Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[img]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Diwali is a fun holiday. Our whole neighborhood celebrates with parties and fireworks.

Couldn’t your celebration continue after school for those who are there for fun and not religious beliefs? Do we really need to shut the system down?

MCPS does that for all religions- Jewish holidays, Ramadan, Easter, Christmas etc. As an Indian immigrant, I did not request or vote for this day to be given a school holiday. We still have to go to work and do not celebrate it until that evening. MCPS aligns those dates with end of quarter/ grading/ teacher work days- so no there are no extra school days off because of Diwali.

Yes, MCPS tries to align these holidays with mid or end of marking period days for teachers.

This is part of inclusion that parent complained about because of Yom Kipper and rosh hosannah the system has closed for the last couple of decades due to the make up of teachers and student body.

As a Chinese immigrant, I also I did not request or vote for a day to be given a school holiday for lunar new year. We still have to go to work and do not celebrate it until that evening. I’d prefer my kids be in school.

I’d rather they be in school rather than these crappy extended school year due to snow days.

As a HS student parent, I’m happy with the days off for my DC to take a break.

It would be nicer to have a longer winter break + maybe even a fall break vs all the following: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Diwali, Lunar New Year, Passover, Eid. And I'm in a group that observes one of the above. I did not want this.

It should be an excused day off for those observing. Obviously, winter break and spring break are organized around Christmas and Good Friday.

After graduation, no workplace or college/university has all of the above days off.

Why should spring break "obviously" be organized around Good Friday-- a holiday very few people observe in any public way. It's a PITA to have spring break move all around the calendar when the semester deadline are fairly inflexible.

For the same reason we get "Easter Monday" off as a holiday?

That doesn't explain spring break being the week of Good Friday despite that shifting weeks every year.

That's just MCPS's longtime preference. Since the state requires Good Friday and Easter Monday to be days off, MCPS schedules spring break to be either the week before or the week after.

The last time they chose after was 2016 which will be 10 years. They should be having if the week after if Easter is before the 1st full week of April.
This year the break is 2 weeks earlier than last year. If they had chosen the week after it would only be 1 week earlier. Easter 2027 is another week earlier (3 weeks earlier than 2025) so the week before should not even be an option.

Why not? The end of March feels like a good time for a spring break.

Too early given the mid to late June end date. If the school year ended by the 1st week of June I'd agree with you. 2.5-3 months after spring break with only a day or two off is a lot.

It's the same 2.5-3 months from after winter break to spring break.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[img]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Diwali is a fun holiday. Our whole neighborhood celebrates with parties and fireworks.

Couldn’t your celebration continue after school for those who are there for fun and not religious beliefs? Do we really need to shut the system down?

MCPS does that for all religions- Jewish holidays, Ramadan, Easter, Christmas etc. As an Indian immigrant, I did not request or vote for this day to be given a school holiday. We still have to go to work and do not celebrate it until that evening. MCPS aligns those dates with end of quarter/ grading/ teacher work days- so no there are no extra school days off because of Diwali.

Yes, MCPS tries to align these holidays with mid or end of marking period days for teachers.

This is part of inclusion that parent complained about because of Yom Kipper and rosh hosannah the system has closed for the last couple of decades due to the make up of teachers and student body.

As a Chinese immigrant, I also I did not request or vote for a day to be given a school holiday for lunar new year. We still have to go to work and do not celebrate it until that evening. I’d prefer my kids be in school.

I’d rather they be in school rather than these crappy extended school year due to snow days.

As a HS student parent, I’m happy with the days off for my DC to take a break.

It would be nicer to have a longer winter break + maybe even a fall break vs all the following: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Diwali, Lunar New Year, Passover, Eid. And I'm in a group that observes one of the above. I did not want this.

It should be an excused day off for those observing. Obviously, winter break and spring break are organized around Christmas and Good Friday.

After graduation, no workplace or college/university has all of the above days off.

Why should spring break "obviously" be organized around Good Friday-- a holiday very few people observe in any public way. It's a PITA to have spring break move all around the calendar when the semester deadline are fairly inflexible.

For the same reason we get "Easter Monday" off as a holiday?

That doesn't explain spring break being the week of Good Friday despite that shifting weeks every year.

That's just MCPS's longtime preference. Since the state requires Good Friday and Easter Monday to be days off, MCPS schedules spring break to be either the week before or the week after.

The last time they chose after was 2016 which will be 10 years. They should be having if the week after if Easter is before the 1st full week of April.
This year the break is 2 weeks earlier than last year. If they had chosen the week after it would only be 1 week earlier. Easter 2027 is another week earlier (3 weeks earlier than 2025) so the week before should not even be an option.

