Anonymous
02/25/2026 16:58
Subject: Melanie Meren's FB post about the calendar
This was an interesting exchange on her FB thread.
Comment - (name removed) "The 26/27 school year is only 6 months away! If changes are going to be made (despite months and months of debating these calendars during school board meetings), please do them as soon as possible."
Reply from Melanie Meren, Fairfax County School Board, Hunter Mill
"Agreed. Please know I’ve been asking the Superintendent about this for months, since it’s an operational matter. However, without any action forthcoming, I’ve taken it up as Governance Chair (policy work) to bring forth the topic. I’m working in coordination with Members Ricardy Anderson (Mason District) and Mateo Dunne (Mt Vernon), and the Governance Committee will take this up on March 17."
Comment - (name removed) "The 26/27 school year is only 6 months away! If changes are going to be made (despite months and months of debating these calendars during school board meetings), please do them as soon as possible."
Reply from Melanie Meren, Fairfax County School Board, Hunter Mill
"Agreed. Please know I’ve been asking the Superintendent about this for months, since it’s an operational matter. However, without any action forthcoming, I’ve taken it up as Governance Chair (policy work) to bring forth the topic. I’m working in coordination with Members Ricardy Anderson (Mason District) and Mateo Dunne (Mt Vernon), and the Governance Committee will take this up on March 17."
Anonymous
02/25/2026 16:51
Subject: Melanie Meren's FB post about the calendar
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:One of my favorite things in life is watching people purposefully have kids then complaining about the scheduling/planning issues that come with having kids. Almost as if they were forced into parenthood.
Like sorry Karen, I guess no one warned you that having 3 kids while you and Chad both work 9-5s that can barely financially support the 5 of you financially may come with obstacles.
But I digress, much easier for parents to moan and complain than to adapt and overcome.
Imagine if FCPS adopted the (majority of) Colorado school schedule... 7.5 hour days, 4 days a week, 144 days a year.
HOW WOULD ANYONE SURVIVE?!
If it were standard and expected, people and the community would adapt. It's the uncertainty that is burdening people so much. If we all knew going into our children's school years that it would be M-TH or Monday Tuesday, Thursday Friday people would plan for that. Employers would all know and they would likewise plan around it the same way we all currently know that there is no school on Saturdays or Sundays.
There would be workplaces that gave the option to work Saturdays because some people could work that day and their spouse work the Friday or Wednesday that kids were off. There would be private supplemental daycare places, businesses that offer martial arts or academics that would be open those days. Parents might get together and form co-ops to support each other with that one day a week off with babysitting and homework supervision and social time.
Again, the uncertainty and it changing one year to the next is the issue.
There’s nothing uncertain about our current calendar. It’s been set for years, including the days off.
What day is the Muslim holiday that is only known when some random dude sees the Moon?
Anonymous
02/25/2026 16:37
Subject: Melanie Meren's FB post about the calendar
Great to hear from high school parents whose kids can 1) stay home alone 2) for free 3) can study on their own 4) have no early release nonsense - how they love this calendar and how they don't care.
Anonymous
02/25/2026 16:34
Subject: Melanie Meren's FB post about the calendar
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Sorry, love the non-5 day weeks. They are great. Summer is such a pain to plan, and we (and most of our friends) much prefer a day here and there, rather than additional weeks in the summer.
I agree! We love the 4 day weeks! It really helps with the sleep for middle and high schoolers.
Time to be a parent. The entire school system doesn't operate around the needs of your special child.
And it doesn’t operate around your need for a 5 day week. As long as the kids get in the required hours of instructional time I do not care. I prefer the 4 day weeks and so do a lot of parents and teachers. Your whining isn’t going to change that. Time to be a parent and deal with it.
Good to know you don't care about learning.
And no teacher likes the calendar.
Teacher here. I can assure you that the vast majority of us LOVE the current calendar. Makes it incredibly easy to take mini weekend vacations with our families without taking a ton of, if any, leave.
We hope for snow days, cherish the random holidays, and almost all of us can tell you how few "full weeks" we have until spring break and the end of the year.
Here's to hoping it snows on Monday, so we only have two full weeks before spring break!
Teachers with this attitude are the reason people think the profession is a jobs program rather than for the benefit of students.
I saw a teacher on a local weather Facebook account comment "School closings are my love language". With her occupation featured on her profile. Can you imagine publicly stating that you hope to do your job as little as possible? Some teachers truly lack professionalism. If they wonder why they don't get treated as full fledged professionals, they need to look at some of their colleagues.
