Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great, another day in Sept. of no school.

. They could always have the kids go to school on Christmas or Good Friday to make up for it. I don't celebrate those holidays so could care less... Just like you.

But 90% of the teachers do, so you know... there would be no one to teach you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It will be interesting to see which Professional Day they move as there does not appear to be many options. The way I see it they will either have to start the year a day earlier, Friday (8/26) or extend the year by one day to Monday (6/19). Neither of these will go over well and I would expect even higher absentee rates on those days.

I don't think the teachers would be happy giving up the PD days at the end of each marking period (11/7, 1/27, 4/7).

I am assuming the teachers will not go back until Tuesday 8/22. What would have been their first day will be moved to the 12th... I am also interested to see what happens if they decide the Eid falls on the 11th (Sunday). I assume that will delay the issue for a year?

The final date for Eid-al-Adha won't be known until the last minute, at least that last week. I doubt they'll change things at that point. I think that's why they've requested a professional day, rather than a full day off.

After a couple years, Eid-al-Adha will fall in the summer and it won't be an issue until Eid-al-Fitr falls in early/mid June (2018). We may have a year when both Eids occur in the summer, but that will depend on when the opening school day will be.

Anonymous wrote:It will be interesting to see which Professional Day they move as there does not appear to be many options. The way I see it they will either have to start the year a day earlier, Friday (8/26) or extend the year by one day to Monday (6/19). Neither of these will go over well and I would expect even higher absentee rates on those days.

I don't think the teachers would be happy giving up the PD days at the end of each marking period (11/7, 1/27, 4/7).

I am assuming the teachers will not go back until Tuesday 8/22. What would have been their first day will be moved to the 12th... I am also interested to see what happens if they decide the Eid falls on the 11th (Sunday). I assume that will delay the issue for a year?

Anonymous wrote:

The number of days will be the same. We've had exceptionally long winter breaks the past couple of years because of the day of week on which Christmas and New Year's Day fall. Perhaps we'll be cycling back to a shorter break. They're both on Sundays in 2016/7, so students will only get five school days off (Dec 26-30). The next year, they're on Mondays, so students will get six days off (Dec 25-29, Jan 1). Plus the Jewish holidays may fall on weekends, so there are two more possible non days off.

A few things:

In 2016-2017, I am sure they will have January 2 as a holiday since January 1 is on Sunday. (Employers will give January 2 to their employees, so it's reasonable to assume the same is true for school districts.)

Based on the way the Jewish calendar/new year works, both days will never be on the weekend. You could get at most 1 of the holidays on the weekend, but never both of them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Link?

On a separate note, I noticed that the proposed 2017-2018 calendar has school starting a week early on August 21.

I really hope not. Labor Day will be September 5. They should keep it like they always do and start one week before. I would much rather my kids be in camp or on vacation than in the classroom that week in August.

My guess is that the earlier start year is due to the PARCC testing calendar. It is meant to be given at 75% and 90% through the school year, but last year's MCPS testing windows were definitely earlier than 75% and 90%.

I don't understand why they would start on 8/21 and finish on 6/5. It makes no sense. We normally finish later in June. For example, 2016-last day is 6/17 and 2017-last day is scheduled for 6/16.

I didn't watch the meetings or read the documents in depth, but what I saw in the documents about the 2017-2018 school year, i also saw notes related to PARCC testing. The PARCC is meant to be given to students after they have completed 75% and 90% of the school year. Last year, it was given earlier than the 75% and 90%. I suspect that testing is part of the rational for the change in the school year dates. I might be completely wrong... at least MCPS is putting this through consideration now for the 2017 school year and not completely springing it for next year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Link?

On a separate note, I noticed that the proposed 2017-2018 calendar has school starting a week early on August 21.

I really hope not. Labor Day will be September 5. They should keep it like they always do and start one week before. I would much rather my kids be in camp or on vacation than in the classroom that week in August.

My guess is that the earlier start year is due to the PARCC testing calendar. It is meant to be given at 75% and 90% through the school year, but last year's MCPS testing windows were definitely earlier than 75% and 90%.

