Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Beginning in August of 2015, high school students will start class at 7:45 a.m., middle school will be delayed 20 minutes and elementary schools will have 10 minutes added to the day for either recess or lunch.

http://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2015/02/montgomery-county-votes-change-bell-times/

My guess is that it will start out for recess and lunch, and then eventually be changed over to more instruction time when the decide it's necessary. I doubt they'll leave it for extra recess for too long.

That would require bargaining, wouldn't it?

Please send link to help me determine if my elementary school will be Tier 1 or Tier 2.

Elementary school parents need to wake up and smell the coffee. I'm sure your child can suffer through an extra ten minutes of school. One of these days your kids won't be in elementary school anymore and you'll appreciate why many parents of teens feel so strongly about the change in times. No teenager should be walking to a bus or standing around in the dark waiting for a bus. I agree that 20 minutes was not optimal to help with the sleep issue, but if it gets kids off the streets in the dark then it's worth it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How did they sneak in that extra 10 minutes for the elementary schools? Was that always a part of the proposal?

And was it mentioned how those 10 minutes are to be "spent"? By extending lunch and recess, I hope.

Ha! No way. More worksheets!!

Seems like a total non-solution to me.

Beginning in August of 2015, high school students will start class at 7:45 a.m., middle school will be delayed 20 minutes and elementary schools will have 10 minutes added to the day for either recess or lunch.

http://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2015/02/montgomery-county-votes-change-bell-times/

My guess is that it will start out for recess and lunch, and then eventually be changed over to more instruction time when the decide it's necessary. I doubt they'll leave it for extra recess for too long.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How did they sneak in that extra 10 minutes for the elementary schools? Was that always a part of the proposal?

And was it mentioned how those 10 minutes are to be "spent"? By extending lunch and recess, I hope.

Ha! No way. More worksheets!!

Seems like a total non-solution to me.

Beginning in August of 2015, high school students will start class at 7:45 a.m., middle school will be delayed 20 minutes and elementary schools will have 10 minutes added to the day for either recess or lunch.

http://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2015/02/montgomery-county-votes-change-bell-times/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not just about the sleep, it's about high schoolers not standing waiting for a bus in the dark. When you actually have a 14 year old standing on a street without a sidewalk in the dark, you'll understand.

Good point.

Absolutely! If this does nothing else but ensure that far fewer kids will have to walk to the bus stop in the dark, it will be a positive development.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How did they sneak in that extra 10 minutes for the elementary schools? Was that always a part of the proposal?

And was it mentioned how those 10 minutes are to be "spent"? By extending lunch and recess, I hope.

Ha! No way. More worksheets!!

Seems like a total non-solution to me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How did they sneak in that extra 10 minutes for the elementary schools? Was that always a part of the proposal?

And was it mentioned how those 10 minutes are to be "spent"? By extending lunch and recess, I hope.

I'd be fine with that, especially if they let them run around outside.

Anonymous wrote:How did they sneak in that extra 10 minutes for the elementary schools? Was that always a part of the proposal?

And was it mentioned how those 10 minutes are to be "spent"? By extending lunch and recess, I hope.

How did they sneak in that extra 10 minutes for the elementary schools? Was that always a part of the proposal?

More time for the Beverly Farms crew to get a Starbucks.

So, is this now set in stone? When does this change start?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is the solution that was adopted:


I have children in both a Tier 1 and a Tier 2. The Tier 1 currently gets out at 3:10 so they added 5 minutes at the end of the day in addition to the 10 minute shift. The Tier 2 gets out at 2:30 so they added 10 minutes to the day. Why is it different?

Are you sure about that? All the Tier 1 schools I know get out at 3:05.

I'm sure. Starts at 8:50 and gets out at 3:10.

I think your school must be an outlier. I just took a look through the first 20 or so elementary schools listed on the "At a Glance" page on the MCPS website. The majority of Tier 1 schools run 8:50 to 3:05, while Tier 2 are mostly 9:15 to 3:30. I did see a few others that had slightly different times (5 to 10 minutes). So I think the times given in the new bell plan are based on the "typical" schools, and indicate that both Tier 1 and Tier 2 schools will add 10 minutes, which I think was your original questions. I don't know whether certain schools might remain slightly different, since I have no idea why they are different now.

The current starting and ending bell times for MCPS are:
LEVEL TIME LENGTH OF DAY
High School 7:25 a.m.–2:10 p.m. 6 hours, 45 minutes Middle School 7:55 a.m.–2:40 p.m. 6 hours, 45 minutes Elementary School Tier 1 8:50 a.m.–3:05 p.m. 6 hours, 15 minutes Elementary School Tier 2 9:15 a.m.–3:30 p.m. 6 hours, 15 minutes The recommended starting and ending bell times for MCPS are:
LEVEL TIME LENGTH OF DAY
High School 7:45 a.m.–2:30 p.m. 6 hours, 45 minutes Middle School 8:15 a.m.–3:00 p.m. 6 hours, 45 minutes Elementary School Tier 1 9:00 a.m.–3:25 p.m. 6 hours, 25 minutes Elementary School Tier 2 9:25 a.m.–3:50 p.m. 6 hours, 25

Maybe not ideal. But having my kid leave for school at 7am (newly voted) rather than 6:40am (current) feels pretty different.