What FCPS option are you choosing and why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From the parent questionnaire, it looks like they want the kids to wear masks the entire day. I can understand while on the bus and even whenever not in the classroom, but not for 7-8 hours straight. That isn’t healthy and I’d that’s the case, DL.

What questionnaire asked about masks? The FCPS back to school survey with 3 scenarios didn’t mention masks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From the parent questionnaire, it looks like they want the kids to wear masks the entire day. I can understand while on the bus and even whenever not in the classroom, but not for 7-8 hours straight. That isn’t healthy and I’d that’s the case, DL.

What questionnaire asked about masks? The FCPS back to school survey with 3 scenarios didn’t mention masks.

“Cloth face coverings should be worn by students and staff throughout the day when social distancing guidelines cannot be strictly enforced. Masks will be provided to students unable to provide their own, to be used as developmentally appropriate.”

It’s in the pdf.

https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/forms/FCPSReopeningSchoolsPlan.pdf

Now, that could leave the door open to no masks when seated at desks but I’ve seen conflicting info on that. But no masks indoors seems like a bad idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your plan sounds like it will work out for you, assuming you don’t have misgivings about FCPS handling the whole virus thing... I figure my kid will have all of his afternoons after DL free to work on projects, or play, as the situation demands. Once he has virtual classmates we plan to reach out and schedule in-person meet ups too. Whatever the decision is that we make, we made it clear that the decision is ours as parents, not his. We take the blame for whatever happens! It definitely shouldn’t be on his shoulders, though we are taking his feelings about it all into account. This all sucks. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

We're sitting on our hands about completing that form to make the choice for fall, because we do have misgivings about FCPS handling of all of this. However, I trust her school. The principal is a good guy, and seems to have good instincts. For instance, on that Thursday before school closed in March, he told the entire school to take all their school stuff with them, although FCPS hadn't officially announced. I think that he will do the right thing. They're holding a chat next week, so parents can ask questions, and (hopefully) get some clarity on how it will all work in their school. I will pick up and drop off DD, so there will be no bus issues. If the kids essentially stay with same 10 kids in class (her class size was 20 last year), eat in class, and have specials teachers coming to them, the risk won't be that great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From the parent questionnaire, it looks like they want the kids to wear masks the entire day. I can understand while on the bus and even whenever not in the classroom, but not for 7-8 hours straight. That isn’t healthy and I’d that’s the case, DL.

What questionnaire asked about masks? The FCPS back to school survey with 3 scenarios didn’t mention masks.

Face masks should be worn all day

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They're supposed to be doing their schoolwork at home, the other days! That's why we're setting up small group study type of thing for the days the kids are out of school, so they can continue to socialize and work together (virtually).

I even told her that she'll end up in a class with all boys (she always did, on group projects), but she was okay with that, and that's about the biggest deterrent I could think of.

I seriously doubt that ES kids are going to have so much work that they will be "in school" for 6-8 hours a day regardless if they choose DL or in person. DS was able to knock out all the work that his Teachers provided plus the specials in 2-4 hours, depending on how much complaining he did about writing. We had him do everything. While I expect the fall to be more rigorous, I doubt that it will be that much more time consuming.

We have extra work for him to do (Khan, duolingo, and a bunch of workbooks) to keep him busy but there was plenty of time for play and goofing off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They're supposed to be doing their schoolwork at home, the other days! That's why we're setting up small group study type of thing for the days the kids are out of school, so they can continue to socialize and work together (virtually).

I even told her that she'll end up in a class with all boys (she always did, on group projects), but she was okay with that, and that's about the biggest deterrent I could think of.

I seriously doubt that ES kids are going to have so much work that they will be "in school" for 6-8 hours a day regardless if they choose DL or in person. DS was able to knock out all the work that his Teachers provided plus the specials in 2-4 hours, depending on how much complaining he did about writing. We had him do everything. While I expect the fall to be more rigorous, I doubt that it will be that much more time consuming.