Why not? The end of March feels like a good time for a spring break.

Too early given the mid to late June end date. If the school year ended by the 1st week of June I'd agree with you. 2.5-3 months after spring break with only a day or two off is a lot.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[img]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Diwali is a fun holiday. Our whole neighborhood celebrates with parties and fireworks.

Couldn’t your celebration continue after school for those who are there for fun and not religious beliefs? Do we really need to shut the system down?

MCPS does that for all religions- Jewish holidays, Ramadan, Easter, Christmas etc. As an Indian immigrant, I did not request or vote for this day to be given a school holiday. We still have to go to work and do not celebrate it until that evening. MCPS aligns those dates with end of quarter/ grading/ teacher work days- so no there are no extra school days off because of Diwali.

Yes, MCPS tries to align these holidays with mid or end of marking period days for teachers.

This is part of inclusion that parent complained about because of Yom Kipper and rosh hosannah the system has closed for the last couple of decades due to the make up of teachers and student body.

As a Chinese immigrant, I also I did not request or vote for a day to be given a school holiday for lunar new year. We still have to go to work and do not celebrate it until that evening. I’d prefer my kids be in school.

I’d rather they be in school rather than these crappy extended school year due to snow days.

As a HS student parent, I’m happy with the days off for my DC to take a break.

It would be nicer to have a longer winter break + maybe even a fall break vs all the following: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Diwali, Lunar New Year, Passover, Eid. And I'm in a group that observes one of the above. I did not want this.

It should be an excused day off for those observing. Obviously, winter break and spring break are organized around Christmas and Good Friday.

After graduation, no workplace or college/university has all of the above days off.

Why should spring break "obviously" be organized around Good Friday-- a holiday very few people observe in any public way. It's a PITA to have spring break move all around the calendar when the semester deadline are fairly inflexible.

For the same reason we get "Easter Monday" off as a holiday?

That doesn't explain spring break being the week of Good Friday despite that shifting weeks every year.

That's just MCPS's longtime preference. Since the state requires Good Friday and Easter Monday to be days off, MCPS schedules spring break to be either the week before or the week after.

The last time they chose after was 2016 which will be 10 years. They should be having if the week after if Easter is before the 1st full week of April.
This year the break is 2 weeks earlier than last year. If they had chosen the week after it would only be 1 week earlier. Easter 2027 is another week earlier (3 weeks earlier than 2025) so the week before should not even be an option.

Why not? The end of March feels like a good time for a spring break.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[img]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Diwali is a fun holiday. Our whole neighborhood celebrates with parties and fireworks.

Couldn’t your celebration continue after school for those who are there for fun and not religious beliefs? Do we really need to shut the system down?

MCPS does that for all religions- Jewish holidays, Ramadan, Easter, Christmas etc. As an Indian immigrant, I did not request or vote for this day to be given a school holiday. We still have to go to work and do not celebrate it until that evening. MCPS aligns those dates with end of quarter/ grading/ teacher work days- so no there are no extra school days off because of Diwali.

Yes, MCPS tries to align these holidays with mid or end of marking period days for teachers.

This is part of inclusion that parent complained about because of Yom Kipper and rosh hosannah the system has closed for the last couple of decades due to the make up of teachers and student body.

As a Chinese immigrant, I also I did not request or vote for a day to be given a school holiday for lunar new year. We still have to go to work and do not celebrate it until that evening. I’d prefer my kids be in school.

I’d rather they be in school rather than these crappy extended school year due to snow days.

As a HS student parent, I’m happy with the days off for my DC to take a break.

It would be nicer to have a longer winter break + maybe even a fall break vs all the following: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Diwali, Lunar New Year, Passover, Eid. And I'm in a group that observes one of the above. I did not want this.

It should be an excused day off for those observing. Obviously, winter break and spring break are organized around Christmas and Good Friday.

After graduation, no workplace or college/university has all of the above days off.

Why should spring break "obviously" be organized around Good Friday-- a holiday very few people observe in any public way. It's a PITA to have spring break move all around the calendar when the semester deadline are fairly inflexible.

For the same reason we get "Easter Monday" off as a holiday?

That doesn't explain spring break being the week of Good Friday despite that shifting weeks every year.

That's just MCPS's longtime preference. Since the state requires Good Friday and Easter Monday to be days off, MCPS schedules spring break to be either the week before or the week after.

