

T. Taylor drama when he can’t read a simple State BOE Resolution.

[Anonymous]

The early August start places tend to end the year before Memorial Day. I don’t know if other systems that spread the school year out over 10 months like we do here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2-3 days here or there make no difference to education. Kids are not being shortchanged by calendar changes. They’re being shortchanged by being addicted to cell phones and MCPS along with parents looking the other way. Y’all get riled up about the wrong things

That's your opinion. Many others would disagree. Massachusetts schedules 184 days a year and has among the highest performing states in terms of educational outcomes in the country.

You just want to take the lazy way out by blaming "cell phone addiction." And you're wrong, because there are a lot of little kids with no cell phones in MCPS who are still not achieving grade level standards.

MA is a wealthier state than MD. That accounts for the difference in their kids doing better on national tests. You think 1 extra day of school is making the difference? They also pay their teachers higher wages.

Massachusetts is also the most educated state in the nation, so you have more educated parents. Also, they use the town based system of education. During Covid oandemic, my sister's small town in Massachusetts only shut down for a short time -- they used the town community center etc. to spread kids out for instruction. In a town with one high school, one middle school, one or two elementary schools, you can do all sorts of stuff like that. We have a totally different system in Maryland. They aren't really comparable.

I'll also note for people advocating earlier start dates generally. That would be sooo great for the AP studiers. But my family out west, which start in at the very end of July, end in mid-May. So, yeah, we could start a month earlier, but I'd want to end a month earlier too! I tend to think that something in the middle -- starting mid-August, ending late May, would be ideal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2-3 days here or there make no difference to education. Kids are not being shortchanged by calendar changes. They’re being shortchanged by being addicted to cell phones and MCPS along with parents looking the other way. Y’all get riled up about the wrong things

That's your opinion. Many others would disagree. Massachusetts schedules 184 days a year and has among the highest performing states in terms of educational outcomes in the country.

You just want to take the lazy way out by blaming "cell phone addiction." And you're wrong, because there are a lot of little kids with no cell phones in MCPS who are still not achieving grade level standards.

MA is a wealthier state than MD. That accounts for the difference in their kids doing better on national tests. You think 1 extra day of school is making the difference? They also pay their teachers higher wages.

Massachusetts is also the most educated state in the nation, so you have more educated parents. Also, they use the town based system of education. During Covid oandemic, my sister's small town in Massachusetts only shut down for a short time -- they used the town community center etc. to spread kids out for instruction. In a town with one high school, one middle school, one or two elementary schools, you can do all sorts of stuff like that. We have a totally different system in Maryland. They aren't really comparable.

I'll also note for people advocating earlier start dates generally. That would be sooo great for the AP studiers. But my family out west, which start in at the very end of July, end in mid-May. So, yeah, we could start a month earlier, but I'd want to end a month earlier too! I tend to think that something in the middle -- starting mid-August, ending late May, would be ideal.

People usually say things like "they really aren't comparable" when they're trying to make excuses for why something is not performing as well as something else.

[Anonymous]

I am sooooo tired of all the holidays.

If you need to celebrate, take the day off. Make up the work. It’s an excused absence

Larry Hogan used to start school after Labor Day. It can be done.

[Anonymous]

We moved here from NW Florida. We used to go back around August 8, but we were always out the first week of June.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We moved here from NW Florida. We used to go back around August 8, but we were always out the first week of June.

I grew up in AZ. We were out by the second week of May every year. Went back first or second week of August. Ending mid June and going back mid August makes no sense

[Anonymous]

Why don’t we propose two options—get rid of all the professional days during school year or teachers start the second week of August?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We moved here from NW Florida. We used to go back around August 8, but we were always out the first week of June.

I have family in central Florida. School year ends in end-May, and they're back to school first week of August. They have fewer weeks of summer break than we do in MCPS, but they have a proper fall break week and spring break week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why don’t we propose two options—get rid of all the professional days during school year or teachers start the second week of August?

I think teachers would need to propose that, and the central office and union would need to get on board. It's not like parents are sitting around advocating for professional development days.