How DO we get the calendar changed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For high schoolers, I notice a lot of specialty
camps start before school before school is even out! Some start in May and in June so it is not even a possibility for Fairfax kids to attend.

Bingo!
And, orientation for some colleges begins before FCPS high schoolers graduate.

[Anonymous]

The calendar is the way it is because that is what the teachers and teacher unions want. Simple as that

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What's wrong with the calendar? It's good to have more days off to give both families and teachers a breather from the miserable daily grind. As a parent, I don't understand why parents of older kids who do not need babysitting (I get it when parents need daycare) want more school days.

My other concern is teachers unavailability to timely grade tests/assignments and post for parental review as is. Even with all the days dedicated to having teachers catch up on this work, they don't have ability to do this already, grades can be lagging weeks, which makes it difficult for the parents to assess when their child needs help. There is already little to no communications between schools/teachers and parents when kids aren't doing well or fail before things get worse (due to delayed posting of progress) that it's impossible to catch up or do anything. So, no, I don't want more schools days, more assignments, more prolonged busy work for my kids and myself as a working parent. I want to also have more days for kids to catch up on assignments, on sleep, or to simply decompress, hang out with friends beyond organized activities, etc.

I get it that a lot of parents want longer or around-the-year school situation where kids are out of their hair daily, but this also heavily penalizes families who do not need this and don't want their kids to be punished for absences.

And for this whole thing with more days of school to work, we seriously need to have more teachers, fewer kids per class, to allow teacher to spend time to grade, assess who needs help, provide help to the kids who fail or underperform, provide extra challenges for kids who overachieve and are bored, etc. have ability to contact parents when needed, etc.

You misunderstand. Many parents want kids in schools 5 days a week because all of these 3 or 4 day weeks extend the school year and make summer break shorter.

Exactly. A longer summer provides opportunities for high achieving high school students to do the summer enrichment programs and still start practice for fall sports and have some downtime. A Tuesday at home in Chantilly is a waste compared to a week in New Haven.

Ok, for the 1% the longer summer break is better. For everyone else, there is significant learning loss over the summer.

It’s way more than “the 1%”. Its every student with any value or interest outside the limits of FCPS offering. For example:

1. International students for whom the summer is the only opportunity to see family/immerse in language
2. Serious athletes especially in non-school programs like ballet and ice skating
3. Serious musicians doing summer conservatory programs
4. Families who send their kids to religiously affiliated camps — this is a big deal for a lot of Jewish families in the NE

And I don’t dispute that there may be learning loss. Parents can make a choice to send their kids to summer school if learning loss is their #1 concern. But for many, many Fairfax families, learning loss is an acceptable tradeoff to meet the needs that aren’t met in school .

Those are wants vs needs

There’s no “need” to be off on a random March Tuesday in order to limit families summer activities. Kids who need more school in the summer can sign up for summer school, but most kids don’t need it.

Gosh, it must be hard to be you. All that free summer time and money to spend on your kids lessons, camps and vacations, yet you are still miserable because the world isn’t meeting your perceived “needs.”

Look, if your kid is so significantly behind that they need a shorter summer to stay on track, I’m sympathetic. That must be hard. But most families have things they prioritize outside school— language, arts, sports, culture, even just family time. Public school cannot, and isn’t intended to, replace those things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What's wrong with the calendar? It's good to have more days off to give both families and teachers a breather from the miserable daily grind. As a parent, I don't understand why parents of older kids who do not need babysitting (I get it when parents need daycare) want more school days.

My other concern is teachers unavailability to timely grade tests/assignments and post for parental review as is. Even with all the days dedicated to having teachers catch up on this work, they don't have ability to do this already, grades can be lagging weeks, which makes it difficult for the parents to assess when their child needs help. There is already little to no communications between schools/teachers and parents when kids aren't doing well or fail before things get worse (due to delayed posting of progress) that it's impossible to catch up or do anything. So, no, I don't want more schools days, more assignments, more prolonged busy work for my kids and myself as a working parent. I want to also have more days for kids to catch up on assignments, on sleep, or to simply decompress, hang out with friends beyond organized activities, etc.

I get it that a lot of parents want longer or around-the-year school situation where kids are out of their hair daily, but this also heavily penalizes families who do not need this and don't want their kids to be punished for absences.

And for this whole thing with more days of school to work, we seriously need to have more teachers, fewer kids per class, to allow teacher to spend time to grade, assess who needs help, provide help to the kids who fail or underperform, provide extra challenges for kids who overachieve and are bored, etc. have ability to contact parents when needed, etc.

You misunderstand. Many parents want kids in schools 5 days a week because all of these 3 or 4 day weeks extend the school year and make summer break shorter.

Exactly. A longer summer provides opportunities for high achieving high school students to do the summer enrichment programs and still start practice for fall sports and have some downtime. A Tuesday at home in Chantilly is a waste compared to a week in New Haven.

Ok, for the 1% the longer summer break is better. For everyone else, there is significant learning loss over the summer.

It’s way more than “the 1%”. Its every student with any value or interest outside the limits of FCPS offering. For example:

1. International students for whom the summer is the only opportunity to see family/immerse in language
2. Serious athletes especially in non-school programs like ballet and ice skating
3. Serious musicians doing summer conservatory programs
4. Families who send their kids to religiously affiliated camps — this is a big deal for a lot of Jewish families in the NE

And I don’t dispute that there may be learning loss. Parents can make a choice to send their kids to summer school if learning loss is their #1 concern. But for many, many Fairfax families, learning loss is an acceptable tradeoff to meet the needs that aren’t met in school .

Those are wants vs needs

There’s no “need” to be off on a random March Tuesday in order to limit families summer activities. Kids who need more school in the summer can sign up for summer school, but most kids don’t need it.

Gosh, it must be hard to be you. All that free summer time and money to spend on your kids lessons, camps and vacations, yet you are still miserable because the world isn’t meeting your perceived “needs.”

Look, if your kid is so significantly behind that they need a shorter summer to stay on track, I’m sympathetic. That must be hard. But most families have things they prioritize outside school— language, arts, sports, culture, even just family time. Public school cannot, and isn’t intended to, replace those things.

DP. I like having our outside priorities year-round, not crammed into summer months.

I’d much rather have a shorter summer and have more extended breaks spread throughout the school year.