The last time they chose after was 2016 which will be 10 years. They should be having if the week after if Easter is before the 1st full week of April.
This year the break is 2 weeks earlier than last year. If they had chosen the week after it would only be 1 week earlier. Easter 2027 is another week earlier (3 weeks earlier than 2025) so the week before should not even be an option.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[img]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Diwali is a fun holiday. Our whole neighborhood celebrates with parties and fireworks.

Couldn’t your celebration continue after school for those who are there for fun and not religious beliefs? Do we really need to shut the system down?

MCPS does that for all religions- Jewish holidays, Ramadan, Easter, Christmas etc. As an Indian immigrant, I did not request or vote for this day to be given a school holiday. We still have to go to work and do not celebrate it until that evening. MCPS aligns those dates with end of quarter/ grading/ teacher work days- so no there are no extra school days off because of Diwali.

Yes, MCPS tries to align these holidays with mid or end of marking period days for teachers.

This is part of inclusion that parent complained about because of Yom Kipper and rosh hosannah the system has closed for the last couple of decades due to the make up of teachers and student body.

As a Chinese immigrant, I also I did not request or vote for a day to be given a school holiday for lunar new year. We still have to go to work and do not celebrate it until that evening. I’d prefer my kids be in school.

I’d rather they be in school rather than these crappy extended school year due to snow days.

As a HS student parent, I’m happy with the days off for my DC to take a break.

It would be nicer to have a longer winter break + maybe even a fall break vs all the following: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Diwali, Lunar New Year, Passover, Eid. And I'm in a group that observes one of the above. I did not want this.

It should be an excused day off for those observing. Obviously, winter break and spring break are organized around Christmas and Good Friday.

After graduation, no workplace or college/university has all of the above days off.

Why should spring break "obviously" be organized around Good Friday-- a holiday very few people observe in any public way. It's a PITA to have spring break move all around the calendar when the semester deadline are fairly inflexible.

For the same reason we get "Easter Monday" off as a holiday?

That doesn't explain spring break being the week of Good Friday despite that shifting weeks every year.

That's just MCPS's longtime preference. Since the state requires Good Friday and Easter Monday to be days off, MCPS schedules spring break to be either the week before or the week after.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[img]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Diwali is a fun holiday. Our whole neighborhood celebrates with parties and fireworks.

Couldn’t your celebration continue after school for those who are there for fun and not religious beliefs? Do we really need to shut the system down?

MCPS does that for all religions- Jewish holidays, Ramadan, Easter, Christmas etc. As an Indian immigrant, I did not request or vote for this day to be given a school holiday. We still have to go to work and do not celebrate it until that evening. MCPS aligns those dates with end of quarter/ grading/ teacher work days- so no there are no extra school days off because of Diwali.

Yes, MCPS tries to align these holidays with mid or end of marking period days for teachers.

This is part of inclusion that parent complained about because of Yom Kipper and rosh hosannah the system has closed for the last couple of decades due to the make up of teachers and student body.

As a Chinese immigrant, I also I did not request or vote for a day to be given a school holiday for lunar new year. We still have to go to work and do not celebrate it until that evening. I’d prefer my kids be in school.

I’d rather they be in school rather than these crappy extended school year due to snow days.

As a HS student parent, I’m happy with the days off for my DC to take a break.

It would be nicer to have a longer winter break + maybe even a fall break vs all the following: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Diwali, Lunar New Year, Passover, Eid. And I'm in a group that observes one of the above. I did not want this.

It should be an excused day off for those observing. Obviously, winter break and spring break are organized around Christmas and Good Friday.

After graduation, no workplace or college/university has all of the above days off.

Why should spring break "obviously" be organized around Good Friday-- a holiday very few people observe in any public way. It's a PITA to have spring break move all around the calendar when the semester deadline are fairly inflexible.

For the same reason we get "Easter Monday" off as a holiday?

That doesn't explain spring break being the week of Good Friday despite that shifting weeks every year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[img]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Diwali is a fun holiday. Our whole neighborhood celebrates with parties and fireworks.

Couldn’t your celebration continue after school for those who are there for fun and not religious beliefs? Do we really need to shut the system down?

MCPS does that for all religions- Jewish holidays, Ramadan, Easter, Christmas etc. As an Indian immigrant, I did not request or vote for this day to be given a school holiday. We still have to go to work and do not celebrate it until that evening. MCPS aligns those dates with end of quarter/ grading/ teacher work days- so no there are no extra school days off because of Diwali.

Yes, MCPS tries to align these holidays with mid or end of marking period days for teachers.

This is part of inclusion that parent complained about because of Yom Kipper and rosh hosannah the system has closed for the last couple of decades due to the make up of teachers and student body.

