Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So the presentation for tonight still just lists 2 options without the superintendent recommending one or the other. Do we think he's going to put both forward and let the SB pick? Or will he give a verbal recommendation at the meeting? Trying to divine the tea leaves here...

We are starting Aug 21, to match FCPS. You heard it it here first (TM).

As if there was ever any question.

But Fairfax hasn't released a calendar yet...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So the presentation for tonight still just lists 2 options without the superintendent recommending one or the other. Do we think he's going to put both forward and let the SB pick? Or will he give a verbal recommendation at the meeting? Trying to divine the tea leaves here...

We are starting Aug 21, to match FCPS. You heard it it here first (TM).

As if there was ever any question.

Anonymous wrote:The last few posters are so obnoxious. Of course no one has to do swim team or take a vacation. It would be one thing if ANYONE benefited from APS waiting so late to choose a calendar. But that’s not the case. APS giving people months vs years of notice does not help people who stay in town all summer or whose kids need to work.

No, it just provides greater inconvenience for those who want to travel or have to know whether they should reserve 10 weeks of camp or 9. Those are the whiners.

Anonymous wrote:So the presentation for tonight still just lists 2 options without the superintendent recommending one or the other. Do we think he's going to put both forward and let the SB pick? Or will he give a verbal recommendation at the meeting? Trying to divine the tea leaves here...

We are starting Aug 21, to match FCPS. You heard it it here first (TM).

Anonymous wrote:Thanks! I want to get my spreadsheet for summer camps started (apparently I've turned into some specific type of parental nerd...)

Is it a google spreadsheet, which we share between spouses and other friends parents, color coded, and demarking which child, price, duration, pickup dropoff, and if it offers aftercare?

So the presentation for tonight still just lists 2 options without the superintendent recommending one or the other. Do we think he's going to put both forward and let the SB pick? Or will he give a verbal recommendation at the meeting? Trying to divine the tea leaves here...

Anonymous wrote:Thanks! I want to get my spreadsheet for summer camps started (apparently I've turned into some specific type of parental nerd...)

I have a spreadsheet too!

Thanks! I want to get my spreadsheet for summer camps started (apparently I've turned into some specific type of parental nerd...)

Anonymous wrote:So is all this getting decided on Dec 15?

This Thursday, yes.

So is all this getting decided on Dec 15?

The last few posters are so obnoxious. Of course no one has to do swim team or take a vacation. It would be one thing if ANYONE benefited from APS waiting so late to choose a calendar. But that’s not the case. APS giving people months vs years of notice does not help people who stay in town all summer or whose kids need to work.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope they do the right thing and go with Option 2. Especially after wasting everyone’s time and taxpayer money on yet another survey.

And peoples vacation deposits!

yeah lets prioritize people's recreation over instruction.

Haha! No, but its unreasonable to keep changing start dates year after year. Many families rent the same spot year after year and have to reserve almost a year in advance. 6 months out is not reasonable.

So their kid misses some days early in the year. Nothing un-missable happens anyway. And before someone cries hardship on behalf of students missing out on meeting their classmates the first day or week of school, sometimes that's how the cookie crumbles and it's life. People make choices. If people make choices based on information set A and the information changes afterward, that's what happens in life. I don't think it's as important for a family to have the same vacation rental every year as it is to make school calendar/administration decisions for the greatest common good. I guess some peoples' vacations are more important to them - and they're free to proceed with them. Schools can't accommodate every individual family's preferences. Is there any good reasons the school calendar can't be set farther ahead? No. But it isn't APS' concern when you want to have your family vacation.

As you say, there is no good reason NOT to give people this information much further in advance (as in, years), with the understanding that there might be some small tweaks (eg, moving the day off for Eid). It’s not just about vacations. People should be able to plan ahead.

They can. They can plan for school to start sometime in August. Or they can simply plan ahead 9 months out instead of 12, even if it means having to make a less-preferred plan.

I understand that this may not affect you, but some families have children involved in swim and other summer sports, that go through the end of July so they cannot vacation or visit family, etc until august. There is very little time and they were able to get away. High schools have already posted when tryouts will be next summer, which is early August. For some families there’s literally only one or two weeks that they would be able to choose from, and then balance out with their work schedules/demands. It’s not a simple as choosing a random week in July.

