4 Day School Weeks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the school day needs to just be restructured.

Elementary- no subject should be more than 45 mins in my opinion. Kids can’t focus for that long. Recess should be 45 mins to 1 hour. Currently kids start coming in at 9:05 and start leaving at 4:05. That is 7 hours at school.

Sample Schedule Elementary
1 hour for specials
30 min lunch
45 min recess
45 min for Math
30 mins Writing
30 mins Reading
15 mins Word Study
30 mins SS
30 mins Science
30 mins- intervention and Enrichment.

That would be 5.75 hours which is much better for kids.


Secondary- Get rid of block scheduling except for certain classes such as Science that has labs.

I can tell you aren’t a teacher. 30 minutes isn’t enough time to do a meaningful lesson with elementary kids, especially kindergartners!

I am a teacher and 5 year olds do not have the ability to pay attention for longer than 10 mins. A 60 min block is too long.

I was thinking the same thing. Kindergarteners cannot focus for 30+ minutes on one topic. Especially if the teacher is droning on to make the lesson meaningful lol! They need lots of little breaks or they get bored and start playing with or annoying whoever is sitting next to them. A quick mini lesson and some play centers and/or small groups keep kindergarteners engaged and learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Big areas in TX have already voted and decided this is how it will go next year. It was thanks to teacher shortages there.

Big areas? It’s a small number of small, rural school districts. The largest has 5600 students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools needs to be open 5 days a week!

Allow me to translate I need daycare M-F for 7+ hours.

DP, but yes, working parents are going to need child care. And that's most parents these days.

So you pay for it on the fifth day. Done.

Child care one day a week? That’s going to have an interesting business model…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do people really believe you can take away 7 hours every week and there will be no change in student learning? If this is the case, we have so much more to worry about.

WE do have a lot more to worry about. There is a lack of parenting and teachers time is going to dealing with constant behaviors....sorry about that.

That’s what I’m saying. Parents want even less time with their kids than they already have. Some people really should not have kids. Lazy, selfish people.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools needs to be open 5 days a week!

Allow me to translate I need daycare M-F for 7+ hours.

School has been 5 days a week since before you were born. Did you call it daycare back when you were in school?

The school day was not as long as the day is now. The teachers also weren't dealing with entitled parents like yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should just go back to early release Mondays.

They never should have taken that away to begin with. They did it because of selfish parents who view school as free daycare. The same type of parents who are causing all of the current problems. Some people should truly never have kids.

You mean parents who have to work to pay their bills and live in the area? Or the parents who work multiple jobs to afford living in the area and provide for their kids? Based on your comment, the only people who should have kids are people who can afford after school care or one parent who can stay at home.

I was in school in the 80’s, we went 5 days a week and had an early release day once a month. The idea that kids attend school 5 days a week for a full day is not exactly new or novel.

Remember at the start of the pandemic when teachers said to trust them, they could drastically reduce the amount of instruction our kids receive but everything would be a-ok because they're teachers and they can get kids back on track no problem? Doesn't seem like you made good on that promise, does it...while the rest of us busted our a*** to still do our jobs and now pick up the slack in teaching our kids too... I will never forget that.

Get therapy.

Seriously Karen therapy...and by the way teaching is also your job as a parent-I know shocking for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People will leave Fairfax for other local locations that offer 5 day a week education. Why pay for an expensive house here when we can move next door to Loudon and have our kids in school 5 days a week.

BYE!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools needs to be open 5 days a week!

Allow me to translate I need daycare M-F for 7+ hours.

This. If they “need” it, feel free to pay for it.

It’s called taxes.

HAHA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should just go back to early release Mondays.

They never should have taken that away to begin with. They did it because of selfish parents who view school as free daycare. The same type of parents who are causing all of the current problems. Some people should truly never have kids.

You mean parents who have to work to pay their bills and live in the area? Or the parents who work multiple jobs to afford living in the area and provide for their kids? Based on your comment, the only people who should have kids are people who can afford after school care or one parent who can stay at home.

I was in school in the 80’s, we went 5 days a week and had an early release day once a month. The idea that kids attend school 5 days a week for a full day is not exactly new or novel.

We didn't have full day kindergarten when I was a kid, was that common here? I ask because I am now a Kindergarten teacher and it is exhausting.

That’s another thing. School used to be a shorter day too. Now the kids are in school 7+ hours. Elementary teachers really don’t have any planning time during the school day because the kids are in the classroom all day except for specials and that is often when meetings etc are scheduled. The school day used to be 6 hours for students and kindergarten was once half day, now kids are in school for long hours.

Students are in school for 6 hours and 45 minutes. I don’t remember a 6 hour school day and I’ve been with FCPS for 30 years.

Yes, kindergarten used to be half a day.