My kid can still have her summer job, maybe lasting 7 weeks instead of 9. And then we can have a family vacation in October or February, when we don’t have to take her out of her job just to travel during the crowded summer months.

You, PP, don’t speak for all of us. Bring on the shorter summer!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What's wrong with the calendar? It's good to have more days off to give both families and teachers a breather from the miserable daily grind. As a parent, I don't understand why parents of older kids who do not need babysitting (I get it when parents need daycare) want more school days.

My other concern is teachers unavailability to timely grade tests/assignments and post for parental review as is. Even with all the days dedicated to having teachers catch up on this work, they don't have ability to do this already, grades can be lagging weeks, which makes it difficult for the parents to assess when their child needs help. There is already little to no communications between schools/teachers and parents when kids aren't doing well or fail before things get worse (due to delayed posting of progress) that it's impossible to catch up or do anything. So, no, I don't want more schools days, more assignments, more prolonged busy work for my kids and myself as a working parent. I want to also have more days for kids to catch up on assignments, on sleep, or to simply decompress, hang out with friends beyond organized activities, etc.

I get it that a lot of parents want longer or around-the-year school situation where kids are out of their hair daily, but this also heavily penalizes families who do not need this and don't want their kids to be punished for absences.

And for this whole thing with more days of school to work, we seriously need to have more teachers, fewer kids per class, to allow teacher to spend time to grade, assess who needs help, provide help to the kids who fail or underperform, provide extra challenges for kids who overachieve and are bored, etc. have ability to contact parents when needed, etc.

You misunderstand. Many parents want kids in schools 5 days a week because all of these 3 or 4 day weeks extend the school year and make summer break shorter.

Exactly. A longer summer provides opportunities for high achieving high school students to do the summer enrichment programs and still start practice for fall sports and have some downtime. A Tuesday at home in Chantilly is a waste compared to a week in New Haven.

Ok, for the 1% the longer summer break is better. For everyone else, there is significant learning loss over the summer.

It’s way more than “the 1%”. Its every student with any value or interest outside the limits of FCPS offering. For example:

1. International students for whom the summer is the only opportunity to see family/immerse in language
2. Serious athletes especially in non-school programs like ballet and ice skating
3. Serious musicians doing summer conservatory programs
4. Families who send their kids to religiously affiliated camps — this is a big deal for a lot of Jewish families in the NE

And I don’t dispute that there may be learning loss. Parents can make a choice to send their kids to summer school if learning loss is their #1 concern. But for many, many Fairfax families, learning loss is an acceptable tradeoff to meet the needs that aren’t met in school .

Those are wants vs needs

There’s no “need” to be off on a random March Tuesday in order to limit families summer activities. Kids who need more school in the summer can sign up for summer school, but most kids don’t need it.

Gosh, it must be hard to be you. All that free summer time and money to spend on your kids lessons, camps and vacations, yet you are still miserable because the world isn’t meeting your perceived “needs.”

Look, if your kid is so significantly behind that they need a shorter summer to stay on track, I’m sympathetic. That must be hard. But most families have things they prioritize outside school— language, arts, sports, culture, even just family time. Public school cannot, and isn’t intended to, replace those things.

DP. I like having our outside priorities year-round, not crammed into summer months.

I’d much rather have a shorter summer and have more extended breaks spread throughout the school year.

My kid can still have her summer job, maybe lasting 7 weeks instead of 9. And then we can have a family vacation in October or February, when we don’t have to take her out of her job just to travel during the crowded summer months.

You, PP, don’t speak for all of us.[b] Bring on the shorter summer!

You don’t speak for all of us either. Some us want a longer summer and fewer disrupted weeks during the school year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What's wrong with the calendar? It's good to have more days off to give both families and teachers a breather from the miserable daily grind. As a parent, I don't understand why parents of older kids who do not need babysitting (I get it when parents need daycare) want more school days.

My other concern is teachers unavailability to timely grade tests/assignments and post for parental review as is. Even with all the days dedicated to having teachers catch up on this work, they don't have ability to do this already, grades can be lagging weeks, which makes it difficult for the parents to assess when their child needs help. There is already little to no communications between schools/teachers and parents when kids aren't doing well or fail before things get worse (due to delayed posting of progress) that it's impossible to catch up or do anything. So, no, I don't want more schools days, more assignments, more prolonged busy work for my kids and myself as a working parent. I want to also have more days for kids to catch up on assignments, on sleep, or to simply decompress, hang out with friends beyond organized activities, etc.

I get it that a lot of parents want longer or around-the-year school situation where kids are out of their hair daily, but this also heavily penalizes families who do not need this and don't want their kids to be punished for absences.

And for this whole thing with more days of school to work, we seriously need to have more teachers, fewer kids per class, to allow teacher to spend time to grade, assess who needs help, provide help to the kids who fail or underperform, provide extra challenges for kids who overachieve and are bored, etc. have ability to contact parents when needed, etc.

You misunderstand. Many parents want kids in schools 5 days a week because all of these 3 or 4 day weeks extend the school year and make summer break shorter.

Exactly. A longer summer provides opportunities for high achieving high school students to do the summer enrichment programs and still start practice for fall sports and have some downtime. A Tuesday at home in Chantilly is a waste compared to a week in New Haven.

Ok, for the 1% the longer summer break is better. For everyone else, there is significant learning loss over the summer.

It’s way more than “the 1%”. Its every student with any value or interest outside the limits of FCPS offering. For example:

1. International students for whom the summer is the only opportunity to see family/immerse in language
2. Serious athletes especially in non-school programs like ballet and ice skating
3. Serious musicians doing summer conservatory programs
4. Families who send their kids to religiously affiliated camps — this is a big deal for a lot of Jewish families in the NE

And I don’t dispute that there may be learning loss. Parents can make a choice to send their kids to summer school if learning loss is their #1 concern. But for many, many Fairfax families, learning loss is an acceptable tradeoff to meet the needs that aren’t met in school .

Those are wants vs needs

There’s no “need” to be off on a random March Tuesday in order to limit families summer activities. Kids who need more school in the summer can sign up for summer school, but most kids don’t need it.

Gosh, it must be hard to be you. All that free summer time and money to spend on your kids lessons, camps and vacations, yet you are still miserable because the world isn’t meeting your perceived “needs.”