I don't understand why they would start on 8/21 and finish on 6/5. It makes no sense. We normally finish later in June. For example, 2016-last day is 6/17 and 2017-last day is scheduled for 6/16.

The number of days will be the same. We've had exceptionally long winter breaks the past couple of years because of the day of week on which Christmas and New Year's Day fall. Perhaps we'll be cycling back to a shorter break. They're both on Sundays in 2016/7, so students will only get five school days off (Dec 26-30). The next year, they're on Mondays, so students will get six days off (Dec 25-29, Jan 1). Plus the Jewish holidays may fall on weekends, so there are two more possible non days off.

Then why not start a week later on 8/28 and finish a week later on 6/12.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Link?

On a separate note, I noticed that the proposed 2017-2018 calendar has school starting a week early on August 21.

I really hope not. Labor Day will be September 5. They should keep it like they always do and start one week before. I would much rather my kids be in camp or on vacation than in the classroom that week in August.

My guess is that the earlier start year is due to the PARCC testing calendar. It is meant to be given at 75% and 90% through the school year, but last year's MCPS testing windows were definitely earlier than 75% and 90%.

I don't understand why they would start on 8/21 and finish on 6/5. It makes no sense. We normally finish later in June. For example, 2016-last day is 6/17 and 2017-last day is scheduled for 6/16.

The number of days will be the same. We've had exceptionally long winter breaks the past couple of years because of the day of week on which Christmas and New Year's Day fall. Perhaps we'll be cycling back to a shorter break. They're both on Sundays in 2016/7, so students will only get five school days off (Dec 26-30). The next year, they're on Mondays, so students will get six days off (Dec 25-29, Jan 1). Plus the Jewish holidays may fall on weekends, so there are two more possible non days off.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Link?

On a separate note, I noticed that the proposed 2017-2018 calendar has school starting a week early on August 21.

I really hope not. Labor Day will be September 5. They should keep it like they always do and start one week before. I would much rather my kids be in camp or on vacation than in the classroom that week in August.

My guess is that the earlier start year is due to the PARCC testing calendar. It is meant to be given at 75% and 90% through the school year, but last year's MCPS testing windows were definitely earlier than 75% and 90%.

I don't understand why they would start on 8/21 and finish on 6/5. It makes no sense. We normally finish later in June. For example, 2016-last day is 6/17 and 2017-last day is scheduled for 6/16.

It will be interesting to see which Professional Day they move as there does not appear to be many options. The way I see it they will either have to start the year a day earlier, Friday (8/26) or extend the year by one day to Monday (6/19). Neither of these will go over well and I would expect even higher absentee rates on those days.

I don't think the teachers would be happy giving up the PD days at the end of each marking period (11/7, 1/27, 4/7).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good. I teach high school in MC and in some classes, nearly 1/4 of them were out for Eid this year. Even though the absences are excused, it does impact instruction.

I've been in the system for 20 years - most of my years spent downcounty. Where is this? My students were never out.

Rockville.

This is my eighth year here and I've seen an increase in our Muslim population particularly in the last 2-3 years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's cool in June and hot in August. Seems better to stay in school when it's cool out and be off when it's hot.

Why? The schools have air conditioning. Would you rather be inside in a classroom on a lovely June day, or on a hot sticky day in August?

NP here. When my kid was in ES, there were several days that the A/C broke over his tenure there. I remember a particularly bad stretch in late 2012 and it was very hot in May/June. The school was modernized in 2008. So saying a school has A/C is different from saying it has functional A/C.

Anonymous wrote:It's cool in June and hot in August. Seems better to stay in school when it's cool out and be off when it's hot.

Why? The schools have air conditioning. Would you rather be inside in a classroom on a lovely June day, or on a hot sticky day in August?

It's cool in June and hot in August. Seems better to stay in school when it's cool out and be off when it's hot.

I'd also prefer an August 21 start date and an earlier finish in June.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That is for the 2017-2018 school year..you are probably not making those summer plans yet?

Can't read the tread title?

If you read the thread, we are discussing both.