I think if you are a corporate desk worker that would be a bit lazy but, whatever. Can you imagine if you signed up to teach the next generation, expecting praise for your noble career, and publicly brag about how much you love slacking off? So gross.
Most of the teachers I know are really worried about their kids falling behind or not doing well on standardized tests because of the haphazard schedules. A specialist friend - helping kids who need extra instruction - said she has seen her Monday kids 2x in 6 weeks.
If the salaries are so unbearable, do these kids a favor and take a different job.
Most of the public school teachers I know are unapologetic that they NEED the many days off and that they work harder than anyone. So insufferable. They are lazy low iq people. The good ones go to private schools. Ask me how I know.
Private school teachers consistently leave to take jobs at public schools to get paid better across the country. Ask any private school administrator. It is difficult to find and retain quality teachers when in proximity to a well funded public school district. Tell me how I know… I’m a private school admin.
Anonymous
02/25/2026 16:28
Subject: Melanie Meren's FB post about the calendar
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Sorry, love the non-5 day weeks. They are great. Summer is such a pain to plan, and we (and most of our friends) much prefer a day here and there, rather than additional weeks in the summer.
I agree! We love the 4 day weeks! It really helps with the sleep for middle and high schoolers.
Time to be a parent. The entire school system doesn't operate around the needs of your special child.
And it doesn’t operate around your need for a 5 day week. As long as the kids get in the required hours of instructional time I do not care. I prefer the 4 day weeks and so do a lot of parents and teachers. Your whining isn’t going to change that. Time to be a parent and deal with it.
Good to know you don't care about learning.
And no teacher likes the calendar.
Teacher here. I can assure you that the vast majority of us LOVE the current calendar. Makes it incredibly easy to take mini weekend vacations with our families without taking a ton of, if any, leave.
We hope for snow days, cherish the random holidays, and almost all of us can tell you how few "full weeks" we have until spring break and the end of the year.
Here's to hoping it snows on Monday, so we only have two full weeks before spring break!
Teachers with this attitude are the reason people think the profession is a jobs program rather than for the benefit of students.
I saw a teacher on a local weather Facebook account comment "School closings are my love language". With her occupation featured on her profile. Can you imagine publicly stating that you hope to do your job as little as possible? Some teachers truly lack professionalism. If they wonder why they don't get treated as full fledged professionals, they need to look at some of their colleagues.
Every profession has idiots and jerks. Don’t judge the whole group by them. What truly sucks about the teaching profession is that the best ones get paid the same as the fools posting these things. We would keep the great ones around if we were allowed to pay them what they’re worth by pulling from the slackers.
Anonymous
02/25/2026 16:26
Subject: Melanie Meren's FB post about the calendar
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:One of my favorite things in life is watching people purposefully have kids then complaining about the scheduling/planning issues that come with having kids. Almost as if they were forced into parenthood.
Like sorry Karen, I guess no one warned you that having 3 kids while you and Chad both work 9-5s that can barely financially support the 5 of you financially may come with obstacles.
But I digress, much easier for parents to moan and complain than to adapt and overcome.
Imagine if FCPS adopted the (majority of) Colorado school schedule... 7.5 hour days, 4 days a week, 144 days a year.
HOW WOULD ANYONE SURVIVE?!
If it were standard and expected, people and the community would adapt. It's the uncertainty that is burdening people so much. If we all knew going into our children's school years that it would be M-TH or Monday Tuesday, Thursday Friday people would plan for that. Employers would all know and they would likewise plan around it the same way we all currently know that there is no school on Saturdays or Sundays.
There would be workplaces that gave the option to work Saturdays because some people could work that day and their spouse work the Friday or Wednesday that kids were off. There would be private supplemental daycare places, businesses that offer martial arts or academics that would be open those days. Parents might get together and form co-ops to support each other with that one day a week off with babysitting and homework supervision and social time.
Again, the uncertainty and it changing one year to the next is the issue.
There’s nothing uncertain about our current calendar. It’s been set for years, including the days off.
What day is early release next year?
I think they’ve announced it the week after school ends for the following year. It’s sometime over the summer.
So…the calendar isn’t certain years in advance. What a remarkable development.
Anonymous
02/25/2026 16:18
Subject: Melanie Meren's FB post about the calendar
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:One of my favorite things in life is watching people purposefully have kids then complaining about the scheduling/planning issues that come with having kids. Almost as if they were forced into parenthood.
