I am so upset. I feel like this is the straw that broke the camel's back. My kid getting out of school at 2:15 is ridiculous. Before having kids, dh and I got flexible jobs, moved to a great school district. We loved how with daycare, one person did drop off and the other did pickup. We liked being with our kids. ZERO office jobs allow you to leave at 2pm. Core hours are 10-3pm. I wish my elementary school let out at 3:00 or 3:15 so that I could pick them up and walk home together. I feel like middle schoolers or high schoolers (who mostly bus since those schools serve a larger area) should get out at 2pm. Middle school and high schoolers are legally allowed to stay home alone for an hour or two until parents get out. Elementary kids instead have to go to aftercare.

Loudoun county is one of the richest counties in the nation. Mostly because of dual incomes. They need to take into consideration working parents.

I have thought for a long time that schools need to lengthen the school day to at least 7 hours. 6 hours of school is not enough. Kids would love longer lunches, recess and language instruction.

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Anonymous wrote:Just when you thought it couldn’t possibly turn into anymore of a shit show.... My kid attends one of the elementary schools impacted. So, now I guess I have to wake my 7 year old up at 5:30 for school? And my neighbor’s lazy teenager who stays up all night gaming can sleep in longer and have another excuse for not getting a job.

Why???? We wake up at 7 now. So we will wake up at 6:40 next year. NBD.

Bus currently picks my son up at 6:50. So, waking up at 7 isn’t exactly an option.

So drive him. New tardy bell isn’t until 7:30.

I’m so glad for you that you’re life is so easy! I guess I’ll get up at 4am so I can load up my other child wheelchair and all and deal with their morning seizures in time to not miss the tardy bell!! I’m a rarity in that I try not to act like an entitled jerk but this change is just asinine. Young kids should not have to get up at 5:30 in the morning to get to school.

Young children also don't need an hour to get ready in the morning. Wake him up at 6am, which is a perfectly reasonable wakeup time for a grade schooler. Jesus, the whining.

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Anonymous wrote:Just when you thought it couldn’t possibly turn into anymore of a shit show.... My kid attends one of the elementary schools impacted. So, now I guess I have to wake my 7 year old up at 5:30 for school? And my neighbor’s lazy teenager who stays up all night gaming can sleep in longer and have another excuse for not getting a job.

Why???? We wake up at 7 now. So we will wake up at 6:40 next year. NBD.

Bus currently picks my son up at 6:50. So, waking up at 7 isn’t exactly an option.

So drive him. New tardy bell isn’t until 7:30.

I’m so glad for you that you’re life is so easy! I guess I’ll get up at 4am so I can load up my other child wheelchair and all and deal with their morning seizures in time to not miss the tardy bell!! I’m a rarity in that I try not to act like an entitled jerk but this change is just asinine. Young kids should not have to get up at 5:30 in the morning to get to school.

The rest of Loudoun does not need to accommodate your family's unusual needs, pp. You will learn how to deal with it.

Anonymous wrote:Crappy and shady how LCPS makes decisions without input from students, teachers, parents and staff. But, can anyone be surprised by anything LCPS does and more importantly how they do it? Yeah, didn’t think so.

This is simple: email is sent to principal at beginning of school year and you tell them this asinine and ridiculous decision doesn’t sit well and that you’ll still bring your kid in at 7:50.

Mark them tardy. They can't do anything except send you a letter saying how they’re concerned excessive tardiness is affecting their academics (lmao)

The attitude you're displaying is everything that is wrong with parents today. It's bad enough you think you have some right to dictate what can and cannot be taught in the classroom. Now you're going to deliberately flout the bell schedule? What in hell is actually wrong with you?

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Anonymous wrote:The idea that a 17 year starts school after 9 am and ends after 4 pm, and a 7 year old starts at 7:30 am and ends by 2:30 pm is ludicrous for so many reasons.

Honestly, this makes so much sense to me. I’m jealous. FCPS parent who’s 14 yo goes to the bus at 6:40.

+1 from an FCPS parent. My ES starts at 9:20 am and MS starts at 7:30. And who's up first? Yes, the ES kid. My kids would be estactic if they had these start times.

Would your 10 or 11 year old be ecstatic if they had to get on the bus at 6:45am every morning? Because that's what many of us are facing next year. Some of these kids (who aren't so "little" and are in fact going through significant growth spurts) are going to be sleeping through a lot school. Worst decision ever.