Look, if your kid is so significantly behind that they need a shorter summer to stay on track, I’m sympathetic. That must be hard. But most families have things they prioritize outside school— language, arts, sports, culture, even just family time. Public school cannot, and isn’t intended to, replace those things.

DP. I like having our outside priorities year-round, not crammed into summer months.

I’d much rather have a shorter summer and have more extended breaks spread throughout the school year.

My kid can still have her summer job, maybe lasting 7 weeks instead of 9. And then we can have a family vacation in October or February, when we don’t have to take her out of her job just to travel during the crowded summer months.

You, PP, don’t speak for all of us. Bring on the shorter summer!

But that isn’t what we have either. We have short summers and 3 and 4 day weeks. I don’t think people with family abroad can squeeze a family vacation into a five day weekend in October or May.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What's wrong with the calendar? It's good to have more days off to give both families and teachers a breather from the miserable daily grind. As a parent, I don't understand why parents of older kids who do not need babysitting (I get it when parents need daycare) want more school days.

My other concern is teachers unavailability to timely grade tests/assignments and post for parental review as is. Even with all the days dedicated to having teachers catch up on this work, they don't have ability to do this already, grades can be lagging weeks, which makes it difficult for the parents to assess when their child needs help. There is already little to no communications between schools/teachers and parents when kids aren't doing well or fail before things get worse (due to delayed posting of progress) that it's impossible to catch up or do anything. So, no, I don't want more schools days, more assignments, more prolonged busy work for my kids and myself as a working parent. I want to also have more days for kids to catch up on assignments, on sleep, or to simply decompress, hang out with friends beyond organized activities, etc.

I get it that a lot of parents want longer or around-the-year school situation where kids are out of their hair daily, but this also heavily penalizes families who do not need this and don't want their kids to be punished for absences.

And for this whole thing with more days of school to work, we seriously need to have more teachers, fewer kids per class, to allow teacher to spend time to grade, assess who needs help, provide help to the kids who fail or underperform, provide extra challenges for kids who overachieve and are bored, etc. have ability to contact parents when needed, etc.

You misunderstand. Many parents want kids in schools 5 days a week because all of these 3 or 4 day weeks extend the school year and make summer break shorter.

Exactly. A longer summer provides opportunities for high achieving high school students to do the summer enrichment programs and still start practice for fall sports and have some downtime. A Tuesday at home in Chantilly is a waste compared to a week in New Haven.

Ok, for the 1% the longer summer break is better. For everyone else, there is significant learning loss over the summer.

It’s way more than “the 1%”. Its every student with any value or interest outside the limits of FCPS offering. For example:

1. International students for whom the summer is the only opportunity to see family/immerse in language
2. Serious athletes especially in non-school programs like ballet and ice skating
3. Serious musicians doing summer conservatory programs
4. Families who send their kids to religiously affiliated camps — this is a big deal for a lot of Jewish families in the NE

And I don’t dispute that there may be learning loss. Parents can make a choice to send their kids to summer school if learning loss is their #1 concern. But for many, many Fairfax families, learning loss is an acceptable tradeoff to meet the needs that aren’t met in school .

Those are wants vs needs

There’s no “need” to be off on a random March Tuesday in order to limit families summer activities. Kids who need more school in the summer can sign up for summer school, but most kids don’t need it.

Gosh, it must be hard to be you. All that free summer time and money to spend on your kids lessons, camps and vacations, yet you are still miserable because the world isn’t meeting your perceived “needs.”

Look, if your kid is so significantly behind that they need a shorter summer to stay on track, I’m sympathetic. That must be hard. But most families have things they prioritize outside school— language, arts, sports, culture, even just family time. Public school cannot, and isn’t intended to, replace those things.

DP. I like having our outside priorities year-round, not crammed into summer months.

I’d much rather have a shorter summer and have more extended breaks spread throughout the school year.

My kid can still have her summer job, maybe lasting 7 weeks instead of 9. And then we can have a family vacation in October or February, when we don’t have to take her out of her job just to travel during the crowded summer months.

You, PP, don’t speak for all of us.[b] Bring on the shorter summer!

You don’t speak for all of us either. Some us want a longer summer and fewer disrupted weeks during the school year.

Great! So we agree.

So let’s stop with the “most people feel…” this and the “all high schoolers need…” that.

No solution is going to make everybody happy because we are all invested in our own interests, like the poster who keeps bringing up prestigious summer internships that impact like .003% of high schoolers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What's wrong with the calendar? It's good to have more days off to give both families and teachers a breather from the miserable daily grind. As a parent, I don't understand why parents of older kids who do not need babysitting (I get it when parents need daycare) want more school days.

My other concern is teachers unavailability to timely grade tests/assignments and post for parental review as is. Even with all the days dedicated to having teachers catch up on this work, they don't have ability to do this already, grades can be lagging weeks, which makes it difficult for the parents to assess when their child needs help. There is already little to no communications between schools/teachers and parents when kids aren't doing well or fail before things get worse (due to delayed posting of progress) that it's impossible to catch up or do anything. So, no, I don't want more schools days, more assignments, more prolonged busy work for my kids and myself as a working parent. I want to also have more days for kids to catch up on assignments, on sleep, or to simply decompress, hang out with friends beyond organized activities, etc.

I get it that a lot of parents want longer or around-the-year school situation where kids are out of their hair daily, but this also heavily penalizes families who do not need this and don't want their kids to be punished for absences.

And for this whole thing with more days of school to work, we seriously need to have more teachers, fewer kids per class, to allow teacher to spend time to grade, assess who needs help, provide help to the kids who fail or underperform, provide extra challenges for kids who overachieve and are bored, etc. have ability to contact parents when needed, etc.

You misunderstand. Many parents want kids in schools 5 days a week because all of these 3 or 4 day weeks extend the school year and make summer break shorter.

Exactly. A longer summer provides opportunities for high achieving high school students to do the summer enrichment programs and still start practice for fall sports and have some downtime. A Tuesday at home in Chantilly is a waste compared to a week in New Haven.

Ok, for the 1% the longer summer break is better. For everyone else, there is significant learning loss over the summer.