We have extra work for him to do (Khan, duolingo, and a bunch of workbooks) to keep him busy but there was plenty of time for play and goofing off.

Elementary kids don’t have a full day of distance learning on any day. It’s the middle and High schoolers who do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They're supposed to be doing their schoolwork at home, the other days! That's why we're setting up small group study type of thing for the days the kids are out of school, so they can continue to socialize and work together (virtually).

I even told her that she'll end up in a class with all boys (she always did, on group projects), but she was okay with that, and that's about the biggest deterrent I could think of.

I seriously doubt that ES kids are going to have so much work that they will be "in school" for 6-8 hours a day regardless if they choose DL or in person. DS was able to knock out all the work that his Teachers provided plus the specials in 2-4 hours, depending on how much complaining he did about writing. We had him do everything. While I expect the fall to be more rigorous, I doubt that it will be that much more time consuming.

We have extra work for him to do (Khan, duolingo, and a bunch of workbooks) to keep him busy but there was plenty of time for play and goofing off.

This is very teacher dependent. I have twins at an ES center and 1 child didn't have much and zipped through work so we had to supplement and the other had a ton of work and it took hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They're supposed to be doing their schoolwork at home, the other days! That's why we're setting up small group study type of thing for the days the kids are out of school, so they can continue to socialize and work together (virtually).

I even told her that she'll end up in a class with all boys (she always did, on group projects), but she was okay with that, and that's about the biggest deterrent I could think of.

I seriously doubt that ES kids are going to have so much work that they will be "in school" for 6-8 hours a day regardless if they choose DL or in person. DS was able to knock out all the work that his Teachers provided plus the specials in 2-4 hours, depending on how much complaining he did about writing. We had him do everything. While I expect the fall to be more rigorous, I doubt that it will be that much more time consuming.

We have extra work for him to do (Khan, duolingo, and a bunch of workbooks) to keep him busy but there was plenty of time for play and goofing off.

This is very teacher dependent. I have twins at an ES center and 1 child didn't have much and zipped through work so we had to supplement and the other had a ton of work and it took hours.

Yup, it's teacher dependent. Most days, mine had 3-4 hours of work after her 1 hour of DL classes. Some days, it was longer, some days shorter. I think it was only during the last week or so that it slacked off substantially, and all the work was more fun than educational.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your plan sounds like it will work out for you, assuming you don’t have misgivings about FCPS handling the whole virus thing... I figure my kid will have all of his afternoons after DL free to work on projects, or play, as the situation demands. Once he has virtual classmates we plan to reach out and schedule in-person meet ups too. Whatever the decision is that we make, we made it clear that the decision is ours as parents, not his. We take the blame for whatever happens! It definitely shouldn’t be on his shoulders, though we are taking his feelings about it all into account. This all sucks. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

We're sitting on our hands about completing that form to make the choice for fall, because we do have misgivings about FCPS handling of all of this. However, I trust her school. The principal is a good guy, and seems to have good instincts. For instance, on that Thursday before school closed in March, he told the entire school to take all their school stuff with them, although FCPS hadn't officially announced. I think that he will do the right thing. They're holding a chat next week, so parents can ask questions, and (hopefully) get some clarity on how it will all work in their school. I will pick up and drop off DD, so there will be no bus issues. If the kids essentially stay with same 10 kids in class (her class size was 20 last year), eat in class, and have specials teachers coming to them, the risk won't be that great.

Note that if you do not explicitly reply, they will mark your kid response as "in-person". However, you can always change when it comes down to it. I think it may be easier to say you will attendnow, then change to being remote than the other way around.

