Anonymous
01/29/2026 02:38
Subject: Why doesn't MCPS include more than 1 snow day in the calendar?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:MCPS parents want
1. Schools to start as late as possible in august
2. Religious holidays (jewish, diwali, Eid , passover)
3. End school year by mid June.
How on earth are they able to do all that given all these conditions?
Fairfax county starts 2 weeks before labor day. They don’t get religious holidays and have 2 weeks off in winter, they still end mid june.
Why can’t mcps do this? Just start 2 weeks before labor day?
I have never heard anyone complain about the prospect of an earlier start. If anything, the reason folks travel/vacation in the week before school is because camp options bottom out and its hard to find coverage.
You obviously only know people with younger kids who need camps and coverage. Older kids start sports several weeks before school, teachers have preservice, plenty of people want to vacation in August and definitely don’t want an earlier start. They have repeatedly surveyed people and this is what the majority prefers.
Parents of older kids are among the biggest advocates of starting the school year earlier. Some schools start in late July or early August and their high school students are far more prepared for AP exams with a month of extra instruction than our MCPS kids.
I don’t know any older students who have sports weeks before school start that would take up the full day with practice such that they couldn’t attend HS.
Fall sports start in early August and students are forced to practice pretty much from sun up to sun down in order for every team to get field time. There would be no possible way to handle summer conditioning with everyone having to be in class until 2:30 PM. And if you think those 2-3 weeks of conditioning aren't important then you have never played sports. You acclimate in early August to avoid serious issues later on.
What percentage of MCPS HS kids are doing MCPS team sports from "sun up to sun down" in August? I doubt it's higher than 5%, but even if it were higher, school exists to educate kids.
The vast majority of MCPS ES, MS and HS kids don't need to miss out on 180 full days of education per year, because you want your kid to play sports all day.If you want your kid to train all day, there are special schools that accomodate that.
You clearly don’t have Mcps hs kids. Your ignorance shows.
Enlighten me then oh wise one and answer the question posted above. What percentage of MCPS HS kids are doing MCPS team sports from "sun up to sun down" in August? I doubt it's higher than 5%.
Anonymous
01/29/2026 02:37
Subject: Why doesn't MCPS include more than 1 snow day in the calendar?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:MCPS parents want
1. Schools to start as late as possible in august
2. Religious holidays (jewish, diwali, Eid , passover)
3. End school year by mid June.
How on earth are they able to do all that given all these conditions?
Fairfax county starts 2 weeks before labor day. They don’t get religious holidays and have 2 weeks off in winter, they still end mid june.
Why can’t mcps do this? Just start 2 weeks before labor day?
I have never heard anyone complain about the prospect of an earlier start. If anything, the reason folks travel/vacation in the week before school is because camp options bottom out and its hard to find coverage.
You obviously only know people with younger kids who need camps and coverage. Older kids start sports several weeks before school, teachers have preservice, plenty of people want to vacation in August and definitely don’t want an earlier start. They have repeatedly surveyed people and this is what the majority prefers.
Parents of older kids are among the biggest advocates of starting the school year earlier. Some schools start in late July or early August and their high school students are far more prepared for AP exams with a month of extra instruction than our MCPS kids.
I don’t know any older students who have sports weeks before school start that would take up the full day with practice such that they couldn’t attend HS.
Fall sports start in early August and students are forced to practice pretty much from sun up to sun down in order for every team to get field time. There would be no possible way to handle summer conditioning with everyone having to be in class until 2:30 PM. And if you think those 2-3 weeks of conditioning aren't important then you have never played sports. You acclimate in early August to avoid serious issues later on.
Well I think schools should be prioiritizing academics over sports but obviously YMMV.
Well balanced kids do both, and/or other activities.
Kids can do both, and also recognize that the primary purpose of school is academics, not sports. The school schedule which has PE for maybe 45 minutes to an hour a day at most, might give you a clue.
Anonymous
01/29/2026 02:36
Subject: Why doesn't MCPS include more than 1 snow day in the calendar?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:MCPS parents want
1. Schools to start as late as possible in august
2. Religious holidays (jewish, diwali, Eid , passover)
3. End school year by mid June.
How on earth are they able to do all that given all these conditions?
Fairfax county starts 2 weeks before labor day. They don’t get religious holidays and have 2 weeks off in winter, they still end mid june.
