Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Christmas or not, the FCPS calendar is deeply flawed and has far too many days off.

Can we just get a calendar that gives the Federal Holidays; a few days at the end of each quarter, 5 days for Thanksgiving, 1 week (not 2+) for Christmas and 1 week for Spring Break? And can we please be done early June!!!

No one wants the endless days off, the endless time off in the Winter, the religious holidays etc etc.

+1 finally, someone has some sense

No, finally someone has an opinion that matches yours. I would prefer a 9-week-on, 3-week-off calendar with a 5/6 week summer break in July. That would be wonderful, in my opinion.

LOL, that's never happening.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok. Thank you.

I am glad i am misreading the O days.

Why is next year's calendar so long?

Because our school board is run by idiots.

The only thing FCPS is good at is keeping kids out of school.

+1 Why does FCPS have the worst calendar in the DMV? Do any other districts go back so early, stay late, have the early release Mondays and every holiday off? The calendar sucks and is not good for families or kids.

Arlington starts Tuesday Aug 26. One week before Labor Day seems reasonable to me and they end one day after FCPS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Christmas or not, the FCPS calendar is deeply flawed and has far too many days off.

Can we just get a calendar that gives the Federal Holidays; a few days at the end of each quarter, 5 days for Thanksgiving, 1 week (not 2+) for Christmas and 1 week for Spring Break? And can we please be done early June!!!

No one wants the endless days off, the endless time off in the Winter, the religious holidays etc etc.

+1 finally, someone has some sense

No, finally someone has an opinion that matches yours. I would prefer a 9-week-on, 3-week-off calendar with a 5/6 week summer break in July. That would be wonderful, in my opinion.

Anonymous wrote:Christmas or not, the FCPS calendar is deeply flawed and has far too many days off.

Can we just get a calendar that gives the Federal Holidays; a few days at the end of each quarter, 5 days for Thanksgiving, 1 week (not 2+) for Christmas and 1 week for Spring Break? And can we please be done early June!!!

No one wants the endless days off, the endless time off in the Winter, the religious holidays etc etc.

+1 finally, someone has some sense

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok. Thank you.

I am glad i am misreading the O days.

Why is next year's calendar so long?

Because our school board is run by idiots.

The only thing FCPS is good at is keeping kids out of school.

+1 Why does FCPS have the worst calendar in the DMV? Do any other districts go back so early, stay late, have the early release Mondays and every holiday off? The calendar sucks and is not good for families or kids.

One thing not addressed:

College orientation sessions; DS had only one choice because the others were scheduled prior to his high school graduation. The good part: he couldn't do beach week.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My friends live in Arizona. They started school this week. They have four two week vacations throughout the school year and end at Memorial Day. I honestly kind of love that schedule. August is too hot for summer camp.

That sounds horrible. Keep those bad ideas in Arizona.

Teachers and families love it. No complaints.

Two teachers here. We like our summer pool time.

they need to reopen schools, it fells like a repeat of 2020, thanks goodness we have someone that cares now, unlike

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:why on earth is memorial day a five day weekend????

Eid Muslim holiday according to FCPS calendar. The 26 is a teacher workday.

Is that the holiday that changes based on when the leaders see the moon?

A five day Memorial Day weekend will be terrible for learning. What the point of even coming back?

Can they pull an Atlanta and not show up the final 15 days? I could understand skipping the extra week but three weeks of absences seem tough to pass.
If your wondering what I mean by pulling an Atlanta look at this article! https://www.cnn.com/2015/08/04/living/school-start-dates-august-parents-feat
When you start after Labor Day and end school in June, that last month is simply not taken as seriously. “That end of the year is perceived as being time that is sometimes not used to the maximum value,” Kaye said. And in fact, when Atlanta schools ended in June, a lot of kids simply didn’t show up after Memorial Day. “Even though we were having school after Memorial Day, people had it in their minds that school ended. It may seem ridiculous, but that’s what happened.”

I don’t think many high schoolers are going to be coming those final days, unless they have scheduled final exams. I’m hoping DD finishes up early in June.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:why on earth is memorial day a five day weekend????

Eid Muslim holiday according to FCPS calendar. The 26 is a teacher workday.

Is that the holiday that changes based on when the leaders see the moon?

A five day Memorial Day weekend will be terrible for learning. What the point of even coming back?

Can they pull an Atlanta and not show up the final 15 days? I could understand skipping the extra week but three weeks of absences seem tough to pass.
If your wondering what I mean by pulling an Atlanta look at this article! https://www.cnn.com/2015/08/04/living/school-start-dates-august-parents-feat
When you start after Labor Day and end school in June, that last month is simply not taken as seriously. “That end of the year is perceived as being time that is sometimes not used to the maximum value,” Kaye said. And in fact, when Atlanta schools ended in June, a lot of kids simply didn’t show up after Memorial Day. “Even though we were having school after Memorial Day, people had it in their minds that school ended. It may seem ridiculous, but that’s what happened.”