Like sorry Karen, I guess no one warned you that having 3 kids while you and Chad both work 9-5s that can barely financially support the 5 of you financially may come with obstacles.
But I digress, much easier for parents to moan and complain than to adapt and overcome.
Imagine if FCPS adopted the (majority of) Colorado school schedule... 7.5 hour days, 4 days a week, 144 days a year.
HOW WOULD ANYONE SURVIVE?!
If it were standard and expected, people and the community would adapt. It's the uncertainty that is burdening people so much. If we all knew going into our children's school years that it would be M-TH or Monday Tuesday, Thursday Friday people would plan for that. Employers would all know and they would likewise plan around it the same way we all currently know that there is no school on Saturdays or Sundays.
There would be workplaces that gave the option to work Saturdays because some people could work that day and their spouse work the Friday or Wednesday that kids were off. There would be private supplemental daycare places, businesses that offer martial arts or academics that would be open those days. Parents might get together and form co-ops to support each other with that one day a week off with babysitting and homework supervision and social time.
Again, the uncertainty and it changing one year to the next is the issue.
There’s nothing uncertain about our current calendar. It’s been set for years, including the days off.
What day is early release next year?
I think they’ve announced it the week after school ends for the following year. It’s sometime over the summer.
Anonymous
02/25/2026 16:13
Subject: Melanie Meren's FB post about the calendar
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:One of my favorite things in life is watching people purposefully have kids then complaining about the scheduling/planning issues that come with having kids. Almost as if they were forced into parenthood.
Like sorry Karen, I guess no one warned you that having 3 kids while you and Chad both work 9-5s that can barely financially support the 5 of you financially may come with obstacles.
But I digress, much easier for parents to moan and complain than to adapt and overcome.
Imagine if FCPS adopted the (majority of) Colorado school schedule... 7.5 hour days, 4 days a week, 144 days a year.
HOW WOULD ANYONE SURVIVE?!
If it were standard and expected, people and the community would adapt. It's the uncertainty that is burdening people so much. If we all knew going into our children's school years that it would be M-TH or Monday Tuesday, Thursday Friday people would plan for that. Employers would all know and they would likewise plan around it the same way we all currently know that there is no school on Saturdays or Sundays.
There would be workplaces that gave the option to work Saturdays because some people could work that day and their spouse work the Friday or Wednesday that kids were off. There would be private supplemental daycare places, businesses that offer martial arts or academics that would be open those days. Parents might get together and form co-ops to support each other with that one day a week off with babysitting and homework supervision and social time.
Again, the uncertainty and it changing one year to the next is the issue.
There’s nothing uncertain about our current calendar. It’s been set for years, including the days off.
What day is early release next year?
Hopefully NEVER!!!!!
Anonymous
02/25/2026 16:07
Subject: Melanie Meren's FB post about the calendar
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:One of my favorite things in life is watching people purposefully have kids then complaining about the scheduling/planning issues that come with having kids. Almost as if they were forced into parenthood.
Like sorry Karen, I guess no one warned you that having 3 kids while you and Chad both work 9-5s that can barely financially support the 5 of you financially may come with obstacles.
But I digress, much easier for parents to moan and complain than to adapt and overcome.
Imagine if FCPS adopted the (majority of) Colorado school schedule... 7.5 hour days, 4 days a week, 144 days a year.
HOW WOULD ANYONE SURVIVE?!
If it were standard and expected, people and the community would adapt. It's the uncertainty that is burdening people so much. If we all knew going into our children's school years that it would be M-TH or Monday Tuesday, Thursday Friday people would plan for that. Employers would all know and they would likewise plan around it the same way we all currently know that there is no school on Saturdays or Sundays.
There would be workplaces that gave the option to work Saturdays because some people could work that day and their spouse work the Friday or Wednesday that kids were off. There would be private supplemental daycare places, businesses that offer martial arts or academics that would be open those days. Parents might get together and form co-ops to support each other with that one day a week off with babysitting and homework supervision and social time.
Again, the uncertainty and it changing one year to the next is the issue.
There’s nothing uncertain about our current calendar. It’s been set for years, including the days off.
What day is early release next year?
Anonymous
02/25/2026 16:03
Subject: Melanie Meren's FB post about the calendar
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:One of my favorite things in life is watching people purposefully have kids then complaining about the scheduling/planning issues that come with having kids. Almost as if they were forced into parenthood.
