Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The middle school I teach at went from 8 to 7:30. Buses began dropping kids off in our parking lot at 7 am this morning. Staff was asked to be in the building by 6:45 so as not to be blocking buses as they entered.

It's going to be a long year.

The worst part for teachers (imo) is that after school buses still don't come until 4:30, so now staff is expected to stay after to tutor kids from 2:15-4:30 once a week. That is a LONG (unpaid) period of tutoring for kids who have likely been up since 5:30.

As a Fairfax County taxpayer I have to ask, why the hell is this unpaid? That is some bullshit that has to stop.

First - the principal cannot require that you show up at 645 unless he's willing to let you walk out the door at 215 which is unlikely since that's right when the kids are dismissed. Your contract hours are for 7.5/day with the occasional after school faculty meeting. A 645 arrival time would be a contract violation. You can voluntarily come in that early (a ton of teachers do) but that's about it.

Second - you're not expected to stay until 430. The general expectation at a couple of FCPS schools I taught at was one hour a week of unpaid time after school. If you're staying over two hours unpaid, you're a sucker. Put in one hour, once a week and go home.

Anonymous wrote:My DD will be sleep deprived for the entire school year. You can not make a MS student go to bed at 9:00. Just won't happen.

you can only speak for your middle schoolers. I had two that were routinely up at 6:00am. Everyone is different.

This is the reason I'm teaching high school again this year. I was offered a MS position, but I'm 53 and need all the sleep I can get.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Didn't hear the parents of Robinson, Lake Braddock or Hayfield MS'ers complaining for the last 30 years of first days. Suck it up and deal.

Ummm. Parents throughout the county griped all the time. And said that it was unsafe to have HS kids walking in the dark. Fantastic-- this winter my MS student will be walking in the dark. So much better.

Middle school kids who go to the secondary schools plus Frost have been going to the bus at the same time as the high schools for many, many years. My kids went from an elementary school that started at 9:05 to the middle school starting at 7:25. Yes, it's a pain, but now it will only be for two years rather than the six years it has been for the secondary school kids.

Activities and sports often run later than 9 pm. it's bizarre that my ES kid could go to bed later than my MS kid.

Happy for the high schoolers that wanted their times to change, but hate that it came at the expense of MS students' well being.

Anonymous wrote:The middle school I teach at went from 8 to 7:30. Buses began dropping kids off in our parking lot at 7 am this morning. Staff was asked to be in the building by 6:45 so as not to be blocking buses as they entered.

It's going to be a long year.

The worst part for teachers (imo) is that after school buses still don't come until 4:30, so now staff is expected to stay after to tutor kids from 2:15-4:30 once a week. That is a LONG (unpaid) period of tutoring for kids who have likely been up since 5:30.

As a Fairfax County taxpayer I have to ask, why the hell is this unpaid? That is some bullshit that has to stop.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD will be sleep deprived for the entire school year. You can not make a MS student go to bed at 9:00. Just won't happen.

Yes, you can. Especially as they are getting up earlier, they will be tired. You just need to enforce the rules. My 7th grade DS goes to bed at 9pm and goes right to sleep.

Seriously. STFU. Not everyone has super early bed times that work for their family. Some individuals (me, for example) are night owls. I will not sleep at 9 p.m. I just won't. And, that's lovely that you run your house with an iron fist but don't presume everyone does or needs or wants to.

I grew up in a very conservative midwestern town and attended a VERY conservative catholic school (K-12). Even they didn't start before 8 a.m. (The public schools started at 9). None of these kids should be starting before 8 a.m. And the fact that the county cannot make this a priority to happen is revolting in my view. They'd rather have sleep deprived kids and teachers. Unacceptable in my view.

I agree that it is terrible. My 7 year old will also be woken up by the rest of us getting ready in the morning.

Our MS bus went from 7:15 to 6:40.

Anonymous wrote:My DD will be sleep deprived for the entire school year. You can not make a MS student go to bed at 9:00. Just won't happen.

Yes, you can. Especially as they are getting up earlier, they will be tired. You just need to enforce the rules. My 7th grade DS goes to bed at 9pm and goes right to sleep.

Anonymous wrote:Didn't hear the parents of Robinson, Lake Braddock or Hayfield MS'ers complaining for the last 30 years of first days. Suck it up and deal.

Ummm. Parents throughout the county griped all the time. And said that it was unsafe to have HS kids walking in the dark. Fantastic-- this winter my MS student will be walking in the dark. So much better.

Why in the world are we spending so much $$ on HS start times-- it just shifts the predawn bus trip from HS to MS (something not mentioned when they tout the benefits of the time change for HS). And, oh yeah, my DC's school starts a half hour earlier, but the bus comes 70 minutes sooner (6:30 vs 7:40). The explanation? They need to drop the kids off earlier than necessary, to have the bus ready for the HS run. Ugghh!

The middle school I teach at went from 8 to 7:30. Buses began dropping kids off in our parking lot at 7 am this morning. Staff was asked to be in the building by 6:45 so as not to be blocking buses as they entered.

It's going to be a long year.

The worst part for teachers (imo) is that after school buses still don't come until 4:30, so now staff is expected to stay after to tutor kids from 2:15-4:30 once a week. That is a LONG (unpaid) period of tutoring for kids who have likely been up since 5:30.

It's definitely a huge change for the 7th graders, some of whom were staring ES past 9!

Anonymous wrote:Were there really drastic changes in middle school start times? My DS started HS this year, but I just checked and his MS's start time changed from 7:40 to 7:30. Both times are probably too early, but it shouldn't seem like a big change compared to last year.

Actually his bus for HS is only 5 or 10 minutes later than his MS bus was last year. I don't know how long they think it takes to travel 3 miles to the school, but they seem to be allowing 45 minutes after the last stop!

DD when from 8 for 7:30...pus time went from 6:45 to 6:15...pretty big change.