Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS 2021-2022 CALENDAR ALERT! Be sure to read the email from APS and respond to the survey. They really seem to be trying to push forward quick & dirty without time for parent/staff/community input. The survey is only open through October 30th!
They're adding four religious holidays (Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, one Eid, and Diwali), which do not seem to be up for negotiation.
This necessitates starting school about a week earlier. If you object to an earlier start or later end to the school year, the holidays the survey lets you elect to cut in exchange (you are to pick 5) are Columbus/Peoples Indigenous Day, day before Thanksgiving, Winter Break days, or government/secular holidays like Veterans Day or MLK day, for example.

I don't understand your objection to the added holidays. At all.

APS has been trying to start earlier for years. Nothing new there.

I also don't understand why you think you deserve a say in any of this. You're only a parent. It's not like you are an important stakeholder. Take a seat and let them work.

Kids might realize there are alternatives to Christianity.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is complete B.S. There should not be any religious holidays on the calendar, period, except for Christmas which is a federal holiday, major secular holiday AND happens to land during the semester break. I do not care one iota whether or not Spring break is tied to Easter. August 23 is the height of summer and ridiculously early for those of us who support a post-Labor Day start.

Christmas is a major secular holiday? Um, no it is not. It is a major Christian holiday. And the height of summer is July, not the end of August.

Christmas = Santa = commercial = secular
Birth of Christ = religious

The ultra religious people we know don’t actually celebrate commercial Xmas

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:10 days is plenty of time! This year it works out nicely because Rosh Hashana extends Labor Day weekend. My only gripe with this calendar is that we get out too late. I grew up starting school mid-August and getting out by Memorial Day and prefer that. I felt it was easier when I taught that schedule too.

I grew up starting after labor day and finishing on the last day of May. The calendar here seems crazy and inefficient to me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is complete B.S. There should not be any religious holidays on the calendar, period, except for Christmas which is a federal holiday, major secular holiday AND happens to land during the semester break. I do not care one iota whether or not Spring break is tied to Easter. August 23 is the height of summer and ridiculously early for those of us who support a post-Labor Day start.

Christmas is a major secular holiday? Um, no it is not. It is a major Christian holiday. And the height of summer is July, not the end of August.

Anonymous wrote:I want to move to a Muslim country, enroll my child in their school system, and demand they give Christian and Jewish holidays off as well as the Muslim ones.

Anonymous wrote:This is complete B.S. There should not be any religious holidays on the calendar, period, except for Christmas which is a federal holiday, major secular holiday AND happens to land during the semester break. I do not care one iota whether or not Spring break is tied to Easter. August 23 is the height of summer and ridiculously early for those of us who support a post-Labor Day start.

Anonymous wrote:I want to move to a Muslim country, enroll my child in their school system, and demand they give Christian and Jewish holidays off as well as the Muslim ones.

Anonymous wrote:This is complete B.S. There should not be any religious holidays on the calendar, period, except for Christmas which is a federal holiday, major secular holiday AND happens to land during the semester break. I do not care one iota whether or not Spring break is tied to Easter. August 23 is the height of summer and ridiculously early for those of us who support a post-Labor Day start. And last year's survey shows that that includes a majority of Arlington parents, even when Labor Day falls as late as possible. I voted for adding back Columbus Day, Veteran's Day, MLK Day and a couple days around Xmas. But I think it is total BS to not offer the option of eliminating these new holidays. As long as students can take excused absences on those days, this is not something the schools should be doing. Good grief. August 23 through June 17? Appalling.

Anonymous wrote:This is complete B.S. There should not be any religious holidays on the calendar, period, except for Christmas which is a federal holiday, major secular holiday AND happens to land during the semester break. I do not care one iota whether or not Spring break is tied to Easter. August 23 is the height of summer and ridiculously early for those of us who support a post-Labor Day start. And last year's survey shows that that includes a majority of Arlington parents, even when Labor Day falls as late as possible. I voted for adding back Columbus Day, Veteran's Day, MLK Day and a couple days around Xmas. But I think it is total BS to not offer the option of eliminating these new holidays. As long as students can take excused absences on those days, this is not something the schools should be doing. Good grief. August 23 through June 17? Appalling.

Anonymous wrote:10 days is plenty of time! This year it works out nicely because Rosh Hashana extends Labor Day weekend. My only gripe with this calendar is that we get out too late. I grew up starting school mid-August and getting out by Memorial Day and prefer that. I felt it was easier when I taught that schedule too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe move the winter break to the first two weeks of January. It’d space out the long breaks better.

Yes, and eliminate any religious holidays. Only secular holidays (Labor day, Thanksgiving, President's day, Memorial day) otherwise, it will be an ever expanding list of religous holidays that have to be included so everything is fair and equitable, whch will be very difficult to do.