Anonymous wrote:But pp, those days were scheduled, at least in theory. Were you also annoyed last year when they got out 2 days early and the calendar changed? It sucks about camp, yes. But we had 2 snow days in December and four in January. So yeah, it is kind of short sighted to not see how things were likely to play out. That's all.

Not short sighted at all. My kids have done nothing academic for the last few days of school since they started elementary school. If I had plans, why would I rearrange my schedule for two days where they will be watching movies, having parties, and leaving before noon (last day)? Last year it was probably a couple of weeks of very little academic stuff for older DC because after the SOLs were over, it seemed as if the focus on teaching was over. Maybe if FCPS was so concerned about education, they would work harder at getting a waiver from the Kings Dominion rule. That way more of the school year occurs before the SOLs. My kids will be in school for the last two days of school because they don't want to miss the parties, but I get why other parents aren't planning to skip camps or vacation time to go have their kids watch movies.

My two younger children are at Dogwood. I had opted out for my oldest, as he would be on the year round calendar, and I was not. I think I would really like the schedule, and I know the teachers preferred it for learning, especially for the at-risk population. Unless it existed county-wide, I am not sure I would want to teach on a different calendar than my children though. The cuts were due to budget, not ineffectiveness.

Here is the story from 2010.

http://ww2.fairfaxtimes.com/cms/story.php?id=1978

Anonymous wrote:FCPS needs to transition to year round school. 8 wks on, 3 wks off or something similar. This system is proven effective and widely popular.

When FCPS had elementary schools on a year round calendar it seemed to be pretty popular with the staff members in those buildings. I'd go for it and I know a lot of my colleagues would as well.