2020-2021 FCPS Calender

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My preferred calendar is considered to be a modified year round calendar. I think 2-3 weeks between quarters and a 6-8 week summer is best for all.

Oh how I wish the school system would seriously consider this schedule. I am a teacher and a parent and I would love it. This way, you can embed professional development for teachers (a couple days during each of the quarterly breaks), w/o having to front- or back-load it onto the school year, and you don't have to take time away from your classroom/students w/ sub coverage (which the superintendent has said multiple times that he wants us as a system to get away from). Kids that require childcare when school is not in session need it no matter how you break up the school year--in my mind's eye, you can get camps going for the quarterly breaks (I realize staffing them might prove to be challenging, since college kids will be away--I'm not sure how it could work).

I also support this (am a parent). Has or will this ever be seriously considered?

Give it a bit of time and the folks who think this idea is awful will show up and yell at you. I would love a year round schedule but so many people are tied to the traditional schedule that getting any traction on a year round idea is challenging.

Right! The wealthy people who take their kids to the beach every summer will freak out!!

Omg I know!! Wtf is wrong with people who want to actually see their kids! Freaks.

[Anonymous]

Well, they need to experiment with a year-round calendar again because the FCPS of a decade or so ago is not the FCPS of today. Studies have shown that a year-round calendar is highly effective in preventing knowledge loss (“summer slide”) that contributes heavily to the achievement gap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Folks - FCPS experimented with a year-round calendar about a decade ago. It’s one of the items eliminated when the budget was cut.

I believe one major reason for the failure to launch of that initiative was that it was not implemented county-wide. If you have some schools following Schedule A and the rest following Schedule B, you are going to incur more costs, therefore being "available" to be cut in lean budget times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Folks - FCPS experimented with a year-round calendar about a decade ago. It’s one of the items eliminated when the budget was cut.

I believe one major reason for the failure to launch of that initiative was that it was not implemented county-wide. If you have some schools following Schedule A and the rest following Schedule B, you are going to incur more costs, therefore being "available" to be cut in lean budget times.

This. They only tried it with 2 elementary schools. Of course that’s not going to work long term.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Folks - FCPS experimented with a year-round calendar about a decade ago. It’s one of the items eliminated when the budget was cut.

I believe one major reason for the failure to launch of that initiative was that it was not implemented county-wide. If you have some schools following Schedule A and the rest following Schedule B, you are going to incur more costs, therefore being "available" to be cut in lean budget times.

This. They only tried it with 2 elementary schools. Of course that’s not going to work long term.

7 elementary schools had the modified calendar. In 2008 the last day of school was June 13 for “regular” and June 17 for modified calendar. Of course the start dates and breaks were different. It ended in the 2010-2011 SY.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/year-round-schools-casualty-of-fairfax-budget

[Anonymous]

Anyone know when the final decision will be made?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, they need to experiment with a year-round calendar again because the FCPS of a decade or so ago is not the FCPS of today. Studies have shown that a year-round calendar is highly effective in preventing knowledge loss (“summer slide”) that contributes heavily to the achievement gap.

No they don’t. Just because the traditional calendar is inconvenient for you doesn’t mean everyone else should have to suffer. Figure out childcare like everyone else does!

[Anonymous]

The modified calendar was more expensive b/c they held "intercessions" during the off weeks. At least some teachers were still working those weeks. Kids who were struggling in a class were "invited" to academic help intercessions and other kids could choose to go to enrichment intercessions (some had to pay for it -- sliding scale). Those enrichments were like child-care for those who needed it. If you didn't need it, you could go on vacation instead. So, the school was running more weeks than a school that wasn't on the "year round" schedule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, they need to experiment with a year-round calendar again because the FCPS of a decade or so ago is not the FCPS of today. Studies have shown that a year-round calendar is highly effective in preventing knowledge loss (“summer slide”) that contributes heavily to the achievement gap.

No they don’t. Just because the traditional calendar is inconvenient for you doesn’t mean everyone else should have to suffer. Figure out childcare like everyone else does!

The traditional calendar is fine for us. The amount of vacation time doesn’t change with year round school, the vacations are spread out differently. So my DS would be going to camp the same number of weeks during year round school as he does with the traditional calendar. There would still be the same number of days off. Parents would be able to have vacations with their kids. They might even end up with vacations that cost less because of the timing.