Like sorry Karen, I guess no one warned you that having 3 kids while you and Chad both work 9-5s that can barely financially support the 5 of you financially may come with obstacles.
But I digress, much easier for parents to moan and complain than to adapt and overcome.
Imagine if FCPS adopted the (majority of) Colorado school schedule... 7.5 hour days, 4 days a week, 144 days a year.
HOW WOULD ANYONE SURVIVE?!
If it were standard and expected, people and the community would adapt. It's the uncertainty that is burdening people so much. If we all knew going into our children's school years that it would be M-TH or Monday Tuesday, Thursday Friday people would plan for that. Employers would all know and they would likewise plan around it the same way we all currently know that there is no school on Saturdays or Sundays.
There would be workplaces that gave the option to work Saturdays because some people could work that day and their spouse work the Friday or Wednesday that kids were off. There would be private supplemental daycare places, businesses that offer martial arts or academics that would be open those days. Parents might get together and form co-ops to support each other with that one day a week off with babysitting and homework supervision and social time.
Again, the uncertainty and it changing one year to the next is the issue.
There’s nothing uncertain about our current calendar. It’s been set for years, including the days off.
Anonymous
02/25/2026 15:54
Subject: Melanie Meren's FB post about the calendar
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Sorry, love the non-5 day weeks. They are great. Summer is such a pain to plan, and we (and most of our friends) much prefer a day here and there, rather than additional weeks in the summer.
I agree! We love the 4 day weeks! It really helps with the sleep for middle and high schoolers.
Time to be a parent. The entire school system doesn't operate around the needs of your special child.
And it doesn’t operate around your need for a 5 day week. As long as the kids get in the required hours of instructional time I do not care. I prefer the 4 day weeks and so do a lot of parents and teachers. Your whining isn’t going to change that. Time to be a parent and deal with it.
Good to know you don't care about learning.
And no teacher likes the calendar.
Teacher here. I can assure you that the vast majority of us LOVE the current calendar. Makes it incredibly easy to take mini weekend vacations with our families without taking a ton of, if any, leave.
We hope for snow days, cherish the random holidays, and almost all of us can tell you how few "full weeks" we have until spring break and the end of the year.
Here's to hoping it snows on Monday, so we only have two full weeks before spring break!
Teachers with this attitude are the reason people think the profession is a jobs program rather than for the benefit of students.
I saw a teacher on a local weather Facebook account comment "School closings are my love language". With her occupation featured on her profile. Can you imagine publicly stating that you hope to do your job as little as possible? Some teachers truly lack professionalism. If they wonder why they don't get treated as full fledged professionals, they need to look at some of their colleagues.
I think if you are a corporate desk worker that would be a bit lazy but, whatever. Can you imagine if you signed up to teach the next generation, expecting praise for your noble career, and publicly brag about how much you love slacking off? So gross.
Most of the teachers I know are really worried about their kids falling behind or not doing well on standardized tests because of the haphazard schedules. A specialist friend - helping kids who need extra instruction - said she has seen her Monday kids 2x in 6 weeks.
If the salaries are so unbearable, do these kids a favor and take a different job.
Most of the public school teachers I know are unapologetic that they NEED the many days off and that they work harder than anyone. So insufferable. They are lazy low iq people. The good ones go to private schools. Ask me how I know.
Anonymous
02/25/2026 15:53
Subject: Melanie Meren's FB post about the calendar
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:One of my favorite things in life is watching people purposefully have kids then complaining about the scheduling/planning issues that come with having kids. Almost as if they were forced into parenthood.
Like sorry Karen, I guess no one warned you that having 3 kids while you and Chad both work 9-5s that can barely financially support the 5 of you financially may come with obstacles.
But I digress, much easier for parents to moan and complain than to adapt and overcome.
Imagine if FCPS adopted the (majority of) Colorado school schedule... 7.5 hour days, 4 days a week, 144 days a year.
HOW WOULD ANYONE SURVIVE?!
If it were standard and expected, people and the community would adapt. It's the uncertainty that is burdening people so much. If we all knew going into our children's school years that it would be M-TH or Monday Tuesday, Thursday Friday people would plan for that. Employers would all know and they would likewise plan around it the same way we all currently know that there is no school on Saturdays or Sundays.
There would be workplaces that gave the option to work Saturdays because some people could work that day and their spouse work the Friday or Wednesday that kids were off. There would be private supplemental daycare places, businesses that offer martial arts or academics that would be open those days. Parents might get together and form co-ops to support each other with that one day a week off with babysitting and homework supervision and social time.