It’s way more than “the 1%”. Its every student with any value or interest outside the limits of FCPS offering. For example:

1. International students for whom the summer is the only opportunity to see family/immerse in language
2. Serious athletes especially in non-school programs like ballet and ice skating
3. Serious musicians doing summer conservatory programs
4. Families who send their kids to religiously affiliated camps — this is a big deal for a lot of Jewish families in the NE

And I don’t dispute that there may be learning loss. Parents can make a choice to send their kids to summer school if learning loss is their #1 concern. But for many, many Fairfax families, learning loss is an acceptable tradeoff to meet the needs that aren’t met in school .

Those are wants vs needs

There’s no “need” to be off on a random March Tuesday in order to limit families summer activities. Kids who need more school in the summer can sign up for summer school, but most kids don’t need it.

Gosh, it must be hard to be you. All that free summer time and money to spend on your kids lessons, camps and vacations, yet you are still miserable because the world isn’t meeting your perceived “needs.”

Look, if your kid is so significantly behind that they need a shorter summer to stay on track, I’m sympathetic. That must be hard. But most families have things they prioritize outside school— language, arts, sports, culture, even just family time. Public school cannot, and isn’t intended to, replace those things.

DP. I like having our outside priorities year-round, not crammed into summer months.

I’d much rather have a shorter summer and have more extended breaks spread throughout the school year.

My kid can still have her summer job, maybe lasting 7 weeks instead of 9. And then we can have a family vacation in October or February, when we don’t have to take her out of her job just to travel during the crowded summer months.

You, PP, don’t speak for all of us. Bring on the shorter summer!

But that isn’t what we have either. We have short summers and 3 and 4 day weeks. I don’t think people with family abroad can squeeze a family vacation into a five day weekend in October or May.

Why not? I’ve done it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What's wrong with the calendar? It's good to have more days off to give both families and teachers a breather from the miserable daily grind. As a parent, I don't understand why parents of older kids who do not need babysitting (I get it when parents need daycare) want more school days.

My other concern is teachers unavailability to timely grade tests/assignments and post for parental review as is. Even with all the days dedicated to having teachers catch up on this work, they don't have ability to do this already, grades can be lagging weeks, which makes it difficult for the parents to assess when their child needs help. There is already little to no communications between schools/teachers and parents when kids aren't doing well or fail before things get worse (due to delayed posting of progress) that it's impossible to catch up or do anything. So, no, I don't want more schools days, more assignments, more prolonged busy work for my kids and myself as a working parent. I want to also have more days for kids to catch up on assignments, on sleep, or to simply decompress, hang out with friends beyond organized activities, etc.

I get it that a lot of parents want longer or around-the-year school situation where kids are out of their hair daily, but this also heavily penalizes families who do not need this and don't want their kids to be punished for absences.

And for this whole thing with more days of school to work, we seriously need to have more teachers, fewer kids per class, to allow teacher to spend time to grade, assess who needs help, provide help to the kids who fail or underperform, provide extra challenges for kids who overachieve and are bored, etc. have ability to contact parents when needed, etc.

You misunderstand. Many parents want kids in schools 5 days a week because all of these 3 or 4 day weeks extend the school year and make summer break shorter.

Exactly. A longer summer provides opportunities for high achieving high school students to do the summer enrichment programs and still start practice for fall sports and have some downtime. A Tuesday at home in Chantilly is a waste compared to a week in New Haven.

Ok, for the 1% the longer summer break is better. For everyone else, there is significant learning loss over the summer.

It’s way more than “the 1%”. Its every student with any value or interest outside the limits of FCPS offering. For example:

1. International students for whom the summer is the only opportunity to see family/immerse in language
2. Serious athletes especially in non-school programs like ballet and ice skating
3. Serious musicians doing summer conservatory programs
4. Families who send their kids to religiously affiliated camps — this is a big deal for a lot of Jewish families in the NE

And I don’t dispute that there may be learning loss. Parents can make a choice to send their kids to summer school if learning loss is their #1 concern. But for many, many Fairfax families, learning loss is an acceptable tradeoff to meet the needs that aren’t met in school .

Those are wants vs needs

There’s no “need” to be off on a random March Tuesday in order to limit families summer activities. Kids who need more school in the summer can sign up for summer school, but most kids don’t need it.

Gosh, it must be hard to be you. All that free summer time and money to spend on your kids lessons, camps and vacations, yet you are still miserable because the world isn’t meeting your perceived “needs.”

Look, if your kid is so significantly behind that they need a shorter summer to stay on track, I’m sympathetic. That must be hard. But most families have things they prioritize outside school— language, arts, sports, culture, even just family time. Public school cannot, and isn’t intended to, replace those things.

DP. I like having our outside priorities year-round, not crammed into summer months.

I’d much rather have a shorter summer and have more extended breaks spread throughout the school year.

My kid can still have her summer job, maybe lasting 7 weeks instead of 9. And then we can have a family vacation in October or February, when we don’t have to take her out of her job just to travel during the crowded summer months.

You, PP, don’t speak for all of us.[b] Bring on the shorter summer!

You don’t speak for all of us either. Some us want a longer summer and fewer disrupted weeks during the school year.

Great! So we agree.

So let’s stop with the “most people feel…” this and the “all high schoolers need…” that.

No solution is going to make everybody happy because we are all invested in our own interests, like the poster who keeps bringing up prestigious summer internships that impact like .003% of high schoolers.

Most people do want long summers. Thats why there was such outcry this year, including from teachers. Absolutely no one got up and said 25-26 was a good calendar for students or families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What's wrong with the calendar? It's good to have more days off to give both families and teachers a breather from the miserable daily grind. As a parent, I don't understand why parents of older kids who do not need babysitting (I get it when parents need daycare) want more school days.

My other concern is teachers unavailability to timely grade tests/assignments and post for parental review as is. Even with all the days dedicated to having teachers catch up on this work, they don't have ability to do this already, grades can be lagging weeks, which makes it difficult for the parents to assess when their child needs help. There is already little to no communications between schools/teachers and parents when kids aren't doing well or fail before things get worse (due to delayed posting of progress) that it's impossible to catch up or do anything. So, no, I don't want more schools days, more assignments, more prolonged busy work for my kids and myself as a working parent. I want to also have more days for kids to catch up on assignments, on sleep, or to simply decompress, hang out with friends beyond organized activities, etc.

I get it that a lot of parents want longer or around-the-year school situation where kids are out of their hair daily, but this also heavily penalizes families who do not need this and don't want their kids to be punished for absences.

