Anonymous
Post 02/07/2026 09:52     Subject: The 2 hours delays are the right time to start school!!!
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Can you believe how our college age kids only went to kindergarten half day?!


My college junior went to kindergarten all day in MD. It was mandated in MD public schools in 2007-2008.


FCPS went to all-day kindergarten in all of its elementary schools in the fall 2011. Many schools already had it. That means that some current juniors and seniors who started in FCPS might have had half-day K.


Wouldn’t that class have graduated two years ago?
Anonymous
Post 02/07/2026 09:50     Subject: The 2 hours delays are the right time to start school!!!
I agree! There is so much wasted time in school. It was great!
Anonymous
Post 02/07/2026 09:50     Subject: Re:The 2 hours delays are the right time to start school!!!
former K teacher here:
Early is better. 8 a.m. Afternoons get long. Kids are ready to go out and play. If they go out and play in the a.m. before school, they are worn out when they get to school.
Anonymous
Post 02/07/2026 09:46     Subject: The 2 hours delays are the right time to start school!!!
Omg we get it. Middle school start times suck. We all agree and are aware. The only fix that doesn't make another group miserable for 7 years is purchasing a large number of additional busses and hiring more drivers. FCPS is already cutting programs to make the budget balance, the funds just aren't there for dramatically expanding the bus fleet.


Anonymous
Post 02/07/2026 08:57     Subject: The 2 hours delays are the right time to start school!!!
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My middle schooler is so much more rested and happier to go to school this should be the real start time.


Same with my highschooler


+1 same with my kids.


+3

Kinda goes to show how much waste there is in a school day. Both my HSers were happy their classes moved along instead, teachers got right to the point, not being drawn out, no busy work, etc.
Anonymous
Post 02/07/2026 08:53     Subject: The 2 hours delays are the right time to start school!!!
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Can you believe how our college age kids only went to kindergarten half day?!


My college junior went to kindergarten all day in MD. It was mandated in MD public schools in 2007-2008.


Well this is the FCPS forum. My senior and junior were in an FCPS elementary that didn’t have full day yet.
Anonymous
Post 02/07/2026 08:53     Subject: The 2 hours delays are the right time to start school!!!
Anonymous wrote:My middle schooler is so much more rested and happier to go to school this should be the real start time.


Same with my highschooler


+1 same with my kids.
Anonymous
Post 02/07/2026 08:45     Subject: Re:The 2 hours delays are the right time to start school!!!
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Now add 2 hours on to the end of the day and tell me how they feel. Would they be happy getting home from school at 4:30 or 5:30?

Or we keep the shorter day but add on weeks to make up for the 2 hours that we are cutting from the day, so shorter summer.

Which is it?

1) Current schedule
2) Later release time
3) Longer school year but shorter days


You are thinking too narrowly. Public schools have a huge amount of wasted, non-learning time during the day. Breaks, transitions, for elementary students there are too many "specials", for older kids free periods. You could easily accomplish the same amount of actual learning in a shorter school day if you tried, with no need to extend the school day or school year.

But people get attached to the idea of "instructional hours" as an essential metric for school quality without thinking critically about how many of those instructional hours actually include instruction. It's so many fewer than you think. Your kids are dragging themselves to school at 7 or 8 am in order to spend half of their school day waiting, walking between classes, or engaged in an independent activity they could easily do at home.


How are you proposing to do away from walking between classes?


Have the teachers move. That’s what they used to do in Germany. Kids stay put in one room and teachers move. The kids got a 15 minute break at some point and were home by lunchtime. They also had no specials.
Anonymous
Post 02/07/2026 07:53     Subject: The 2 hours delays are the right time to start school!!!
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Can you believe how our college age kids only went to kindergarten half day?!


My college junior went to kindergarten all day in MD. It was mandated in MD public schools in 2007-2008.


FCPS went to all-day kindergarten in all of its elementary schools in the fall 2011. Many schools already had it. That means that some current juniors and seniors who started in FCPS might have had half-day K.
Anonymous
Post 02/07/2026 07:48     Subject: The 2 hours delays are the right time to start school!!!
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Absolutely extend the day longer. Start at 940 instead of 740 and get out around 445. Most parents work until 5ish so that makes things easier for literally everyone.

Also agree that having off of school for 9 weeks in the summer is antiquated. Schools have AC now (and honestly , it’s super hot in August when they go back anyways so the AC argument is dumb). Have a 2 week break in June and a 2 week break in August and go to school for July.