As far as the early release Mondays, those were often filled with meetings and the specials during T-F were shorter than an hour. When they got rid of the early release, we gained planning time when they added the policy of 300 minutes per week, a minimum of 240 teacher directed and 60 collaborative. I remember Dr. Garza touting the increased planning time at the ES level during STAC meetings. That went well for a year or so and then she left. As we’ve moved further away from the removal of the early release, our planning times have been taking up by more collaborative meetings resulting in less amount of teacher directed, unencumbered planning time.

What's planning time
signed an ES teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People will leave Fairfax for other local locations that offer 5 day a week education. Why pay for an expensive house here when we can move next door to Loudon and have our kids in school 5 days a week.

BYE!

Bye exactly lol. You mean our schools and classrooms will be less crowded??? What will we do?

[Anonymous]

No one here is getting a 4 day school week, no matter how hard the trolls want to push it. People here clown on the rural areas across the country for having poor school quality and a 4 day school week, there’s no way FCPS or any of the other large districts in this area will go that same route because the PR would be absolutely awful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should just go back to early release Mondays.

They never should have taken that away to begin with. They did it because of selfish parents who view school as free daycare. The same type of parents who are causing all of the current problems. Some people should truly never have kids.

You mean parents who have to work to pay their bills and live in the area? Or the parents who work multiple jobs to afford living in the area and provide for their kids? Based on your comment, the only people who should have kids are people who can afford after school care or one parent who can stay at home.

I was in school in the 80’s, we went 5 days a week and had an early release day once a month. The idea that kids attend school 5 days a week for a full day is not exactly new or novel.

We didn't have full day kindergarten when I was a kid, was that common here? I ask because I am now a Kindergarten teacher and it is exhausting.

That’s another thing. School used to be a shorter day too. Now the kids are in school 7+ hours. Elementary teachers really don’t have any planning time during the school day because the kids are in the classroom all day except for specials and that is often when meetings etc are scheduled. The school day used to be 6 hours for students and kindergarten was once half day, now kids are in school for long hours.

Students are in school for 6 hours and 45 minutes. I don’t remember a 6 hour school day and I’ve been with FCPS for 30 years.

Yes, kindergarten used to be half a day.

As far as the early release Mondays, those were often filled with meetings and the specials during T-F were shorter than an hour. When they got rid of the early release, we gained planning time when they added the policy of 300 minutes per week, a minimum of 240 teacher directed and 60 collaborative. I remember Dr. Garza touting the increased planning time at the ES level during STAC meetings. That went well for a year or so and then she left. As we’ve moved further away from the removal of the early release, our planning times have been taking up by more collaborative meetings resulting in less amount of teacher directed, unencumbered planning time.

What's planning time
signed an ES teacher

PP here.
Yep. Exactly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should just go back to early release Mondays.

They never should have taken that away to begin with. They did it because of selfish parents who view school as free daycare. The same type of parents who are causing all of the current problems. Some people should truly never have kids.

You mean parents who have to work to pay their bills and live in the area? Or the parents who work multiple jobs to afford living in the area and provide for their kids? Based on your comment, the only people who should have kids are people who can afford after school care or one parent who can stay at home.

I was in school in the 80’s, we went 5 days a week and had an early release day once a month. The idea that kids attend school 5 days a week for a full day is not exactly new or novel.

Remember at the start of the pandemic when teachers said to trust them, they could drastically reduce the amount of instruction our kids receive but everything would be a-ok because they're teachers and they can get kids back on track no problem? Doesn't seem like you made good on that promise, does it...while the rest of us busted our a*** to still do our jobs and now pick up the slack in teaching our kids too... I will never forget that.

Same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should just go back to early release Mondays.

They never should have taken that away to begin with. They did it because of selfish parents who view school as free daycare. The same type of parents who are causing all of the current problems. Some people should truly never have kids.

You mean parents who have to work to pay their bills and live in the area? Or the parents who work multiple jobs to afford living in the area and provide for their kids? Based on your comment, the only people who should have kids are people who can afford after school care or one parent who can stay at home.

I was in school in the 80’s, we went 5 days a week and had an early release day once a month. The idea that kids attend school 5 days a week for a full day is not exactly new or novel.

Remember at the start of the pandemic when teachers said to trust them, they could drastically reduce the amount of instruction our kids receive but everything would be a-ok because they're teachers and they can get kids back on track no problem? Doesn't seem like you made good on that promise, does it...while the rest of us busted our a*** to still do our jobs and now pick up the slack in teaching our kids too... I will never forget that.

Same.

You idiots act like teachers had any control over schools closing. We didn’t. I knew it was a bad idea too, but it wasn’t the fault of teachers. I chose in person for myself and my child, when surveyed by FCPS about my preferences. And I worked in the building every day, including Mondays when schools were closed on Mondays. I would fully support four day school weeks now though.

[Anonymous]

while the rest of us busted our a*** to still do our jobs and now pick up the slack in teaching our kids too

As if teachers were doing NOTHING. what a joke.