And for this whole thing with more days of school to work, we seriously need to have more teachers, fewer kids per class, to allow teacher to spend time to grade, assess who needs help, provide help to the kids who fail or underperform, provide extra challenges for kids who overachieve and are bored, etc. have ability to contact parents when needed, etc.

You misunderstand. Many parents want kids in schools 5 days a week because all of these 3 or 4 day weeks extend the school year and make summer break shorter.

Exactly. A longer summer provides opportunities for high achieving high school students to do the summer enrichment programs and still start practice for fall sports and have some downtime. A Tuesday at home in Chantilly is a waste compared to a week in New Haven.

Ok, for the 1% the longer summer break is better. For everyone else, there is significant learning loss over the summer.

It’s way more than “the 1%”. Its every student with any value or interest outside the limits of FCPS offering. For example:

1. International students for whom the summer is the only opportunity to see family/immerse in language
2. Serious athletes especially in non-school programs like ballet and ice skating
3. Serious musicians doing summer conservatory programs
4. Families who send their kids to religiously affiliated camps — this is a big deal for a lot of Jewish families in the NE

And I don’t dispute that there may be learning loss. Parents can make a choice to send their kids to summer school if learning loss is their #1 concern. But for many, many Fairfax families, learning loss is an acceptable tradeoff to meet the needs that aren’t met in school .

Those are wants vs needs

There’s no “need” to be off on a random March Tuesday in order to limit families summer activities. Kids who need more school in the summer can sign up for summer school, but most kids don’t need it.

Gosh, it must be hard to be you. All that free summer time and money to spend on your kids lessons, camps and vacations, yet you are still miserable because the world isn’t meeting your perceived “needs.”

Look, if your kid is so significantly behind that they need a shorter summer to stay on track, I’m sympathetic. That must be hard. But most families have things they prioritize outside school— language, arts, sports, culture, even just family time. Public school cannot, and isn’t intended to, replace those things.

DP. I like having our outside priorities year-round, not crammed into summer months.

I’d much rather have a shorter summer and have more extended breaks spread throughout the school year.

My kid can still have her summer job, maybe lasting 7 weeks instead of 9. And then we can have a family vacation in October or February, when we don’t have to take her out of her job just to travel during the crowded summer months.

You, PP, don’t speak for all of us.[b] Bring on the shorter summer!

You don’t speak for all of us either. Some us want a longer summer and fewer disrupted weeks during the school year.

Great! So we agree.

So let’s stop with the “most people feel…” this and the “all high schoolers need…” that.

No solution is going to make everybody happy because we are all invested in our own interests, like the poster who keeps bringing up prestigious summer internships that impact like .003% of high schoolers.

Most people do want long summers. Thats why there was such outcry this year, including from teachers. Absolutely no one got up and said 25-26 was a good calendar for students or families.

Look… the loudest voices don’t always represent the bigger group.

And my point remains. No solution is going to please everybody because most people are fixated on their own interests.

I posted above about summer brain drain and how much time is wasted every school year reviewing the prior year’s material. I was met with comments about vacations and swim team, etc.

Let’s not pretend that people’s interests represent what’s best for the majority of students. It’s what’s best for them: their kids, their schedules, their preferences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What's wrong with the calendar? It's good to have more days off to give both families and teachers a breather from the miserable daily grind. As a parent, I don't understand why parents of older kids who do not need babysitting (I get it when parents need daycare) want more school days.

My other concern is teachers unavailability to timely grade tests/assignments and post for parental review as is. Even with all the days dedicated to having teachers catch up on this work, they don't have ability to do this already, grades can be lagging weeks, which makes it difficult for the parents to assess when their child needs help. There is already little to no communications between schools/teachers and parents when kids aren't doing well or fail before things get worse (due to delayed posting of progress) that it's impossible to catch up or do anything. So, no, I don't want more schools days, more assignments, more prolonged busy work for my kids and myself as a working parent. I want to also have more days for kids to catch up on assignments, on sleep, or to simply decompress, hang out with friends beyond organized activities, etc.

I get it that a lot of parents want longer or around-the-year school situation where kids are out of their hair daily, but this also heavily penalizes families who do not need this and don't want their kids to be punished for absences.

And for this whole thing with more days of school to work, we seriously need to have more teachers, fewer kids per class, to allow teacher to spend time to grade, assess who needs help, provide help to the kids who fail or underperform, provide extra challenges for kids who overachieve and are bored, etc. have ability to contact parents when needed, etc.

You misunderstand. Many parents want kids in schools 5 days a week because all of these 3 or 4 day weeks extend the school year and make summer break shorter.

Exactly. A longer summer provides opportunities for high achieving high school students to do the summer enrichment programs and still start practice for fall sports and have some downtime. A Tuesday at home in Chantilly is a waste compared to a week in New Haven.

Ok, for the 1% the longer summer break is better. For everyone else, there is significant learning loss over the summer.

It’s way more than “the 1%”. Its every student with any value or interest outside the limits of FCPS offering. For example:

1. International students for whom the summer is the only opportunity to see family/immerse in language
2. Serious athletes especially in non-school programs like ballet and ice skating
3. Serious musicians doing summer conservatory programs
4. Families who send their kids to religiously affiliated camps — this is a big deal for a lot of Jewish families in the NE

And I don’t dispute that there may be learning loss. Parents can make a choice to send their kids to summer school if learning loss is their #1 concern. But for many, many Fairfax families, learning loss is an acceptable tradeoff to meet the needs that aren’t met in school .

Those are wants vs needs

There’s no “need” to be off on a random March Tuesday in order to limit families summer activities. Kids who need more school in the summer can sign up for summer school, but most kids don’t need it.

Gosh, it must be hard to be you. All that free summer time and money to spend on your kids lessons, camps and vacations, yet you are still miserable because the world isn’t meeting your perceived “needs.”

Look, if your kid is so significantly behind that they need a shorter summer to stay on track, I’m sympathetic. That must be hard. But most families have things they prioritize outside school— language, arts, sports, culture, even just family time. Public school cannot, and isn’t intended to, replace those things.

+100 and the teachers don’t want a shorter summer either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What's wrong with the calendar? It's good to have more days off to give both families and teachers a breather from the miserable daily grind. As a parent, I don't understand why parents of older kids who do not need babysitting (I get it when parents need daycare) want more school days.