Why can’t mcps do this? Just start 2 weeks before labor day?
I have never heard anyone complain about the prospect of an earlier start. If anything, the reason folks travel/vacation in the week before school is because camp options bottom out and its hard to find coverage.
You obviously only know people with younger kids who need camps and coverage. Older kids start sports several weeks before school, teachers have preservice, plenty of people want to vacation in August and definitely don’t want an earlier start. They have repeatedly surveyed people and this is what the majority prefers.
Parents of older kids are among the biggest advocates of starting the school year earlier. Some schools start in late July or early August and their high school students are far more prepared for AP exams with a month of extra instruction than our MCPS kids.
I don’t know any older students who have sports weeks before school start that would take up the full day with practice such that they couldn’t attend HS.
Fall sports start in early August and students are forced to practice pretty much from sun up to sun down in order for every team to get field time. There would be no possible way to handle summer conditioning with everyone having to be in class until 2:30 PM. And if you think those 2-3 weeks of conditioning aren't important then you have never played sports. You acclimate in early August to avoid serious issues later on.
What percentage of MCPS HS kids are doing MCPS team sports from "sun up to sun down" in August? I doubt it's higher than 5%, but even if it were higher, school exists to educate kids.
The vast majority of MCPS ES, MS and HS kids don't need to miss out on 180 full days of education per year, because you want your kid to play sports all day.If you want your kid to train all day, there are special schools that accomodate that.
You clearly don’t have Mcps hs kids. Your ignorance shows.
Anonymous
01/29/2026 02:35
Subject: Why doesn't MCPS include more than 1 snow day in the calendar?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:MCPS parents want
1. Schools to start as late as possible in august
2. Religious holidays (jewish, diwali, Eid , passover)
3. End school year by mid June.
How on earth are they able to do all that given all these conditions?
Fairfax county starts 2 weeks before labor day. They don’t get religious holidays and have 2 weeks off in winter, they still end mid june.
Why can’t mcps do this? Just start 2 weeks before labor day?
I have never heard anyone complain about the prospect of an earlier start. If anything, the reason folks travel/vacation in the week before school is because camp options bottom out and its hard to find coverage.
You obviously only know people with younger kids who need camps and coverage. Older kids start sports several weeks before school, teachers have preservice, plenty of people want to vacation in August and definitely don’t want an earlier start. They have repeatedly surveyed people and this is what the majority prefers.
Parents of older kids are among the biggest advocates of starting the school year earlier. Some schools start in late July or early August and their high school students are far more prepared for AP exams with a month of extra instruction than our MCPS kids.
I don’t know any older students who have sports weeks before school start that would take up the full day with practice such that they couldn’t attend HS.
Fall sports start in early August and students are forced to practice pretty much from sun up to sun down in order for every team to get field time. There would be no possible way to handle summer conditioning with everyone having to be in class until 2:30 PM. And if you think those 2-3 weeks of conditioning aren't important then you have never played sports. You acclimate in early August to avoid serious issues later on.
Well I think schools should be prioiritizing academics over sports but obviously YMMV.
Well balanced kids do both, and/or other activities.
Anonymous
01/29/2026 02:23
Subject: Why doesn't MCPS include more than 1 snow day in the calendar?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:MCPS parents want
1. Schools to start as late as possible in august
2. Religious holidays (jewish, diwali, Eid , passover)
3. End school year by mid June.
How on earth are they able to do all that given all these conditions?
Fairfax county starts 2 weeks before labor day. They don’t get religious holidays and have 2 weeks off in winter, they still end mid june.
Why can’t mcps do this? Just start 2 weeks before labor day?
I have never heard anyone complain about the prospect of an earlier start. If anything, the reason folks travel/vacation in the week before school is because camp options bottom out and its hard to find coverage.
You obviously only know people with younger kids who need camps and coverage. Older kids start sports several weeks before school, teachers have preservice, plenty of people want to vacation in August and definitely don’t want an earlier start. They have repeatedly surveyed people and this is what the majority prefers.
Parents of older kids are among the biggest advocates of starting the school year earlier. Some schools start in late July or early August and their high school students are far more prepared for AP exams with a month of extra instruction than our MCPS kids.
I don’t know any older students who have sports weeks before school start that would take up the full day with practice such that they couldn’t attend HS.