But how is that any different from my 12/13/14 year old getting on a bus at 6:45 am? Bc someone has to go early. And grades in ES matter much less than MS and HS.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:The idea that a 17 year starts school after 9 am and ends after 4 pm, and a 7 year old starts at 7:30 am and ends by 2:30 pm is ludicrous for so many reasons.

Honestly, this makes so much sense to me. I’m jealous. FCPS parent who’s 14 yo goes to the bus at 6:40.

+1 from an FCPS parent. My ES starts at 9:20 am and MS starts at 7:30. And who's up first? Yes, the ES kid. My kids would be estactic if they had these start times.

Would your 10 or 11 year old be ecstatic if they had to get on the bus at 6:45am every morning? Because that's what many of us are facing next year. Some of these kids (who aren't so "little" and are in fact going through significant growth spurts) are going to be sleeping through a lot school. Worst decision ever.

All these systems are too bug, schools are too large and far from homes. If we had smaller school, less need for busses they could all start at a reasonable 8:30 and the majority of kids would walk. With enough time for activities, work and older siblings providing childcare for youngest. But the urban sprawl and 2000+ kid highschools and 500 kid elementary schools made this impossible so we have to stagger busses and someone always loses out.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:The idea that a 17 year starts school after 9 am and ends after 4 pm, and a 7 year old starts at 7:30 am and ends by 2:30 pm is ludicrous for so many reasons.

Honestly, this makes so much sense to me. I’m jealous. FCPS parent who’s 14 yo goes to the bus at 6:40.

+1 from an FCPS parent. My ES starts at 9:20 am and MS starts at 7:30. And who's up first? Yes, the ES kid. My kids would be estactic if they had these start times.

Another +1 but from an APS parent. Study after study has shown it's better for HS students to start later.

Anonymous wrote:The idea that a 17 year starts school after 9 am and ends after 4 pm, and a 7 year old starts at 7:30 am and ends by 2:30 pm is ludicrous for so many reasons.

I have a student in LCPS now and this schedule (HS later than ES) is so common sensical and not ludicrous at all. Most of my family in other parts of the country wish their school system as similarly structured.

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Anonymous wrote:The idea that a 17 year starts school after 9 am and ends after 4 pm, and a 7 year old starts at 7:30 am and ends by 2:30 pm is ludicrous for so many reasons.

Honestly, this makes so much sense to me. I’m jealous. FCPS parent who’s 14 yo goes to the bus at 6:40.

+1 from an FCPS parent. My ES starts at 9:20 am and MS starts at 7:30. And who's up first? Yes, the ES kid. My kids would be estactic if they had these start times.

Anonymous wrote:The idea that a 17 year starts school after 9 am and ends after 4 pm, and a 7 year old starts at 7:30 am and ends by 2:30 pm is ludicrous for so many reasons.

It’s been this way in Loudoun for at least 17 years. They are not flipping the schools around now. New elementary parents have a meltdown when they realize it and then get over it or move. The ES years fly by and you’ll be really glad when your 6th grader gets to sleep in 30 more minutes. It’s a lot easier to wake up a 5 year old than an 11 year old or 14 year old. Young parents just don’t understand.

Anonymous wrote:The idea that a 17 year starts school after 9 am and ends after 4 pm, and a 7 year old starts at 7:30 am and ends by 2:30 pm is ludicrous for so many reasons.

Honestly, this makes so much sense to me. I’m jealous. FCPS parent who’s 14 yo goes to the bus at 6:40.

Anonymous wrote:The idea that a 17 year starts school after 9 am and ends after 4 pm, and a 7 year old starts at 7:30 am and ends by 2:30 pm is ludicrous for so many reasons.

Huh, how so? All the studies show teen sleep patterns shift dramatically. My kids were earlier risers when they were little and became night owls as teens. This change is definitely more in alignment with that and makes perfect sense to me. What aspect specifically do you find ludicrous?

The idea that a 17 year starts school after 9 am and ends after 4 pm, and a 7 year old starts at 7:30 am and ends by 2:30 pm is ludicrous for so many reasons.

High school parents have a fit their kids have to get up and going. Both of those times are absurd and it makes it really late for activities and homework after school, not to mention kids who have to work.