Middle School start times

[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.

Yes, this is what I worry about. One perk of teaching is being able to get home earlier than a 9:00-5:00 job. Get rid of that and you’ll lose a lot of teachers.

[Anonymous]

Exactly. Many teachers are moms that still have to do their second job of being a housewife after teaching all day. I get home and have to cook and clean and take care of everyone. If I get home at 5 or later there is not going to be enough time. Not to mention getting exercise, but I guess that could get switched to the morning. It’s really not that bad for middle school, but if they insist on changing the schedule, I hope it’s to make elementary schools start early.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

The 7:30 am slot was not an option for any of the schools.

[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.

Yes, this is what I worry about. One perk of teaching is being able to get home earlier than a 9:00-5:00 job. Get rid of that and you’ll lose a lot of teachers.

What kind of teacher are you? Teaching has never strictly been a 9-5 job!

[Anonymous]

A lot of middle school teachers prefer the early current schedule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of middle school teachers prefer the early current schedule.

It will still be early - 8 am.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of middle school teachers prefer the early current schedule.

It will still be early - 8 am.

Bwah ha ha ha. 🤣

[Anonymous]

Option E is terrific. I wish they would start this fall 2025. Why wait?

[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.

Not true. E would only be a 30 minute bump to what ES is now and would be better to have 30 min later than is now. And for those saying no ES teacher wants to go until after 4, there are many ES now that end after 4 already.

[Anonymous]

SB is boxed in. They can’t add any buses at the same time that they are claiming they need comprehensive boundary changes to reduce costs.

[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.

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.

Not true. E would only be a 30 minute bump to what ES is now and would be better to have 30 min later than is now. And for those saying no ES teacher wants to go until after 4, there are many ES now that end after 4 already.

I am the PP. I teach at a late ES. This schedule is awful. The kids are done by 3:00-3:15. While dismissal is at 4:05, the busses don’t leave till 4:20. That is if they are all on time. We usually have at least one bus late. Kids are currently getting home anywhere from 4:30-5:00 currently. Move that back and all of these kids will be getting home between 5:00-5:30. Walkers will be doing so in the dark. We have 3 year olds to 6th grade in my building. Currently with this schedule, I get to daycare between 5-5:15 in another county. With a push back of 30 mins, I would have to leave the county. I currently only get about 2 hours with my kid currently since he goes to bed around 7-7:30. ES is currently the hardest to staff besides special ed. I can think of at least 5-10 teachers at my school alone who would leave because of this. The commute for more money won’t be worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SB is boxed in. They can’t add any buses at the same time that they are claiming they need comprehensive boundary changes to reduce costs.

They cane up with an option to make middle school the late school which imo is the best solution. If anyone should have a crappy schedule it should be them since it is only two years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of middle school teachers prefer the early current schedule.

It will still be early - 8 am.

Noooo.

8AM is the high school start time.

They have real homework, jobs, actual activities that go very late, and grades that matter.

They need to keep the 8-3 ish schedule for the high school.

Middle school does not need the most convenient time slot

It is 2 friggin years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SB is boxed in. They can’t add any buses at the same time that they are claiming they need comprehensive boundary changes to reduce costs.

They cane up with an option to make middle school the late school which imo is the best solution. If anyone should have a crappy schedule it should be them since it is only two years.

Agree.

Give the elementary kids the early schedule.

Keep high school roughly the same, to maybe 20/30 minutes later.

Give the middle schools the crappy late schedule

[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. It's 2 years. Leave it as is and find something else to worry about.