I don’t have a dog in this fight but got curious why this thread was back in the news. My child is at a different APS elementary. Fwiw, from a neutral observer, I read both emails, and they are indeed confusing. It seems clear to me that the principal unilaterally changed the start time to 8:55, and someone at Syphax recently told her she can’t do that, or parent complaints convinced her that she can’t do it.

I’m not sure why there are some parents here standing up for her decisions here. She might be fantastic in all other respects but this was a misstep.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t believe there are 8 pages of posts dedicated to this.

It’s because of every school there are lazy parents who like to drive up 10 minutes after everyone else drops off so they don’t have to wait in the car line

Why is there a car line?!?! I thought the whole reason this had to become a neighborhood school with neighborhood boundaries was because of all the WALKERS being denied their right to a walkable neighborhood school?

I thought the adjacent neighborhoods preferred the school’s prior status as open to students zoned to Key, and originally also Taylor and Jamestown.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t believe there are 8 pages of posts dedicated to this.

It’s because of every school there are lazy parents who like to drive up 10 minutes after everyone else drops off so they don’t have to wait in the car line

Why is there a car line?!?! I thought the whole reason this had to become a neighborhood school with neighborhood boundaries was because of all the WALKERS being denied their right to a walkable neighborhood school?

You cannot lock the doors before the official start time (9am) and mark kids tardy. Now, is she planning on going back and deleting all those tardies b/w 8:55 and 9:00am?

I am very happy that there is one person that didn't find it confusing - phew! And again - this is not about getting kids to school on time - it's about lack of communication, inconsistent communication, confusion (for everyone else but you, obviously). But thank you for the lesson about middle school too.

Anonymous wrote:It is not worth arguing with someone (let's just call her Gina) who resorts to name calling and doesn't even understand the point of this post. Never was the concern about getting our children to school on time - it is about the very confusing communication. She sent lots of communication about the start time being 8:50/8:55 (which, by the way, isn't an option b/c APS sets the school start times - not her) - then another communication this week about how the start time is 9. At no point was there any explanation about any of this. It's strange. It's confusing. Period.

Now - if we really want to use our time wisely we can move on to the MANY ways she is incompetent as a leader.

I didn't find the communication confusing at all. It seemed pretty straightforward to me. She probably changed it at this point because some parent (probably on this thread) was butthurt about it and complained loudly. Also, I haven't seen these so called mean spirited emails the OP mentioned. The original email she sent out about start times wasn't mean spirited. It seemed pretty inoffensive to me, she was merely stating a fact that when so many parents drop their kids off late, that means kids butts are not in seats by 9 because there is a line waiting to get in.

Glebe also indicates an earlier start time. I'm sure this isn't the official start time per APS, just sharing another school's expectations
https://glebe.apsva.us/about/our-school/

Taylor starts morning announcements at 8:55 as well. I think principals are just trying to make sure kids are in seats by 9, rather than parents rolling in to drop off their kid at 9. Same reason doctor offices always ask you to arrive 10 minutes early. And really, buckle up for middle school because it starts at 7:50, and the expectation was made very clear that is butts in seats at 7:50, not arrive at school.

It is not worth arguing with someone (let's just call her Gina) who resorts to name calling and doesn't even understand the point of this post. Never was the concern about getting our children to school on time - it is about the very confusing communication. She sent lots of communication about the start time being 8:50/8:55 (which, by the way, isn't an option b/c APS sets the school start times - not her) - then another communication this week about how the start time is 9. At no point was there any explanation about any of this. It's strange. It's confusing. Period.

Now - if we really want to use our time wisely we can move on to the MANY ways she is incompetent as a leader.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t believe there are 8 pages of posts dedicated to this.

It’s because of every school there are lazy parents who like to drive up 10 minutes after everyone else drops off so they don’t have to wait in the car line

*at

Anonymous wrote:I can’t believe there are 8 pages of posts dedicated to this.

It’s because of every school there are lazy parents who like to drive up 10 minutes after everyone else drops off so they don’t have to wait in the car line

I can’t believe there are 8 pages of posts dedicated to this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So with a 9am start, the doors open at 835 am?

Were the doors open at 825am for the 850 start, or did they just have a narrower window of arrival (which can be problematic with carlines etc).

More whining. Drop your kid off as early as 8:35 or as late as 8:50. Nothing has changed. Or, better yet, walk or send them on the bus.

Where is the whining? The doors were always open at 8:35 am. Clearly something has changed. The principal moved the start of the school day to 8:50 am in January and back to 9:00 am today.

Teaching starts at 9. Your kids should be at school by 8:50. Nothing has changed.

Are you really that lazy that you can't get your kid there by 8:50?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The timing with 4 weeks left in the school year is weird and the back and forth switching is confusing, not her email.

Do you know what time you need to drop your kid off? Yes. Is it any different? No. Not confusing.

Not the point in question. The change in start time from 9:00 am to 8:50 am in January and then back to 9:00 am today.

Why would a principal reverse their public communication in the last month of the school year? It is strange.

Whine whine whine.

Literally nothing has changed. Your kid should still be there by 8:50, as has been the case for 10+ years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So with a 9am start, the doors open at 835 am?

Were the doors open at 825am for the 850 start, or did they just have a narrower window of arrival (which can be problematic with carlines etc).

More whining. Drop your kid off as early as 8:35 or as late as 8:50. Nothing has changed. Or, better yet, walk or send them on the bus.

Where is the whining? The doors were always open at 8:35 am. Clearly something has changed. The principal moved the start of the school day to 8:50 am in January and back to 9:00 am today.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The timing with 4 weeks left in the school year is weird and the back and forth switching is confusing, not her email.

Do you know what time you need to drop your kid off? Yes. Is it any different? No. Not confusing.

Not the point in question. The change in start time from 9:00 am to 8:50 am in January and then back to 9:00 am today.

Why would a principal reverse their public communication in the last month of the school year? It is strange.

Anonymous wrote:So with a 9am start, the doors open at 835 am?

Were the doors open at 825am for the 850 start, or did they just have a narrower window of arrival (which can be problematic with carlines etc).

More whining. Drop your kid off as early as 8:35 or as late as 8:50. Nothing has changed. Or, better yet, walk or send them on the bus.