This! Maybe the PP's kids don't take APs and its not an issue for them, but it definitely is for many other kids.
+1 In some schools, 40%+ of HS students take APs or IBs that have May exams. Why wouldn't we prioritize better academic outcomes for a larger number of students?
Anonymous
01/29/2026 02:23
Subject: Why doesn't MCPS include more than 1 snow day in the calendar?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:MCPS parents want
1. Schools to start as late as possible in august
2. Religious holidays (jewish, diwali, Eid , passover)
3. End school year by mid June.
How on earth are they able to do all that given all these conditions?
Fairfax county starts 2 weeks before labor day. They don’t get religious holidays and have 2 weeks off in winter, they still end mid june.
Why can’t mcps do this? Just start 2 weeks before labor day?
I have never heard anyone complain about the prospect of an earlier start. If anything, the reason folks travel/vacation in the week before school is because camp options bottom out and its hard to find coverage.
You obviously only know people with younger kids who need camps and coverage. Older kids start sports several weeks before school, teachers have preservice, plenty of people want to vacation in August and definitely don’t want an earlier start. They have repeatedly surveyed people and this is what the majority prefers.
Parents of older kids are among the biggest advocates of starting the school year earlier. Some schools start in late July or early August and their high school students are far more prepared for AP exams with a month of extra instruction than our MCPS kids.
I don’t know any older students who have sports weeks before school start that would take up the full day with practice such that they couldn’t attend HS.
Fall sports start in early August and students are forced to practice pretty much from sun up to sun down in order for every team to get field time. There would be no possible way to handle summer conditioning with everyone having to be in class until 2:30 PM. And if you think those 2-3 weeks of conditioning aren't important then you have never played sports. You acclimate in early August to avoid serious issues later on.
What percentage of MCPS HS kids are doing MCPS team sports from "sun up to sun down" in August? I doubt it's higher than 5%, but even if it were higher, school exists to educate kids.
The vast majority of MCPS ES, MS and HS kids don't need to miss out on 180 full days of education per year, because you want your kid to play sports all day.If you want your kid to train all day, there are special schools that accomodate that.
+1. Plus, thes extremes being mentioned here (July or early August start) are not even necessary- starting 1 week earlier would allow MCPS to complete the required 180 days plus have more snow days built in. This isn't rocket science.
Anonymous
01/29/2026 02:21
Subject: Why doesn't MCPS include more than 1 snow day in the calendar?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:MCPS parents want
1. Schools to start as late as possible in august
2. Religious holidays (jewish, diwali, Eid , passover)
3. End school year by mid June.
How on earth are they able to do all that given all these conditions?
Fairfax county starts 2 weeks before labor day. They don’t get religious holidays and have 2 weeks off in winter, they still end mid june.
Why can’t mcps do this? Just start 2 weeks before labor day?
I have never heard anyone complain about the prospect of an earlier start. If anything, the reason folks travel/vacation in the week before school is because camp options bottom out and its hard to find coverage.
You obviously only know people with younger kids who need camps and coverage. Older kids start sports several weeks before school, teachers have preservice, plenty of people want to vacation in August and definitely don’t want an earlier start. They have repeatedly surveyed people and this is what the majority prefers.
Parents of older kids are among the biggest advocates of starting the school year earlier. Some schools start in late July or early August and their high school students are far more prepared for AP exams with a month of extra instruction than our MCPS kids.
I don’t know any older students who have sports weeks before school start that would take up the full day with practice such that they couldn’t attend HS.
Fall sports start in early August and students are forced to practice pretty much from sun up to sun down in order for every team to get field time. There would be no possible way to handle summer conditioning with everyone having to be in class until 2:30 PM. And if you think those 2-3 weeks of conditioning aren't important then you have never played sports. You acclimate in early August to avoid serious issues later on.
Well I think schools should be prioiritizing academics over sports but obviously YMMV.
Anonymous
01/29/2026 02:21
Subject: Why doesn't MCPS include more than 1 snow day in the calendar?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:MCPS parents want
1. Schools to start as late as possible in august
2. Religious holidays (jewish, diwali, Eid , passover)
3. End school year by mid June.
How on earth are they able to do all that given all these conditions?
Fairfax county starts 2 weeks before labor day. They don’t get religious holidays and have 2 weeks off in winter, they still end mid june.
Why can’t mcps do this? Just start 2 weeks before labor day?