My other concern is teachers unavailability to timely grade tests/assignments and post for parental review as is. Even with all the days dedicated to having teachers catch up on this work, they don't have ability to do this already, grades can be lagging weeks, which makes it difficult for the parents to assess when their child needs help. There is already little to no communications between schools/teachers and parents when kids aren't doing well or fail before things get worse (due to delayed posting of progress) that it's impossible to catch up or do anything. So, no, I don't want more schools days, more assignments, more prolonged busy work for my kids and myself as a working parent. I want to also have more days for kids to catch up on assignments, on sleep, or to simply decompress, hang out with friends beyond organized activities, etc.

I get it that a lot of parents want longer or around-the-year school situation where kids are out of their hair daily, but this also heavily penalizes families who do not need this and don't want their kids to be punished for absences.

And for this whole thing with more days of school to work, we seriously need to have more teachers, fewer kids per class, to allow teacher to spend time to grade, assess who needs help, provide help to the kids who fail or underperform, provide extra challenges for kids who overachieve and are bored, etc. have ability to contact parents when needed, etc.

You misunderstand. Many parents want kids in schools 5 days a week because all of these 3 or 4 day weeks extend the school year and make summer break shorter.

Exactly. A longer summer provides opportunities for high achieving high school students to do the summer enrichment programs and still start practice for fall sports and have some downtime. A Tuesday at home in Chantilly is a waste compared to a week in New Haven.

Ok, for the 1% the longer summer break is better. For everyone else, there is significant learning loss over the summer.

It’s way more than “the 1%”. Its every student with any value or interest outside the limits of FCPS offering. For example:

1. International students for whom the summer is the only opportunity to see family/immerse in language
2. Serious athletes especially in non-school programs like ballet and ice skating
3. Serious musicians doing summer conservatory programs
4. Families who send their kids to religiously affiliated camps — this is a big deal for a lot of Jewish families in the NE

And I don’t dispute that there may be learning loss. Parents can make a choice to send their kids to summer school if learning loss is their #1 concern. But for many, many Fairfax families, learning loss is an acceptable tradeoff to meet the needs that aren’t met in school .

Those are wants vs needs

There’s no “need” to be off on a random March Tuesday in order to limit families summer activities. Kids who need more school in the summer can sign up for summer school, but most kids don’t need it.

Gosh, it must be hard to be you. All that free summer time and money to spend on your kids lessons, camps and vacations, yet you are still miserable because the world isn’t meeting your perceived “needs.”

Look, if your kid is so significantly behind that they need a shorter summer to stay on track, I’m sympathetic. That must be hard. But most families have things they prioritize outside school— language, arts, sports, culture, even just family time. Public school cannot, and isn’t intended to, replace those things.

DP. I like having our outside priorities year-round, not crammed into summer months.

I’d much rather have a shorter summer and have more extended breaks spread throughout the school year.

My kid can still have her summer job, maybe lasting 7 weeks instead of 9. And then we can have a family vacation in October or February, when we don’t have to take her out of her job just to travel during the crowded summer months.

You, PP, don’t speak for all of us.[b] Bring on the shorter summer!

You don’t speak for all of us either. Some us want a longer summer and fewer disrupted weeks during the school year.

Great! So we agree.

So let’s stop with the “most people feel…” this and the “all high schoolers need…” that.

No solution is going to make everybody happy because we are all invested in our own interests, like the poster who keeps bringing up prestigious summer internships that impact like .003% of high schoolers.

Most people do want long summers. Thats why there was such outcry this year, including from teachers. Absolutely no one got up and said 25-26 was a good calendar for students or families.

Look… the loudest voices don’t always represent the bigger group.

And my point remains. No solution is going to please everybody because most people are fixated on their own interests.

I posted above about summer brain drain and how much time is wasted every school year reviewing the prior year’s material. I was met with comments about vacations and swim team, etc.

Let’s not pretend that people’s interests represent what’s best for the majority of students. It’s what’s best for them: their kids, their schedules, their preferences.

Sure, but silence is deafening.

At any point Reid could have gotten up and said this is actually a beneficial schedule and here’s why. Parents who supposedly love the schedule could have written their school board rep. The student rep on the board could have said hey this was great for us.

And yet…none of that happened.

[Anonymous]

[twitter]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What's wrong with the calendar? It's good to have more days off to give both families and teachers a breather from the miserable daily grind. As a parent, I don't understand why parents of older kids who do not need babysitting (I get it when parents need daycare) want more school days.

My other concern is teachers unavailability to timely grade tests/assignments and post for parental review as is. Even with all the days dedicated to having teachers catch up on this work, they don't have ability to do this already, grades can be lagging weeks, which makes it difficult for the parents to assess when their child needs help. There is already little to no communications between schools/teachers and parents when kids aren't doing well or fail before things get worse (due to delayed posting of progress) that it's impossible to catch up or do anything. So, no, I don't want more schools days, more assignments, more prolonged busy work for my kids and myself as a working parent. I want to also have more days for kids to catch up on assignments, on sleep, or to simply decompress, hang out with friends beyond organized activities, etc.

I get it that a lot of parents want longer or around-the-year school situation where kids are out of their hair daily, but this also heavily penalizes families who do not need this and don't want their kids to be punished for absences.

And for this whole thing with more days of school to work, we seriously need to have more teachers, fewer kids per class, to allow teacher to spend time to grade, assess who needs help, provide help to the kids who fail or underperform, provide extra challenges for kids who overachieve and are bored, etc. have ability to contact parents when needed, etc.

You misunderstand. Many parents want kids in schools 5 days a week because all of these 3 or 4 day weeks extend the school year and make summer break shorter.

Exactly. A longer summer provides opportunities for high achieving high school students to do the summer enrichment programs and still start practice for fall sports and have some downtime. A Tuesday at home in Chantilly is a waste compared to a week in New Haven.

Ok, for the 1% the longer summer break is better. For everyone else, there is significant learning loss over the summer.

It’s way more than “the 1%”. Its every student with any value or interest outside the limits of FCPS offering. For example:

1. International students for whom the summer is the only opportunity to see family/immerse in language
2. Serious athletes especially in non-school programs like ballet and ice skating
3. Serious musicians doing summer conservatory programs
4. Families who send their kids to religiously affiliated camps — this is a big deal for a lot of Jewish families in the NE

And I don’t dispute that there may be learning loss. Parents can make a choice to send their kids to summer school if learning loss is their #1 concern. But for many, many Fairfax families, learning loss is an acceptable tradeoff to meet the needs that aren’t met in school .