Agreed so 9:409-5:00 have the kids walk home in the dark, especially those Kindergartners! Wait, just add some beds and dinner then you don’t have to deal with your kids at ALL until the weekend! I mean kids don’t need rest or a calmer environment, mass house them together. This is FINE!


They’re gone for the same number of hours….? I’d actually see them for more hours per day this way? Since I wouldn’t need the after school babysitter , I’d be at work the exact hours they’d be at school. Are you not very smart?



So, because you start work at 10, you think 3veryone does?
Anonymous
Post 02/07/2026 07:39     Subject: The 2 hours delays are the right time to start school!!!
Anonymous wrote:Can you believe how our college age kids only went to kindergarten half day?!


My college junior went to kindergarten all day in MD. It was mandated in MD public schools in 2007-2008.
Anonymous
Post 02/07/2026 07:27     Subject: The 2 hours delays are the right time to start school!!!
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Absolutely extend the day longer. Start at 940 instead of 740 and get out around 445. Most parents work until 5ish so that makes things easier for literally everyone.

Also agree that having off of school for 9 weeks in the summer is antiquated. Schools have AC now (and honestly , it’s super hot in August when they go back anyways so the AC argument is dumb). Have a 2 week break in June and a 2 week break in August and go to school for July.


Agreed so 9:409-5:00 have the kids walk home in the dark, especially those Kindergartners! Wait, just add some beds and dinner then you don’t have to deal with your kids at ALL until the weekend! I mean kids don’t need rest or a calmer environment, mass house them together. This is FINE!


They’re gone for the same number of hours….? I’d actually see them for more hours per day this way? Since I wouldn’t need the after school babysitter , I’d be at work the exact hours they’d be at school. Are you not very smart?


Most people don’t start work at 10:00. Are you really proposing that the entire district align its hours with your part time job?
Anonymous
Post 02/07/2026 07:23     Subject: Re:The 2 hours delays are the right time to start school!!!
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Now add 2 hours on to the end of the day and tell me how they feel. Would they be happy getting home from school at 4:30 or 5:30?

Or we keep the shorter day but add on weeks to make up for the 2 hours that we are cutting from the day, so shorter summer.

Which is it?

1) Current schedule
2) Later release time
3) Longer school year but shorter days


You are thinking too narrowly. Public schools have a huge amount of wasted, non-learning time during the day. Breaks, transitions, for elementary students there are too many "specials", for older kids free periods. You could easily accomplish the same amount of actual learning in a shorter school day if you tried, with no need to extend the school day or school year.

But people get attached to the idea of "instructional hours" as an essential metric for school quality without thinking critically about how many of those instructional hours actually include instruction. It's so many fewer than you think. Your kids are dragging themselves to school at 7 or 8 am in order to spend half of their school day waiting, walking between classes, or engaged in an independent activity they could easily do at home.


My kid spends 4 minutes between classes — that’s only 12 minutes of walking between classes.
Anonymous
Post 02/07/2026 06:50     Subject: The 2 hours delays are the right time to start school!!!
Someone else can do the math but if everyday was 2 hours shorter would we just eliminate summer break? Also for the 7 years they are in elementary school not starting school until 11:30 would be bonkers. But OP thanks for your contribution.
Anonymous
Post 02/06/2026 21:28     Subject: The 2 hours delays are the right time to start school!!!
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Absolutely extend the day longer. Start at 940 instead of 740 and get out around 445. Most parents work until 5ish so that makes things easier for literally everyone.

Also agree that having off of school for 9 weeks in the summer is antiquated. Schools have AC now (and honestly , it’s super hot in August when they go back anyways so the AC argument is dumb). Have a 2 week break in June and a 2 week break in August and go to school for July.


Agreed so 9:409-5:00 have the kids walk home in the dark, especially those Kindergartners! Wait, just add some beds and dinner then you don’t have to deal with your kids at ALL until the weekend! I mean kids don’t need rest or a calmer environment, mass house them together. This is FINE!


They’re gone for the same number of hours….? I’d actually see them for more hours per day this way? Since I wouldn’t need the after school babysitter , I’d be at work the exact hours they’d be at school. Are you not very smart?



Totally dumb, but even I can see that you want to have kindergarteners walking home in the dark so that schools align with your particular work schedule like everyone in the world works those same hours.

Oh, so all schools should rearrange their schedules and 5 year olds should walk home so they can “match the exact hours you are at work.” Right. I mean