In HS, sports and marching band start in early August, so its a problem to start a lot earlier if kids are working, camps, etc. If you want your pools open, you need lifeguards.
There are school districts in the South and in Florida that start in July. They still manage to have sports, marching bands, and pools staffed by life guards.
JULY? Early August is bad enough! LEAVE SUMMER ALONE! NO TO EARLY STARTS!
Start 1 week before Labor Day (regardless if LD is September 1 or 7), 5 day weekend for Thanksgiving, 2 weeks December-early January, *break around President's Day, **4 day weekend at Easter, spring break in mid-April. End before Juneteenth.
*The length of the President's Day break would depend on other holidays
**The 4 day weekend at Easter would apply when Easter is earlier than the first full week of April. If Easter is after the 2nd full week of April spring break would still be with Easter. If Easter is between the first two weeks of April spring break would either be the week after Easter or in late April based on a vote.
As for 180 days? Maryland should adopt Georgia or Florida or Virginia law where the number of hours is counted towards the equivalent of 180 days.
Whatever. You have opinions, and strong ones, but school districts around the country have different calendars, and life goes on. MCPS could start a week earlier than we do now in August, build in a proper number of snow days as other school districts do, and we wouldn't have this annual drama and chaos of never knowing when MCPS was going to add days to the calendar.
PS. Your "schedule" doesn't seem to include any the teacher professional development/non-instruction grading days that are built in. Would you like to negotiate with the teacher's union on that?
Anonymous
01/29/2026 02:19
Subject: Why doesn't MCPS include more than 1 snow day in the calendar?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:MCPS parents want
1. Schools to start as late as possible in august
2. Religious holidays (jewish, diwali, Eid , passover)
3. End school year by mid June.
How on earth are they able to do all that given all these conditions?
Fairfax county starts 2 weeks before labor day. They don’t get religious holidays and have 2 weeks off in winter, they still end mid june.
Why can’t mcps do this? Just start 2 weeks before labor day?
I have never heard anyone complain about the prospect of an earlier start. If anything, the reason folks travel/vacation in the week before school is because camp options bottom out and its hard to find coverage.
You obviously only know people with younger kids who need camps and coverage. Older kids start sports several weeks before school, teachers have preservice, plenty of people want to vacation in August and definitely don’t want an earlier start. They have repeatedly surveyed people and this is what the majority prefers.
Parents of older kids are among the biggest advocates of starting the school year earlier. Some schools start in late July or early August and their high school students are far more prepared for AP exams with a month of extra instruction than our MCPS kids.
I don’t know any older students who have sports weeks before school start that would take up the full day with practice such that they couldn’t attend HS.
This! Maybe the PP's kids don't take APs and its not an issue for them, but it definitely is for many other kids.
Anonymous
01/29/2026 02:16
Subject: Why doesn't MCPS include more than 1 snow day in the calendar?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:MCPS parents want
1. Schools to start as late as possible in august
2. Religious holidays (jewish, diwali, Eid , passover)
3. End school year by mid June.
How on earth are they able to do all that given all these conditions?
Fairfax county starts 2 weeks before labor day. They don’t get religious holidays and have 2 weeks off in winter, they still end mid june.
Why can’t mcps do this? Just start 2 weeks before labor day?
I have never heard anyone complain about the prospect of an earlier start. If anything, the reason folks travel/vacation in the week before school is because camp options bottom out and its hard to find coverage.
+1. Same.
Anonymous
01/29/2026 01:41
Subject: Why doesn't MCPS include more than 1 snow day in the calendar?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:MCPS parents want
1. Schools to start as late as possible in august
2. Religious holidays (jewish, diwali, Eid , passover)
3. End school year by mid June.
How on earth are they able to do all that given all these conditions?
Fairfax county starts 2 weeks before labor day. They don’t get religious holidays and have 2 weeks off in winter, they still end mid june.
Why can’t mcps do this? Just start 2 weeks before labor day?
In HS, sports and marching band start in early August, so its a problem to start a lot earlier if kids are working, camps, etc. If you want your pools open, you need lifeguards.
There are school districts in the South and in Florida that start in July. They still manage to have sports, marching bands, and pools staffed by life guards.
JULY? Early August is bad enough! LEAVE SUMMER ALONE! NO TO EARLY STARTS!