Those are wants vs needs

There’s no “need” to be off on a random March Tuesday in order to limit families summer activities. Kids who need more school in the summer can sign up for summer school, but most kids don’t need it.

Gosh, it must be hard to be you. All that free summer time and money to spend on your kids lessons, camps and vacations, yet you are still miserable because the world isn’t meeting your perceived “needs.”

Look, if your kid is so significantly behind that they need a shorter summer to stay on track, I’m sympathetic. That must be hard. But most families have things they prioritize outside school— language, arts, sports, culture, even just family time. Public school cannot, and isn’t intended to, replace those things.

DP. I like having our outside priorities year-round, not crammed into summer months.

I’d much rather have a shorter summer and have more extended breaks spread throughout the school year.

My kid can still have her summer job, maybe lasting 7 weeks instead of 9. And then we can have a family vacation in October or February, when we don’t have to take her out of her job just to travel during the crowded summer months.

You, PP, don’t speak for all of us.[b] Bring on the shorter summer!

You don’t speak for all of us either. Some us want a longer summer and fewer disrupted weeks during the school year.

Great! So we agree.

So let’s stop with the “most people feel…” this and the “all high schoolers need…” that.

No solution is going to make everybody happy because we are all invested in our own interests, like the poster who keeps bringing up prestigious summer internships that impact like .003% of high schoolers.

Most people do want long summers. Thats why there was such outcry this year, including from teachers. Absolutely no one got up and said 25-26 was a good calendar for students or families.

Look… the loudest voices don’t always represent the bigger group.

And my point remains. No solution is going to please everybody because most people are fixated on their own interests.

I posted above about summer brain drain and how much time is wasted every school year reviewing the prior year’s material. I was met with comments about vacations and swim team, etc.

Let’s not pretend that people’s interests represent what’s best for the majority of students. It’s what’s best for them: their kids, their schedules, their preferences.

Summer swim quite literally changed my life. It’s how I fell in love with the sport and got a full ride to a very good university. The year round swim teams cannot replicate the magic of summer league. It’s hard to explain if you aren’t familiar with it. I am sure that other experiences that kids have over a 8 or 9 week summer are equally formative… 6 week sleep away camps being just one example. It would be a real shame to dramatically modify or get rid of these things just so kids can sit in public school buildings most of the year. And no, you can’t recreate a lot of these opportunities during a 5 week summer or shorter breaks throughout the year.

It feels like people who don’t have the means to create a good summer for their children want to get rid of it for everyone else, so they don’t have to feel bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[twitter]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What's wrong with the calendar? It's good to have more days off to give both families and teachers a breather from the miserable daily grind. As a parent, I don't understand why parents of older kids who do not need babysitting (I get it when parents need daycare) want more school days.

My other concern is teachers unavailability to timely grade tests/assignments and post for parental review as is. Even with all the days dedicated to having teachers catch up on this work, they don't have ability to do this already, grades can be lagging weeks, which makes it difficult for the parents to assess when their child needs help. There is already little to no communications between schools/teachers and parents when kids aren't doing well or fail before things get worse (due to delayed posting of progress) that it's impossible to catch up or do anything. So, no, I don't want more schools days, more assignments, more prolonged busy work for my kids and myself as a working parent. I want to also have more days for kids to catch up on assignments, on sleep, or to simply decompress, hang out with friends beyond organized activities, etc.

I get it that a lot of parents want longer or around-the-year school situation where kids are out of their hair daily, but this also heavily penalizes families who do not need this and don't want their kids to be punished for absences.

And for this whole thing with more days of school to work, we seriously need to have more teachers, fewer kids per class, to allow teacher to spend time to grade, assess who needs help, provide help to the kids who fail or underperform, provide extra challenges for kids who overachieve and are bored, etc. have ability to contact parents when needed, etc.

You misunderstand. Many parents want kids in schools 5 days a week because all of these 3 or 4 day weeks extend the school year and make summer break shorter.

Exactly. A longer summer provides opportunities for high achieving high school students to do the summer enrichment programs and still start practice for fall sports and have some downtime. A Tuesday at home in Chantilly is a waste compared to a week in New Haven.

Ok, for the 1% the longer summer break is better. For everyone else, there is significant learning loss over the summer.

It’s way more than “the 1%”. Its every student with any value or interest outside the limits of FCPS offering. For example:

1. International students for whom the summer is the only opportunity to see family/immerse in language
2. Serious athletes especially in non-school programs like ballet and ice skating
3. Serious musicians doing summer conservatory programs
4. Families who send their kids to religiously affiliated camps — this is a big deal for a lot of Jewish families in the NE

And I don’t dispute that there may be learning loss. Parents can make a choice to send their kids to summer school if learning loss is their #1 concern. But for many, many Fairfax families, learning loss is an acceptable tradeoff to meet the needs that aren’t met in school .

Those are wants vs needs

There’s no “need” to be off on a random March Tuesday in order to limit families summer activities. Kids who need more school in the summer can sign up for summer school, but most kids don’t need it.

Gosh, it must be hard to be you. All that free summer time and money to spend on your kids lessons, camps and vacations, yet you are still miserable because the world isn’t meeting your perceived “needs.”

Look, if your kid is so significantly behind that they need a shorter summer to stay on track, I’m sympathetic. That must be hard. But most families have things they prioritize outside school— language, arts, sports, culture, even just family time. Public school cannot, and isn’t intended to, replace those things.

DP. I like having our outside priorities year-round, not crammed into summer months.

I’d much rather have a shorter summer and have more extended breaks spread throughout the school year.

My kid can still have her summer job, maybe lasting 7 weeks instead of 9. And then we can have a family vacation in October or February, when we don’t have to take her out of her job just to travel during the crowded summer months.

You, PP, don’t speak for all of us. Bring on the shorter summer!

You don’t speak for all of us either. Some us want a longer summer and fewer disrupted weeks during the school year.

Great! So we agree.

So let’s stop with the “most people feel…” this and the “all high schoolers need…” that.

No solution is going to make everybody happy because we are all invested in our own interests, like the poster who keeps bringing up prestigious summer internships that impact like .003% of high schoolers.