That's the way I grew up. Thirty minutes early release on Mondays so teachers could have a faculty meeting. Other than that, 8-3. Start Monday after Labor Day. Ending Friday before Memorial Day. Two weeks in December. Two days at Thanksgiving. Three days in the Spring--not tied to Easter. A couple of federal holidays thrown in.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:why on earth is memorial day a five day weekend????

Eid Muslim holiday according to FCPS calendar. The 26 is a teacher workday.

Is that the holiday that changes based on when the leaders see the moon?

A five day Memorial Day weekend will be terrible for learning. What the point of even coming back?

Can they pull an Atlanta and not show up the final 15 days? I could understand skipping the extra week but three weeks of absences seem tough to pass.
If your wondering what I mean by pulling an Atlanta look at this article! https://www.cnn.com/2015/08/04/living/school-start-dates-august-parents-feat
When you start after Labor Day and end school in June, that last month is simply not taken as seriously. “That end of the year is perceived as being time that is sometimes not used to the maximum value,” Kaye said. And in fact, when Atlanta schools ended in June, a lot of kids simply didn’t show up after Memorial Day. “Even though we were having school after Memorial Day, people had it in their minds that school ended. It may seem ridiculous, but that’s what happened.”

Anonymous wrote:My friends live in Arizona. They started school this week. They have four two week vacations throughout the school year and end at Memorial Day. I honestly kind of love that schedule. August is too hot for summer camp.

School in JULY is insane in much of the northern hemisphere although in Arizona that may make sense to avoid being out in 110°. That said it does not belong here. They should have four weeks off during the year (2 in December and two other 1 week breaks). They fall one short of that, spring break should be at the same point every year in April and the other week should either be at Thanksgiving or in February.

Anonymous wrote:I'm frustrated by the 15 day winter break. Totally unnecessary.

It's 10 weekdays not 15 although it's 16 including weekends. In most places except for the northeast two weeks is the norm. Even if two weeks isn't usual the way things fall this year should make it two weeks anyways.

I believe many of the religious holidays were added not because of student/family input, but to appease the teacher and employee groups. Also because they likely had trouble staffing things like the buses and IA’s during these holidays.

I’d rather see something like “floating holidays” for the teachers and staff on religious observance days. We have no school days for Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, and Orthodox Christian holidays. But no staffer is going to need all of those days off for their religious observances obviously, since you can only be one religion at a time. So the teachers all get like, 2-3 “floating holidays” a year to use for whatever observances they need to use them for, or just because if they’re Christian or no religion at all, and otherwise school stays open. with the understanding and communication to parents that buses might be a little late, or that we might have more substitute teachers or fewer IA’s than usual for that one day.

If they could somehow make that work, I think we could claw back a full school week+ between the Jewish holidays in the fall and the Muslim holidays in the spring, as well as Diwali and Orthodox Good Friday which is also a SP/no school day this coming school year. And they wouldn’t even have to touch the two weeks at winter break or the week at Spring Break.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:why on earth is memorial day a five day weekend????

Eid Muslim holiday according to FCPS calendar. The 26 is a teacher workday.

Is that the holiday that changes based on when the leaders see the moon?

A five day Memorial Day weekend will be terrible for learning. What the point of even coming back?

Correct. So FCPS added an extra day off just to make sure. Thanks inclusion!

Nobody wants a 5 day weekend just before the end of school.

The FCPS School Board is only good at keeping kids out of school.

There was a survey, mommas. Did you fill it out?

Nice try. That survey did not let you vote on stuff like this. It only let you vote on things like two weeks for Xmas and whether spring break had to be just before Easter or not. There was no ability to vote in the survey to say that all these religious holidays should not be added.

Can't let a 'racist' constituency have any input, right?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teacher and parent here. I actually think we should have more days off during the school year and a shorter summer break. Kids and teachers need time to schedule doctor’s appointments, decompress a bit, or even catch up with some work. Also, that darn summer slump!

Totally agree!

Just wait, you obviously have little kids. When they get to HS the summer seems REALLY short if they are involved in anything that happens in the fall. Summer is basically over for us already. We had a couple of true summer weeks in June and that was it. They are full in preseason now, every day non mandatory (but mandatory) camps/clinics of some sort leading up to the first week in August where it becomes daily. School feels like it starts the first week in August with a big lead up to prepare in July that they have to participate in.

I can’t imagine how a shorter summer would be possible for the HS students.

Are your high schoolers more important than elementary schoolers? It sounds like your kids are choosing fall sports, but elementary school teachers who are concerned about a long summer resulting in learning loss aren’t wrong.

Remember, we have BTDT. You can put them in programs for that and the teachers don’t want to work summer school anyway. So this argument between extending the year for learning loss and keeping it as is doesn’t matter. No one is reading this.