Anonymous wrote:So hey, my kid is still in middle school. But I’m imagining that PE could be a good break in the middle of the day in high school? Or am I totally off base?

Not at our HS. It is a HUGE waste of time. There are just too many students. When it's cold, it's really hard to accommodate multiple PE classes in one gym. It doesn't really work as a 'break'. Often times, when it's too cold to be outside, the kids just end up in the bleachers sitting on their Chromebooks. My kid can sometimes get his homework done during PE, which gives him more time for soccer practice after lol.

If you're worried about this in MS take it online in the summer before high school. Done. Or another summer if you can't this summer.

My kid did PE during their sport season (and the other semester) freshman year. It was fine. They did health online in the spring. Was also fine. Done before sophomore year with PE and health and played a sport.

Anonymous wrote:We don’t allow talented artists to skip the arts credit. We don’t allow kids who are multiple years ahead of the on-grade level curriculum in math to skip math. We don’t allow kids who are excelling in robotics to skip the tech credit. Why should PE be any different?

Great analogy! The issue is many private schools do this. You can get independent study credits for being on a club team as long as you also participate in the school’s sport that season. Or even worse, some schools only require 2 seasons of sports with no health requirement! This is one of the many ways Maryland has different rules for private than public. Another big one being minimum number of schools days is less for private schools than public

In Fairfax they have Phys Ed in summer school, and I wish they did that here in MCPS.

So 100 kids try out and only 30 make the team, those 30 that make the team get an additional advantage of not having to take PE, which frees them up to take an extra honors or AP course that could boost their GPA over the non athletic kids, or the athletic kids that just couldn’t make the team.

Then you get the parent whose kid does 20 hours of martial arts after school each week but NOT for a school team lobbying for their kid to also be free from the PE requirements. Should the marching band also be excused? I have a kid in marching band who spends an insane number of hours practicing formations in the heat, arguably expending more energy than the golf team, but band is not a sport so…

There’s just no way to do it fairly. It’s just a part of this public school district, just accept it and move on.

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Anonymous wrote:Most students would benefit from PE every year if they are not a student athlete. They should offer it as a quarter class, 11:11. Same with health offer it on a quarter basis so students get it each year. But scheduling is probably the reason they don't.

No thanks, get PE over with freshman year and health ed in summer school.

Pay $ to take health over summer? Or is it free again?

I don’t know if all schools do this, but Poolesville offers certain courses, like Health, as a virtual class in the evening once a week during the school year for around 6 weeks and it’s free. It counts as a semester. My dd got her health and tech credits this way.

And they cry equity. How is it that one school does but others don't? Or is this a virtual program any MCP student can take?

Online health is a virtual program offered to all MCPS students. The students who use the program tend to be in the richer schools. Their parents have the money to pay for the course, and they have an interest in getting health credits out of the way.

There was no charge last spring for Health B or last fall or this spring for virtual tech classes.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most students would benefit from PE every year if they are not a student athlete. They should offer it as a quarter class, 11:11. Same with health offer it on a quarter basis so students get it each year. But scheduling is probably the reason they don't.

No thanks, get PE over with freshman year and health ed in summer school.

Pay $ to take health over summer? Or is it free again?

Summer classes are no longer free.

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Anonymous wrote:Most students would benefit from PE every year if they are not a student athlete. They should offer it as a quarter class, 11:11. Same with health offer it on a quarter basis so students get it each year. But scheduling is probably the reason they don't.

No thanks, get PE over with freshman year and health ed in summer school.

Pay $ to take health over summer? Or is it free again?

I don’t know if all schools do this, but Poolesville offers certain courses, like Health, as a virtual class in the evening once a week during the school year for around 6 weeks and it’s free. It counts as a semester. My dd got her health and tech credits this way.

And they cry equity. How is it that one school does but others don't? Or is this a virtual program any MCP student can take?

Online health is a virtual program offered to all MCPS students. The students who use the program tend to be in the richer schools. Their parents have the money to pay for the course, and they have an interest in getting health credits out of the way.

Anonymous wrote:We don’t allow talented artists to skip the arts credit. We don’t allow kids who are multiple years ahead of the on-grade level curriculum in math to skip math. We don’t allow kids who are excelling in robotics to skip the tech credit. Why should PE be any different?

The answer comes down to curriculum requirements. Can a sport cover the requirements in a meaningful way. Anyway PE was skippable in the past. I don't know when MCPS (or MD state, maybe?) abandoned the policy, but a few decades ago, playing a Varsity sport could be applied towards one (only one) semester of the graduation requirement.

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Anonymous wrote:Most students would benefit from PE every year if they are not a student athlete. They should offer it as a quarter class, 11:11. Same with health offer it on a quarter basis so students get it each year. But scheduling is probably the reason they don't.

No thanks, get PE over with freshman year and health ed in summer school.

Pay $ to take health over summer? Or is it free again?

I don’t know if all schools do this, but Poolesville offers certain courses, like Health, as a virtual class in the evening once a week during the school year for around 6 weeks and it’s free. It counts as a semester. My dd got her health and tech credits this way.

Is this still free? My kid did Health B virtually during the spring through MCPS online learning last year (2024 spring). It was 6 sessions over 7 weeks (off for spring break). It was free then, but I don't know if there's a cost for students currently enrolled.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/onlinelearning/courses/health/
(see Fall Schedule and Spring Schedule)

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Anonymous wrote:Most students would benefit from PE every year if they are not a student athlete. They should offer it as a quarter class, 11:11. Same with health offer it on a quarter basis so students get it each year. But scheduling is probably the reason they don't.

No thanks, get PE over with freshman year and health ed in summer school.

Pay $ to take health over summer? Or is it free again?

I don’t know if all schools do this, but Poolesville offers certain courses, like Health, as a virtual class in the evening once a week during the school year for around 6 weeks and it’s free. It counts as a semester. My dd got her health and tech credits this way.

And they cry equity. How is it that one school does but others don't? Or is this a virtual program any MCP student can take?

OP, you're right that it was discussed at some board meetings in 2019-2020, but as far as I know those conversations were never restarted.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most students would benefit from PE every year if they are not a student athlete. They should offer it as a quarter class, 11:11. Same with health offer it on a quarter basis so students get it each year. But scheduling is probably the reason they don't.

No thanks, get PE over with freshman year and health ed in summer school.

Pay $ to take health over summer? Or is it free again?

I don’t know if all schools do this, but Poolesville offers certain courses, like Health, as a virtual class in the evening once a week during the school year for around 6 weeks and it’s free. It counts as a semester. My dd got her health and tech credits this way.

Anonymous wrote:So hey, my kid is still in middle school. But I’m imagining that PE could be a good break in the middle of the day in high school? Or am I totally off base?

You're absolutely right on this. I wish they required PE to be taken junior year, as it's by far the hardest/most stressful (at least for my 3 kids). I've tried to get all three to take it junior year rather than freshman year and all refused because it's viewed as a "freshman class" and they don't want to be different.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most students would benefit from PE every year if they are not a student athlete. They should offer it as a quarter class, 11:11. Same with health offer it on a quarter basis so students get it each year. But scheduling is probably the reason they don't.

No thanks, get PE over with freshman year and health ed in summer school.

Pay $ to take health over summer? Or is it free again?