Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have one kid in our local school and one in a magnet. I can’t be in two places at once and they’re not virtual. So frustrating to face this repeatedly. I’d request the principals to coordinate in the future if they each schedule it independently, but maybe MCPS coordinates it systemwide?

How on earth could or would you expect every school in our 200+ school district to coordinate back-to-school nights so that there are no conflicts? It's impossible, OP. Be rational.

See the post above yours. If they’re all planned independently, how do my kids’ two schools keep planning them for the same night? If magnets did theirs a different night from other high schools, there would still be some parents who have kids enrolled in multiple magnet high schools, but at least some parents could attend more than one open house. Also, I have no power to compel two principals to coordinate, but what’s the harm in simply asking them about next year to put this on their radar?

What was posted, by doing different nights by grade level, does not prevent scheduling conflicts.

There are regional and countywide magnets. So for Richard Montgomery, which draws from across the county, it's impossible to have a back-to-school night that doesn't conflict with SOME school somewhere in the county.

Also, people have kids of all ages. Some have one in elementary, middle and high school. Some have them clustered together, with only 1-3 years apart, so splitting by grade level doesn't solve anything for them. And that's not even accounting for scheduling conflicts that might emerge from work, familial or extracurricular obligations.

There is NO WAY to make everyone happy. It's impossible.

If there is a conflict, you need to tap in your village. You can't be in two places at once, so split up between mom and dad. If dad is not in your life or uninvolved, tap in an aunt or an uncle or grandma and grandpa. Or if none of that works, simply set up a separate time to meet with the teacher 1:1! That's what I did when those situations came up. Expecting the school district, especially one as large as ours, to be able to build out a calendar that avoids ANY conflicts for EVERYONE is an unrealistic expectation.

Anonymous wrote:Our cluster did the MS and HS Parent Info night in the same night last week.

Same cluster!

I know they can’t coordinate everything with every other school, but these events happen at the same time of year, every year, and most extra curricular activities haven’t even started yet. It seems like this should not be an insurmountable issue.

Our cluster did the MS and HS Parent Info night in the same night last week.

Same cluster!

I was surprised they were even scheduled for tonight because our cluster has never done them the first week of school before.

Anonymous wrote:Apparently everyone's on a Thursday, and there are only so many Thursdays. Westland MS was August 24th and BCC HS in the same cluster is Sept 7th. I assume they coordinate in the same cluster but all bets are off for out-of-cluster school pairings?

Wheaton's is on Wednesday, not Thursday.

Our HS is Wed 9/6

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have one kid in our local school and one in a magnet. I can’t be in two places at once and they’re not virtual. So frustrating to face this repeatedly. I’d request the principals to coordinate in the future if they each schedule it independently, but maybe MCPS coordinates it systemwide?

How on earth could or would you expect every school in our 200+ school district to coordinate back-to-school nights so that there are no conflicts? It's impossible, OP. Be rational.

See the post above yours. If they’re all planned independently, how do my kids’ two schools keep planning them for the same night? If magnets did theirs a different night from other high schools, there would still be some parents who have kids enrolled in multiple magnet high schools, but at least some parents could attend more than one open house. Also, I have no power to compel two principals to coordinate, but what’s the harm in simply asking them about next year to put this on their radar?

Sorry, more people posted while I was typing. I meant see the 10:30 post.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apparently everyone's on a Thursday, and there are only so many Thursdays. Westland MS was August 24th and BCC HS in the same cluster is Sept 7th. I assume they coordinate in the same cluster but all bets are off for out-of-cluster school pairings?

No, one of mine is on a Tuesday.

In that case, they really should be able to hold BTSN on different days.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have one kid in our local school and one in a magnet. I can’t be in two places at once and they’re not virtual. So frustrating to face this repeatedly. I’d request the principals to coordinate in the future if they each schedule it independently, but maybe MCPS coordinates it systemwide?

How on earth could or would you expect every school in our 200+ school district to coordinate back-to-school nights so that there are no conflicts? It's impossible, OP. Be rational.

See the post above yours. If they’re all planned independently, how do my kids’ two schools keep planning them for the same night? If magnets did theirs a different night from other high schools, there would still be some parents who have kids enrolled in multiple magnet high schools, but at least some parents could attend more than one open house. Also, I have no power to compel two principals to coordinate, but what’s the harm in simply asking them about next year to put this on their radar?

Anonymous wrote:Apparently everyone's on a Thursday, and there are only so many Thursdays. Westland MS was August 24th and BCC HS in the same cluster is Sept 7th. I assume they coordinate in the same cluster but all bets are off for out-of-cluster school pairings?

No, one of mine is on a Tuesday.

Anonymous wrote:I have one kid in our local school and one in a magnet. I can’t be in two places at once and they’re not virtual. So frustrating to face this repeatedly. I’d request the principals to coordinate in the future if they each schedule it independently, but maybe MCPS coordinates it systemwide?

How on earth could or would you expect every school in our 200+ school district to coordinate back-to-school nights so that there are no conflicts? It's impossible, OP. Be rational.

Couldn't they do something like within the cluster

Mon--all elem
Tues--all MS
Wed--HS
Thur--elem special programs
Mon--MS special programs
Tues--HS special programs---now if you have one at Blair and one at RM, you'd still be up a creek.

Apparently everyone's on a Thursday, and there are only so many Thursdays. Westland MS was August 24th and BCC HS in the same cluster is Sept 7th. I assume they coordinate in the same cluster but all bets are off for out-of-cluster school pairings?

Weird—my local school and magnet at both next week so I have the same problem in a week. We have MS tonight so I assumed all HS were next Thursday.

I have one kid in our local school and one in a magnet. I can’t be in two places at once and they’re not virtual. So frustrating to face this repeatedly. I’d request the principals to coordinate in the future if they each schedule it independently, but maybe MCPS coordinates it systemwide?