You can't really expect schools to choose their start date to accommodate summer swim team, can you?

No, but I can expect them to plan ahead with enough notice that I can book a vacation house that works around both swim and school. There's absolutely no reason APS couldn't be deciding the 2024-2025 calendar right now. It's not like we don't already know the date of every holiday except Eid (which apparently can't even be forecast a month out, so just asterisks that one).

You know that swim team and summer camps are optional, right? You can, in fact, book a vacation in late June, the entire month of July, or the first two weeks in August without worrying about school. The hold up is that APS is trying to wait for FCPS, so you should actually be calling them up and complaining about your vacation constraints.

+1
I'm sure there is some other critically valid reason late June, missing part of swim, or tryout dates preclude them from being able to do as you suggest. Clearly, they are worried about missing anything, not just school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope they do the right thing and go with Option 2. Especially after wasting everyone’s time and taxpayer money on yet another survey.

And peoples vacation deposits!

yeah lets prioritize people's recreation over instruction.

Haha! No, but its unreasonable to keep changing start dates year after year. Many families rent the same spot year after year and have to reserve almost a year in advance. 6 months out is not reasonable.

So their kid misses some days early in the year. Nothing un-missable happens anyway. And before someone cries hardship on behalf of students missing out on meeting their classmates the first day or week of school, sometimes that's how the cookie crumbles and it's life. People make choices. If people make choices based on information set A and the information changes afterward, that's what happens in life. I don't think it's as important for a family to have the same vacation rental every year as it is to make school calendar/administration decisions for the greatest common good. I guess some peoples' vacations are more important to them - and they're free to proceed with them. Schools can't accommodate every individual family's preferences. Is there any good reasons the school calendar can't be set farther ahead? No. But it isn't APS' concern when you want to have your family vacation.

As you say, there is no good reason NOT to give people this information much further in advance (as in, years), with the understanding that there might be some small tweaks (eg, moving the day off for Eid). It’s not just about vacations. People should be able to plan ahead.

They can. They can plan for school to start sometime in August. Or they can simply plan ahead 9 months out instead of 12, even if it means having to make a less-preferred plan.

I understand that this may not affect you, but some families have children involved in swim and other summer sports, that go through the end of July so they cannot vacation or visit family, etc until august. There is very little time and they were able to get away. High schools have already posted when tryouts will be next summer, which is early August. For some families there’s literally only one or two weeks that they would be able to choose from, and then balance out with their work schedules/demands. It’s not a simple as choosing a random week in July.

You can't really expect schools to choose their start date to accommodate summer swim team, can you?

No, but I can expect them to plan ahead with enough notice that I can book a vacation house that works around both swim and school. There's absolutely no reason APS couldn't be deciding the 2024-2025 calendar right now. It's not like we don't already know the date of every holiday except Eid (which apparently can't even be forecast a month out, so just asterisks that one).

I totally agree on that!!! I have to book flights for this summer and it is super annoying that we don't know when school will start. Not to mention camp sign ups starting and not knowing whether to reserve a camp for that week when school may or may not start.

If you already know you "have to" book flights, then presumably you "have" to be somewhere for something specific at a specific time. So go ahead and book the flights. If your kids miss the first few days of school, so what? If you don't "have" to be somewhere specific at a specific time, then why can't you just plan for something different for the week in question in case school doesn't start until the next week? Regardless, at this point, I think it's pretty obvious that school will be starting the week before labor day.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope they do the right thing and go with Option 2. Especially after wasting everyone’s time and taxpayer money on yet another survey.

And peoples vacation deposits!

yeah lets prioritize people's recreation over instruction.

Haha! No, but its unreasonable to keep changing start dates year after year. Many families rent the same spot year after year and have to reserve almost a year in advance. 6 months out is not reasonable.

So their kid misses some days early in the year. Nothing un-missable happens anyway. And before someone cries hardship on behalf of students missing out on meeting their classmates the first day or week of school, sometimes that's how the cookie crumbles and it's life. People make choices. If people make choices based on information set A and the information changes afterward, that's what happens in life. I don't think it's as important for a family to have the same vacation rental every year as it is to make school calendar/administration decisions for the greatest common good. I guess some peoples' vacations are more important to them - and they're free to proceed with them. Schools can't accommodate every individual family's preferences. Is there any good reasons the school calendar can't be set farther ahead? No. But it isn't APS' concern when you want to have your family vacation.