I like the idea of the intersessions and wonder if those could be adjusted so that only kids with certain grades could attend, so anyone with a 2 or less in elementary school. I would hope that other enrichment activities would be paid for like SACC coverage is or summer camps are.

No one who is intrigued by the idea of year round school thinks it means more days in school because it doesn’t. All it means is a 2 week long spring break instead of a week. And 6 weeks of summer break while adding in another 2 week break sometime. Probably 2 weeks off at the end of each quarter and then a longer summer break.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, they need to experiment with a year-round calendar again because the FCPS of a decade or so ago is not the FCPS of today. Studies have shown that a year-round calendar is highly effective in preventing knowledge loss (“summer slide”) that contributes heavily to the achievement gap.

No they don’t. Just because the traditional calendar is inconvenient for you doesn’t mean everyone else should have to suffer. Figure out childcare like everyone else does!

The traditional calendar is fine for us. The amount of vacation time doesn’t change with year round school, the vacations are spread out differently. So my DS would be going to camp the same number of weeks during year round school as he does with the traditional calendar. There would still be the same number of days off. Parents would be able to have vacations with their kids. They might even end up with vacations that cost less because of the timing.

I like the idea of the intersessions and wonder if those could be adjusted so that only kids with certain grades could attend, so anyone with a 2 or less in elementary school. I would hope that other enrichment activities would be paid for like SACC coverage is or summer camps are.

No one who is intrigued by the idea of year round school thinks it means more days in school because it doesn’t. All it means is a 2 week long spring break instead of a week. And 6 weeks of summer break while adding in another 2 week break sometime. Probably 2 weeks off at the end of each quarter and then a longer summer break.

God, you’re insufferable. Get a life!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My preferred calendar is considered to be a modified year round calendar. I think 2-3 weeks between quarters and a 6-8 week summer is best for all.

Oh how I wish the school system would seriously consider this schedule. I am a teacher and a parent and I would love it. This way, you can embed professional development for teachers (a couple days during each of the quarterly breaks), w/o having to front- or back-load it onto the school year, and you don't have to take time away from your classroom/students w/ sub coverage (which the superintendent has said multiple times that he wants us as a system to get away from). Kids that require childcare when school is not in session need it no matter how you break up the school year--in my mind's eye, you can get camps going for the quarterly breaks (I realize staffing them might prove to be challenging, since college kids will be away--I'm not sure how it could work).

I also support this (am a parent). Has or will this ever be seriously considered?

Give it a bit of time and the folks who think this idea is awful will show up and yell at you. I would love a year round schedule but so many people are tied to the traditional schedule that getting any traction on a year round idea is challenging.

Right! The wealthy people who take their kids to the beach every summer will freak out!!

Omg I know!! Wtf is wrong with people who want to actually see their kids! Freaks.

Nice try, but there would be the same number of days off with a year-round schedule as with a summer-off schedule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, they need to experiment with a year-round calendar again because the FCPS of a decade or so ago is not the FCPS of today. Studies have shown that a year-round calendar is highly effective in preventing knowledge loss (“summer slide”) that contributes heavily to the achievement gap.

No they don’t. Just because the traditional calendar is inconvenient for you doesn’t mean everyone else should have to suffer. Figure out childcare like everyone else does!

Why is it suffering? Personally I would rather have a couple of weeks off at a time with my children over the course of the school year rather than in one big chunk. I feel like that would be much more valuable.

[Anonymous]

Did you all get the calendar survey today? I'm glad they sent a survey but I am annoyed that for the two options at the end - the one that has us starting a week later, has us ending a week and half later. They should have offered an option to start a week later and end only a week later.

[Anonymous]

there are no good options for the 2020-2021 calendar.

why does inauguration day need to be a day off from school?With the Monday holiday, a TWD and inauguration it will be a 2 day week. What is the point?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:there are no good options for the 2020-2021 calendar.

why does inauguration day need to be a day off from school?With the Monday holiday, a TWD and inauguration it will be a 2 day week. What is the point?

I voted that I don't care whether they get inauguration day off or not.