Thoughts on the MCPS 2017-2018 calendar?

[Anonymous]

As a teacher and a parent there are several things I like about the calendar for next year.

1- post Labor Day start - partially due to tradition, but mostly b/c it allows for the first several weeks of school to be more consistent. Many years in MCPS you can go three or four weeks before having a full week of school- it makes setting the routines at home and school difficult.

2- when possible, early release and professional days are Mondays and Fridays. As a parent I hate random mid-week days off, as a teacher I also found them more disruptive and harder to keep the flow/routine of the week - throws things off for the entire week.

3- Make up days over spring break (or other times before May) make sense - at least you are making up instruction when it can matter, before AP tests for those worried about them, and before grades are due, or everyone is just "checked out" for others. I would love to see a long weekend in February or Marc built in with a contingency day or two. Make up instruction in the marking period, or at least semester, it is missed in. Otherwise it is meaningless to kids and teachers.

4- Although I would prefer more instructional days in the school year, every year we don't use the built in snow days we hear people whine about them not being "given back". This way there are fewer days to hear people whine about. (Personally, I love having several snow days that don't need to be made up built in the calendar, but most don't share my opinion.)

5- Although the longer summer may not be ideal for many students, I'm not sure 9 versus 10 weeks makes much difference on summer "brain drain". However, I do think the longer summer might make it so MCPS may be able to plan meaningful summer activities for kids and get teachers who are willing to staff them.

6- As a teacher I like the added professional days at the beginning of the year. I'm in the mind set of the new school year, learn something new and am ready to apply it. Way better than having "required" summer training interrupting the summer break, or stuffed in the middle of the school year when you have competing priorities with planning, grading and so forth. (As a teacher who is also a parent, not as much, but childcare is needed whenever/where ever the professional days fall. Easier to ask for family support when they are all together).

[Anonymous]

Dear teacher, thank you for your comments. I especially understand point 6, as I have heard some principals schedule 2 hour meetings throughout the 4-5 days prior to first day of school (for students) and it makes setting up classrooms difficult.

However, I'm not sure where you get 9 vs. 10 weeks in point 5. Summer 2018 will be 12 weeks (June 12 - Sept. 4 is exactly 12 weeks.) Do you feel that 12 weeks will not be much different than 9?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher and a parent there are several things I like about the calendar for next year.

1- post Labor Day start - partially due to tradition, but mostly b/c it allows for the first several weeks of school to be more consistent. Many years in MCPS you can go three or four weeks before having a full week of school- it makes setting the routines at home and school difficult.

Whose tradition? I always started school in mid-to-late August, going back to the early 1970s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dear teacher, thank you for your comments. I especially understand point 6, as I have heard some principals schedule 2 hour meetings throughout the 4-5 days prior to first day of school (for students) and it makes setting up classrooms difficult.

However, I'm not sure where you get 9 vs. 10 weeks in point 5. Summer 2018 will be 12 weeks (June 12 - Sept. 4 is exactly 12 weeks.) Do you feel that 12 weeks will not be much different than 9?

12 weeks is way too long.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dear teacher, thank you for your comments. I especially understand point 6, as I have heard some principals schedule 2 hour meetings throughout the 4-5 days prior to first day of school (for students) and it makes setting up classrooms difficult.

However, I'm not sure where you get 9 vs. 10 weeks in point 5. Summer 2018 will be 12 weeks (June 12 - Sept. 4 is exactly 12 weeks.) Do you feel that 12 weeks will not be much different than 9?

12 weeks is way too long.

Yes, I agree. 12 weeks is much too long. I don't mind starting after Labor Day, but having to end so early in June creates a hardship for many families who will need to cover 12 weeks of summer. We are lucky our kids are older and can stay by themselves at home for a day here or there. I feel badly for the parents of younger kids who will needs camp for many of those 12 weeks -- vacation time only goes so far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dear teacher, thank you for your comments. I especially understand point 6, as I have heard some principals schedule 2 hour meetings throughout the 4-5 days prior to first day of school (for students) and it makes setting up classrooms difficult.

However, I'm not sure where you get 9 vs. 10 weeks in point 5. Summer 2018 will be 12 weeks (June 12 - Sept. 4 is exactly 12 weeks.) Do you feel that 12 weeks will not be much different than 9?

12 weeks is way too long.

Yes, I agree. 12 weeks is much too long. I don't mind starting after Labor Day, but having to end so early in June creates a hardship for many families who will need to cover 12 weeks of summer. We are lucky our kids are older and can stay by themselves at home for a day here or there. I feel badly for the parents of younger kids who will needs camp for many of those 12 weeks -- vacation time only goes so far.

Not to mention the kids who won't have anything in the summer. 9-10 weeks out of school is already bad enough for the summer slide. Now imagine 12 weeks. If this were really about what's best for the kids, Governor Hogan would be proposing -- and funding -- a major summer-school program for low-income kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids have been in MCPS collectively since 2004. Unfortunately, they have consistently told me that half days are a complete waste of time and that most of the teachers do nothing on those days other than show movies/videos. This isn't that big a deal in elementary, but once they get into middle and high school it becomes a complete waste of instructional time. Part of the problem is that the class periods in middle school and high school are very short on half days and the other problem is that many kids (and their parents) have given up on them being productive school days so just allow their kids to stay home. My kids have actually sent me pictures of half empty classrooms. We have another one coming up this Friday (people will just make it a long weekend) and I know that my DD is going to beg me to let her skip it and sleep in. Mostly I just say no, but I don't blame them for wanting to catch some extra shut eye instead of being bored in school for four hours.

What school cluster is this?

Seriously.

One plus of sending your kids to a focus/title one school is that there's no way the administration would let that fly at a high needs school. Kids have a truncated day and still receive instruction, usually the teacher cut out writing or science or social studies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, you all should be really impressed with yourselves--managed to make it to the fourth page before everything became the fault of those greedy, lazy teachers.

Every time I see some DCUM pundit claiming that teachers are the worst laziest human trash I remind myself that those idiots wouldn't last a week in the classroom.

[Anonymous]

Is 1 week of winter break normal in Montgomery county? I'm not from here but I've always had two weeks of winter break

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher and a parent there are several things I like about the calendar for next year.

1- post Labor Day start - partially due to tradition, but mostly b/c it allows for the first several weeks of school to be more consistent. Many years in MCPS you can go three or four weeks before having a full week of school- it makes setting the routines at home and school difficult.

Whose tradition? I always started school in mid-to-late August, going back to the early 1970s.

Really? I went to school in the mid 70s and we started after Labor Day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher and a parent there are several things I like about the calendar for next year.

1- post Labor Day start - partially due to tradition, but mostly b/c it allows for the first several weeks of school to be more consistent. Many years in MCPS you can go three or four weeks before having a full week of school- it makes setting the routines at home and school difficult.

Whose tradition? I always started school in mid-to-late August, going back to the early 1970s.

Really? I went to school in the mid 70s and we started after Labor Day.

Different school systems have different starting and ending dates -- except, of course, when the governor issues an executive order saying that all school systems must start and end on the dates he considers best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is 1 week of winter break normal in Montgomery county? I'm not from here but I've always had two weeks of winter break

Yes, 12/24-1/1 is the minimum, plus however the weekends fall and so that there's not a single Monday or Friday with the rest off. Spring break has traditionally been Good Friday + the next week, or the week before Easter + Easter Monday.

[Anonymous]

Total of 79 weekdays off in a year
Total of 104 weekends off in a year
Only 181 days of instruction. What's not to love?

[Anonymous]

Remove the 1/2 days. It is not productive at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Remove the 1/2 days. It is not productive at all.

And replace them with what?