As you say, there is no good reason NOT to give people this information much further in advance (as in, years), with the understanding that there might be some small tweaks (eg, moving the day off for Eid). It’s not just about vacations. People should be able to plan ahead.

They can. They can plan for school to start sometime in August. Or they can simply plan ahead 9 months out instead of 12, even if it means having to make a less-preferred plan.

I understand that this may not affect you, but some families have children involved in swim and other summer sports, that go through the end of July so they cannot vacation or visit family, etc until august. There is very little time and they were able to get away. High schools have already posted when tryouts will be next summer, which is early August. For some families there’s literally only one or two weeks that they would be able to choose from, and then balance out with their work schedules/demands. It’s not a simple as choosing a random week in July.

You can't really expect schools to choose their start date to accommodate summer swim team, can you?

No, but I can expect them to plan ahead with enough notice that I can book a vacation house that works around both swim and school. There's absolutely no reason APS couldn't be deciding the 2024-2025 calendar right now. It's not like we don't already know the date of every holiday except Eid (which apparently can't even be forecast a month out, so just asterisks that one).

Why can't you just plan according to the end of swim schedule and with the assumption that school might start mid-August? Or maybe your kid misses some of the summer swim season? Or maybe they miss the first week of school? Or maybe you don't rent a vacation house at all for a few years? Or go somewhere during another time during the school year? It's so unfortunate that school is such an inconvenience - and yes, they absolutely could establish the calendar way ahead. But they didn't.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope they do the right thing and go with Option 2. Especially after wasting everyone’s time and taxpayer money on yet another survey.

And peoples vacation deposits!

yeah lets prioritize people's recreation over instruction.

Haha! No, but its unreasonable to keep changing start dates year after year. Many families rent the same spot year after year and have to reserve almost a year in advance. 6 months out is not reasonable.

So their kid misses some days early in the year. Nothing un-missable happens anyway. And before someone cries hardship on behalf of students missing out on meeting their classmates the first day or week of school, sometimes that's how the cookie crumbles and it's life. People make choices. If people make choices based on information set A and the information changes afterward, that's what happens in life. I don't think it's as important for a family to have the same vacation rental every year as it is to make school calendar/administration decisions for the greatest common good. I guess some peoples' vacations are more important to them - and they're free to proceed with them. Schools can't accommodate every individual family's preferences. Is there any good reasons the school calendar can't be set farther ahead? No. But it isn't APS' concern when you want to have your family vacation.

As you say, there is no good reason NOT to give people this information much further in advance (as in, years), with the understanding that there might be some small tweaks (eg, moving the day off for Eid). It’s not just about vacations. People should be able to plan ahead.

They can. They can plan for school to start sometime in August. Or they can simply plan ahead 9 months out instead of 12, even if it means having to make a less-preferred plan.

I understand that this may not affect you, but some families have children involved in swim and other summer sports, that go through the end of July so they cannot vacation or visit family, etc until august. There is very little time and they were able to get away. High schools have already posted when tryouts will be next summer, which is early August. For some families there’s literally only one or two weeks that they would be able to choose from, and then balance out with their work schedules/demands. It’s not a simple as choosing a random week in July.

School is for the education of our populace. It's part of having a family and being a parent, being a family. You and your children CHOOSE to participate in the activities they participate in. By choosing one thing, you might have to sacrifice another. These arguments are merely from families who expect to, or feel they should be able to, have and do everything they want. Why aren't people complaining about the sports schedules and tryout dates and trying to get those to accommodate their personal schedules instead? Fact is, the majority of students are not in sports through the end of July and only have two weeks to coordinate a vacation with their work schedules. Take a vacation during winter break or spring break if summer doesn't work. Many families can't afford to travel at all and need their older kids to work to earn money.

Some families prioritize education and schedule other things around school, even if it means waiting to know when school will be in session to determine if and what other plans they can pursue. Most families here on DCUM expect their personal plans to be prioritized over schools and their kids education to accommodate those plans. People need to get over themselves.