As a Chinese immigrant, I also I did not request or vote for a day to be given a school holiday for lunar new year. We still have to go to work and do not celebrate it until that evening. I’d prefer my kids be in school.

I’d rather they be in school rather than these crappy extended school year due to snow days.

As a HS student parent, I’m happy with the days off for my DC to take a break.

It would be nicer to have a longer winter break + maybe even a fall break vs all the following: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Diwali, Lunar New Year, Passover, Eid. And I'm in a group that observes one of the above. I did not want this.

It should be an excused day off for those observing. Obviously, winter break and spring break are organized around Christmas and Good Friday.

After graduation, no workplace or college/university has all of the above days off.

Why should spring break "obviously" be organized around Good Friday-- a holiday very few people observe in any public way. It's a PITA to have spring break move all around the calendar when the semester deadline are fairly inflexible.

For the same reason we get "Easter Monday" off as a holiday?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[img]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Diwali is a fun holiday. Our whole neighborhood celebrates with parties and fireworks.

Couldn’t your celebration continue after school for those who are there for fun and not religious beliefs? Do we really need to shut the system down?

MCPS does that for all religions- Jewish holidays, Ramadan, Easter, Christmas etc. As an Indian immigrant, I did not request or vote for this day to be given a school holiday. We still have to go to work and do not celebrate it until that evening. MCPS aligns those dates with end of quarter/ grading/ teacher work days- so no there are no extra school days off because of Diwali.

Yes, MCPS tries to align these holidays with mid or end of marking period days for teachers.

This is part of inclusion that parent complained about because of Yom Kipper and rosh hosannah the system has closed for the last couple of decades due to the make up of teachers and student body.

As a Chinese immigrant, I also I did not request or vote for a day to be given a school holiday for lunar new year. We still have to go to work and do not celebrate it until that evening. I’d prefer my kids be in school.

I’d rather they be in school rather than these crappy extended school year due to snow days.

As a HS student parent, I’m happy with the days off for my DC to take a break.

It would be nicer to have a longer winter break + maybe even a fall break vs all the following: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Diwali, Lunar New Year, Passover, Eid. And I'm in a group that observes one of the above. I did not want this.

It should be an excused day off for those observing. Obviously, winter break and spring break are organized around Christmas and Good Friday.

After graduation, no workplace or college/university has all of the above days off.

Why should spring break "obviously" be organized around Good Friday-- a holiday very few people observe in any public way. It's a PITA to have spring break move all around the calendar when the semester deadline are fairly inflexible.

Anonymous wrote:Look, who cares when the days off are as long as there are 180 days of instruction within a not-too-long timeframe.

This is not possible.

Look, who cares when the days off are as long as there are 180 days of instruction within a not-too-long timeframe.

Anonymous wrote:See this article: https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/montgomery-county-schools-holidays-calendar/67424/
I remember they had taken Jewish holidays off for years due to difficulty with getting subs and a high number of students being absent. In an effort to be more inclusive they removed the holiday name from the calendar for these days off. I believe this then morphed into efforts to include holidays from various religions/cultures as days off/teacher work days.

It's not to be more inclusive. It is because legally they can not pay seiu staff if they call it a non instructional day.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[img]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Diwali is a fun holiday. Our whole neighborhood celebrates with parties and fireworks.

Couldn’t your celebration continue after school for those who are there for fun and not religious beliefs? Do we really need to shut the system down?

MCPS does that for all religions- Jewish holidays, Ramadan, Easter, Christmas etc. As an Indian immigrant, I did not request or vote for this day to be given a school holiday. We still have to go to work and do not celebrate it until that evening. MCPS aligns those dates with end of quarter/ grading/ teacher work days- so no there are no extra school days off because of Diwali.

Yes, MCPS tries to align these holidays with mid or end of marking period days for teachers.

This is part of inclusion that parent complained about because of Yom Kipper and rosh hosannah the system has closed for the last couple of decades due to the make up of teachers and student body.

As a Chinese immigrant, I also I did not request or vote for a day to be given a school holiday for lunar new year. We still have to go to work and do not celebrate it until that evening. I’d prefer my kids be in school.

I’d rather they be in school rather than these crappy extended school year due to snow days.

As a HS student parent, I’m happy with the days off for my DC to take a break.

It would be nicer to have a longer winter break + maybe even a fall break vs all the following: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Diwali, Lunar New Year, Passover, Eid. And I'm in a group that observes one of the above. I did not want this.

It should be an excused day off for those observing. Obviously, winter break and spring break are organized around Christmas and Good Friday.

After graduation, no workplace or college/university has all of the above days off.