Most people do want long summers. Thats why there was such outcry this year, including from teachers. Absolutely no one got up and said 25-26 was a good calendar for students or families.

Look… the loudest voices don’t always represent the bigger group.

And my point remains. No solution is going to please everybody because most people are fixated on their own interests.

I posted above about summer brain drain and how much time is wasted every school year reviewing the prior year’s material. I was met with comments about vacations and swim team, etc.

Let’s not pretend that people’s interests represent what’s best for the majority of students. It’s what’s best for them: their kids, their schedules, their preferences.

Summer swim quite literally changed my life. It’s how I fell in love with the sport and got a full ride to a very good university. The year round swim teams cannot replicate the magic of summer league. It’s hard to explain if you aren’t familiar with it. I am sure that other experiences that kids have over a 8 or 9 week summer are equally formative… 6 week sleep away camps being just one example. It would be a real shame to dramatically modify or get rid of these things just so kids can sit in public school buildings most of the year. And no, you can’t recreate a lot of these opportunities during a 5 week summer or shorter breaks throughout the year.

[b]It feels like people who don’t have the means to create a good summer for their children want to get rid of it for everyone else, so they don’t have to feel bad.

If this is true its sad because it’s unnecessary. Girl Scout/Boy Scout camps are affordable and theres So Much financial aid out there for summer programs— way more aid than exists for random April Tuesdays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[twitter]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What's wrong with the calendar? It's good to have more days off to give both families and teachers a breather from the miserable daily grind. As a parent, I don't understand why parents of older kids who do not need babysitting (I get it when parents need daycare) want more school days.

My other concern is teachers unavailability to timely grade tests/assignments and post for parental review as is. Even with all the days dedicated to having teachers catch up on this work, they don't have ability to do this already, grades can be lagging weeks, which makes it difficult for the parents to assess when their child needs help. There is already little to no communications between schools/teachers and parents when kids aren't doing well or fail before things get worse (due to delayed posting of progress) that it's impossible to catch up or do anything. So, no, I don't want more schools days, more assignments, more prolonged busy work for my kids and myself as a working parent. I want to also have more days for kids to catch up on assignments, on sleep, or to simply decompress, hang out with friends beyond organized activities, etc.

I get it that a lot of parents want longer or around-the-year school situation where kids are out of their hair daily, but this also heavily penalizes families who do not need this and don't want their kids to be punished for absences.

And for this whole thing with more days of school to work, we seriously need to have more teachers, fewer kids per class, to allow teacher to spend time to grade, assess who needs help, provide help to the kids who fail or underperform, provide extra challenges for kids who overachieve and are bored, etc. have ability to contact parents when needed, etc.

You misunderstand. Many parents want kids in schools 5 days a week because all of these 3 or 4 day weeks extend the school year and make summer break shorter.

Exactly. A longer summer provides opportunities for high achieving high school students to do the summer enrichment programs and still start practice for fall sports and have some downtime. A Tuesday at home in Chantilly is a waste compared to a week in New Haven.

Ok, for the 1% the longer summer break is better. For everyone else, there is significant learning loss over the summer.

It’s way more than “the 1%”. Its every student with any value or interest outside the limits of FCPS offering. For example:

1. International students for whom the summer is the only opportunity to see family/immerse in language
2. Serious athletes especially in non-school programs like ballet and ice skating
3. Serious musicians doing summer conservatory programs
4. Families who send their kids to religiously affiliated camps — this is a big deal for a lot of Jewish families in the NE

And I don’t dispute that there may be learning loss. Parents can make a choice to send their kids to summer school if learning loss is their #1 concern. But for many, many Fairfax families, learning loss is an acceptable tradeoff to meet the needs that aren’t met in school .

Those are wants vs needs

There’s no “need” to be off on a random March Tuesday in order to limit families summer activities. Kids who need more school in the summer can sign up for summer school, but most kids don’t need it.

Gosh, it must be hard to be you. All that free summer time and money to spend on your kids lessons, camps and vacations, yet you are still miserable because the world isn’t meeting your perceived “needs.”

Look, if your kid is so significantly behind that they need a shorter summer to stay on track, I’m sympathetic. That must be hard. But most families have things they prioritize outside school— language, arts, sports, culture, even just family time. Public school cannot, and isn’t intended to, replace those things.

DP. I like having our outside priorities year-round, not crammed into summer months.

I’d much rather have a shorter summer and have more extended breaks spread throughout the school year.

My kid can still have her summer job, maybe lasting 7 weeks instead of 9. And then we can have a family vacation in October or February, when we don’t have to take her out of her job just to travel during the crowded summer months.

You, PP, don’t speak for all of us.[b] Bring on the shorter summer!

You don’t speak for all of us either. Some us want a longer summer and fewer disrupted weeks during the school year.

Great! So we agree.

So let’s stop with the “most people feel…” this and the “all high schoolers need…” that.

No solution is going to make everybody happy because we are all invested in our own interests, like the poster who keeps bringing up prestigious summer internships that impact like .003% of high schoolers.

Most people do want long summers. Thats why there was such outcry this year, including from teachers. Absolutely no one got up and said 25-26 was a good calendar for students or families.

Look… the loudest voices don’t always represent the bigger group.

And my point remains. No solution is going to please everybody because most people are fixated on their own interests.

I posted above about summer brain drain and how much time is wasted every school year reviewing the prior year’s material. I was met with comments about vacations and swim team, etc.

Let’s not pretend that people’s interests represent what’s best for the majority of students. It’s what’s best for them: their kids, their schedules, their preferences.

Summer swim quite literally changed my life. It’s how I fell in love with the sport and got a full ride to a very good university. The year round swim teams cannot replicate the magic of summer league. It’s hard to explain if you aren’t familiar with it. I am sure that other experiences that kids have over a 8 or 9 week summer are equally formative… 6 week sleep away camps being just one example. It would be a real shame to dramatically modify or get rid of these things just so kids can sit in public school buildings most of the year. And no, you can’t recreate a lot of these opportunities during a 5 week summer or shorter breaks throughout the year.

It feels like people who don’t have the means to create a good summer for their children want to get rid of it for everyone else, so they don’t have to feel bad.

6-week sleep away camps? That’s a less than 1% problem. Maybe 0.1%.