Good luck in your choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your plan sounds like it will work out for you, assuming you don’t have misgivings about FCPS handling the whole virus thing... I figure my kid will have all of his afternoons after DL free to work on projects, or play, as the situation demands. Once he has virtual classmates we plan to reach out and schedule in-person meet ups too. Whatever the decision is that we make, we made it clear that the decision is ours as parents, not his. We take the blame for whatever happens! It definitely shouldn’t be on his shoulders, though we are taking his feelings about it all into account. This all sucks. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

We're sitting on our hands about completing that form to make the choice for fall, because we do have misgivings about FCPS handling of all of this. However, I trust her school. The principal is a good guy, and seems to have good instincts. For instance, on that Thursday before school closed in March, he told the entire school to take all their school stuff with them, although FCPS hadn't officially announced. I think that he will do the right thing. They're holding a chat next week, so parents can ask questions, and (hopefully) get some clarity on how it will all work in their school. I will pick up and drop off DD, so there will be no bus issues. If the kids essentially stay with same 10 kids in class (her class size was 20 last year), eat in class, and have specials teachers coming to them, the risk won't be that great.

Note that if you do not explicitly reply, they will mark your kid response as "in-person". However, you can always change when it comes down to it. I think it may be easier to say you will attendnow, then change to being remote than the other way around.

Good luck in your choice.

In person option is an year long commitment as well.

[Anonymous]

We are going to withdraw and homeschool (4th and 6th AAP). If the virus situation is promising and regular school can be more like normal school, we are going to re-enroll them at their center.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are going to withdraw and homeschool (4th and 6th AAP). If the virus situation is promising and regular school can be more like normal school, we are going to re-enroll them at their center.

Will you be participating in a homeschool co-op, going to lots of extracurriculars for homeschoolers available in the area? Aren't most or all of those closed?

How will you handle the loneliness?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your plan sounds like it will work out for you, assuming you don’t have misgivings about FCPS handling the whole virus thing... I figure my kid will have all of his afternoons after DL free to work on projects, or play, as the situation demands. Once he has virtual classmates we plan to reach out and schedule in-person meet ups too. Whatever the decision is that we make, we made it clear that the decision is ours as parents, not his. We take the blame for whatever happens! It definitely shouldn’t be on his shoulders, though we are taking his feelings about it all into account. This all sucks. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

We're sitting on our hands about completing that form to make the choice for fall, because we do have misgivings about FCPS handling of all of this. However, I trust her school. The principal is a good guy, and seems to have good instincts. For instance, on that Thursday before school closed in March, he told the entire school to take all their school stuff with them, although FCPS hadn't officially announced. I think that he will do the right thing. They're holding a chat next week, so parents can ask questions, and (hopefully) get some clarity on how it will all work in their school. I will pick up and drop off DD, so there will be no bus issues. If the kids essentially stay with same 10 kids in class (her class size was 20 last year), eat in class, and have specials teachers coming to them, the risk won't be that great.

Note that if you do not explicitly reply, they will mark your kid response as "in-person". However, you can always change when it comes down to it. I think it may be easier to say you will attendnow, then change to being remote than the other way around.

Good luck in your choice.

In person option is an year long commitment as well.

I think we'll all end up in DL by oh, November. I do like that if we do in-person, and school has to go to DL, then there is the possibility that we can go back to in-person should conditions change. The DL choice locks us in for the whole school year, which makes things more predictable, but might be a bad option if conditions on the ground don't get worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are going to withdraw and homeschool (4th and 6th AAP). If the virus situation is promising and regular school can be more like normal school, we are going to re-enroll them at their center.

Will you be participating in a homeschool co-op, going to lots of extracurriculars for homeschoolers available in the area? Aren't most or all of those closed?

How will you handle the loneliness?

We are hoping to have playdates with friends who are doing the other two options. Our neighborhood has a lot of kids. And they play several fall rec sports which hopefully won't be canceled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are going to withdraw and homeschool (4th and 6th AAP). If the virus situation is promising and regular school can be more like normal school, we are going to re-enroll them at their center.

That's one way to get around the "locked into DL for the whole year" aspect. I'm torn. The DL at our school was ABYSMAL. I don't trust FCPS with the DL. But in person with all the restrictions will be really uncomfortable and no fun, too.