Start 1 week before Labor Day (regardless if LD is September 1 or 7), 5 day weekend for Thanksgiving, 2 weeks December-early January, *break around President's Day, **4 day weekend at Easter, spring break in mid-April. End before Juneteenth.
*The length of the President's Day break would depend on other holidays
**The 4 day weekend at Easter would apply when Easter is earlier than the first full week of April. If Easter is after the 2nd full week of April spring break would still be with Easter. If Easter is between the first two weeks of April spring break would either be the week after Easter or in late April based on a vote.
As for 180 days? Maryland should adopt Georgia or Florida or Virginia law where the number of hours is counted towards the equivalent of 180 days.
Anonymous
01/29/2026 00:52
Subject: Why doesn't MCPS include more than 1 snow day in the calendar?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:MCPS parents want
1. Schools to start as late as possible in august
2. Religious holidays (jewish, diwali, Eid , passover)
3. End school year by mid June.
How on earth are they able to do all that given all these conditions?
Fairfax county starts 2 weeks before labor day. They don’t get religious holidays and have 2 weeks off in winter, they still end mid june.
Why can’t mcps do this? Just start 2 weeks before labor day?
In HS, sports and marching band start in early August, so its a problem to start a lot earlier if kids are working, camps, etc. If you want your pools open, you need lifeguards.
There are school districts in the South and in Florida that start in July. They still manage to have sports, marching bands, and pools staffed by life guards.
Anonymous
01/29/2026 00:50
Subject: Why doesn't MCPS include more than 1 snow day in the calendar?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:MCPS parents want
1. Schools to start as late as possible in august
2. Religious holidays (jewish, diwali, Eid , passover)
3. End school year by mid June.
How on earth are they able to do all that given all these conditions?
Fairfax county starts 2 weeks before labor day. They don’t get religious holidays and have 2 weeks off in winter, they still end mid june.
Why can’t mcps do this? Just start 2 weeks before labor day?
I have never heard anyone complain about the prospect of an earlier start. If anything, the reason folks travel/vacation in the week before school is because camp options bottom out and its hard to find coverage.
You obviously only know people with younger kids who need camps and coverage. Older kids start sports several weeks before school, teachers have preservice, plenty of people want to vacation in August and definitely don’t want an earlier start. They have repeatedly surveyed people and this is what the majority prefers.
Parents of older kids are among the biggest advocates of starting the school year earlier. Some schools start in late July or early August and their high school students are far more prepared for AP exams with a month of extra instruction than our MCPS kids.
I don’t know any older students who have sports weeks before school start that would take up the full day with practice such that they couldn’t attend HS.
Fall sports start in early August and students are forced to practice pretty much from sun up to sun down in order for every team to get field time. There would be no possible way to handle summer conditioning with everyone having to be in class until 2:30 PM. And if you think those 2-3 weeks of conditioning aren't important then you have never played sports. You acclimate in early August to avoid serious issues later on.
What percentage of MCPS HS kids are doing MCPS team sports from "sun up to sun down" in August? I doubt it's higher than 5%, but even if it were higher, school exists to educate kids.
The vast majority of MCPS ES, MS and HS kids don't need to miss out on 180 full days of education per year, because you want your kid to play sports all day.If you want your kid to train all day, there are special schools that accomodate that.
Anonymous
01/29/2026 00:40
Subject: Why doesn't MCPS include more than 1 snow day in the calendar?
That was almost the case this year except with only 1 snow day. If there was no transition day and they removed one of the in year PD days then that is true.Anonymous wrote:I for one don’t want school to start earlier than August 20. It’s not hard to start 1 week before Labor Day and be done before Juneteenth, and also have 3 snow days.
Anonymous
01/28/2026 21:35
Subject: Why doesn't MCPS include more than 1 snow day in the calendar?
Anonymous wrote:MCPS parents want
1. Schools to start as late as possible in august
2. Religious holidays (jewish, diwali, Eid , passover)
3. End school year by mid June.
How on earth are they able to do all that given all these conditions?
Fairfax county starts 2 weeks before labor day. They don’t get religious holidays and have 2 weeks off in winter, they still end mid june.
Why can’t mcps do this? Just start 2 weeks before labor day?
In HS, sports and marching band start in early August, so its a problem to start a lot earlier if kids are working, camps, etc. If you want your pools open, you need lifeguards.