Again, the uncertainty and it changing one year to the next is the issue.
Anonymous
02/25/2026 15:41
Subject: Melanie Meren's FB post about the calendar
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Sorry, love the non-5 day weeks. They are great. Summer is such a pain to plan, and we (and most of our friends) much prefer a day here and there, rather than additional weeks in the summer.
I agree! We love the 4 day weeks! It really helps with the sleep for middle and high schoolers.
Time to be a parent. The entire school system doesn't operate around the needs of your special child.
And it doesn’t operate around your need for a 5 day week. As long as the kids get in the required hours of instructional time I do not care. I prefer the 4 day weeks and so do a lot of parents and teachers. Your whining isn’t going to change that. Time to be a parent and deal with it.
Good to know you don't care about learning.
And no teacher likes the calendar.
Teacher here. I can assure you that the vast majority of us LOVE the current calendar. Makes it incredibly easy to take mini weekend vacations with our families without taking a ton of, if any, leave.
We hope for snow days, cherish the random holidays, and almost all of us can tell you how few "full weeks" we have until spring break and the end of the year.
Here's to hoping it snows on Monday, so we only have two full weeks before spring break!
Teachers with this attitude are the reason people think the profession is a jobs program rather than for the benefit of students.
I saw a teacher on a local weather Facebook account comment "School closings are my love language". With her occupation featured on her profile. Can you imagine publicly stating that you hope to do your job as little as possible? Some teachers truly lack professionalism. If they wonder why they don't get treated as full fledged professionals, they need to look at some of their colleagues.
I think if you are a corporate desk worker that would be a bit lazy but, whatever. Can you imagine if you signed up to teach the next generation, expecting praise for your noble career, and publicly brag about how much you love slacking off? So gross.
Most of the teachers I know are really worried about their kids falling behind or not doing well on standardized tests because of the haphazard schedules. A specialist friend - helping kids who need extra instruction - said she has seen her Monday kids 2x in 6 weeks.
If the salaries are so unbearable, do these kids a favor and take a different job.
Anonymous
02/25/2026 15:35
Subject: Melanie Meren's FB post about the calendar
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:One of my favorite things in life is watching people purposefully have kids then complaining about the scheduling/planning issues that come with having kids. Almost as if they were forced into parenthood.
Like sorry Karen, I guess no one warned you that having 3 kids while you and Chad both work 9-5s that can barely financially support the 5 of you financially may come with obstacles.
But I digress, much easier for parents to moan and complain than to adapt and overcome.
Imagine if FCPS adopted the (majority of) Colorado school schedule... 7.5 hour days, 4 days a week, 144 days a year.
HOW WOULD ANYONE SURVIVE?!
That’s not a good schedule and even 10 years ago, people here would have been justifiably aghast if we had a 4 day school week. No idea what has changed but again, I mostly blame COVID.
Anonymous
02/25/2026 15:35
Subject: Melanie Meren's FB post about the calendar
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Sorry, love the non-5 day weeks. They are great. Summer is such a pain to plan, and we (and most of our friends) much prefer a day here and there, rather than additional weeks in the summer.
I agree! We love the 4 day weeks! It really helps with the sleep for middle and high schoolers.
Time to be a parent. The entire school system doesn't operate around the needs of your special child.
And it doesn’t operate around your need for a 5 day week. As long as the kids get in the required hours of instructional time I do not care. I prefer the 4 day weeks and so do a lot of parents and teachers. Your whining isn’t going to change that. Time to be a parent and deal with it.
Good to know you don't care about learning.
And no teacher likes the calendar.
Teacher here. I can assure you that the vast majority of us LOVE the current calendar. Makes it incredibly easy to take mini weekend vacations with our families without taking a ton of, if any, leave.
We hope for snow days, cherish the random holidays, and almost all of us can tell you how few "full weeks" we have until spring break and the end of the year.
Here's to hoping it snows on Monday, so we only have two full weeks before spring break!
Teachers with this attitude are the reason people think the profession is a jobs program rather than for the benefit of students.
I saw a teacher on a local weather Facebook account comment "School closings are my love language". With her occupation featured on her profile. Can you imagine publicly stating that you hope to do your job as little as possible? Some teachers truly lack professionalism. If they wonder why they don't get treated as full fledged professionals, they need to look at some of their colleagues.