With winter break we're stuck with it being based around Christmas but spring break should not be based on Good Friday. Good Friday should not be required to be a day off but could still be a day off if a lot of people would be absent. Spring break should only be that week if it's a year that Good Friday is at a good time. Good Friday 2027 is way too early to have spring break that week. Though technically spring late March can still have winter weather.
Next year has 2 ridiculous closures on September 11 and April 21 which are unnecessary. Rosh Hashana will be on the weekend and as long as 180 days are required we sadly can't afford a separate day off for Passover. When there is a forced closure for election day it should double as the 1st quarter day if possible or the first quarter should end with 2 half days.
The winter break schedule for this year and possibly even next year is awful with the 1st day of break being so late on 12/24 that many people will be out the 2 days before. It would be best if Maryland dropped the 180 day requirement and kept the 1080/1170 hour requirements but until then having a day off after every quarter along with election day every other year and sometimes extra days pushes things back.
This year's calendar should have replaced November 3 being off with half days on November 3&4 along with April 15 with another 2 half days around then.
December 22&23 should be off since hardly anyone will show up those days.
Next year could start on August 25 is this year ends on June 17/18, if not then next year shouldn't start until August 31.
School should be open September 11, 2026 and April 21, 2027.
If school must be closed November 3 it should double as the 1st marking period day if school starts on August 25. If school starts on August 31 then November 9&10 should be half days. Winter break 2026-27 should preferably be December 21-January 1 but worst case December 23-January 1 if school starts August 31 if 180 days are still needed.
Spring break should be April 12-16, 2027 but may have to be March 29-April 2 based on Easter Monday if another school day is needed. Spring break should not be any earlier than the week of March 29-April 2.
The last day of school should be June 16 or 17, 2027 for students and June 17 or 18, 2027 for teachers. No school should be held the week of June 21.

Anonymous wrote:[img]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Diwali is a fun holiday. Our whole neighborhood celebrates with parties and fireworks.

Couldn’t your celebration continue after school for those who are there for fun and not religious beliefs? Do we really need to shut the system down?

MCPS does that for all religions- Jewish holidays, Ramadan, Easter, Christmas etc. As an Indian immigrant, I did not request or vote for this day to be given a school holiday. We still have to go to work and do not celebrate it until that evening. MCPS aligns those dates with end of quarter/ grading/ teacher work days- so no there are no extra school days off because of Diwali.

Yes, MCPS tries to align these holidays with mid or end of marking period days for teachers.

This is part of inclusion that parent complained about because of Yom Kipper and rosh hosannah the system has closed for the last couple of decades due to the make up of teachers and student body.

As a Chinese immigrant, I also I did not request or vote for a day to be given a school holiday for lunar new year. We still have to go to work and do not celebrate it until that evening. I’d prefer my kids be in school.

I’d rather they be in school rather than these crappy extended school year due to snow days.

As a HS student parent, I’m happy with the days off for my DC to take a break.

It would be nicer to have a longer winter break + maybe even a fall break vs all the following: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Diwali, Lunar New Year, Passover, Eid. And I'm in a group that observes one of the above. I did not want this.

It should be an excused day off for those observing. Obviously, winter break and spring break are organized around Christmas and Good Friday.

After graduation, no workplace or college/university has all of the above days off.

[img]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Diwali is a fun holiday. Our whole neighborhood celebrates with parties and fireworks.

Couldn’t your celebration continue after school for those who are there for fun and not religious beliefs? Do we really need to shut the system down?

MCPS does that for all religions- Jewish holidays, Ramadan, Easter, Christmas etc. As an Indian immigrant, I did not request or vote for this day to be given a school holiday. We still have to go to work and do not celebrate it until that evening. MCPS aligns those dates with end of quarter/ grading/ teacher work days- so no there are no extra school days off because of Diwali.

Yes, MCPS tries to align these holidays with mid or end of marking period days for teachers.

This is part of inclusion that parent complained about because of Yom Kipper and rosh hosannah the system has closed for the last couple of decades due to the make up of teachers and student body.

As a Chinese immigrant, I also I did not request or vote for a day to be given a school holiday for lunar new year. We still have to go to work and do not celebrate it until that evening. I’d prefer my kids be in school.

I’d rather they be in school rather than these crappy extended school year due to snow days.

As a HS student parent, I’m happy with the days off for my DC to take a break.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Diwali is a fun holiday. Our whole neighborhood celebrates with parties and fireworks.

Couldn’t your celebration continue after school for those who are there for fun and not religious beliefs? Do we really need to shut the system down?

Do you ask Jews that? There are several days off for the High Holy days in the fall.