Anonymous
Post 01/31/2026 22:27     Subject: What schools still aren’t plowed?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I read earlier today that the sidewalks from Newport Mill MS to Einstein are impassable. Poster said several houses have snow surrounding cars, making the road essentially one lane. Poster noted the difficulty of hundreds of students (apparently around 70% of students walk to school, with few buses) walking on a one lane road with buses and cars moving in both directions.


I'd love to see pictures of these allegedly "impassable" sidewalks.


County to start enforcing shoveling of sidewalks which was extended from 24 to 48 hours after the end of this storm. County should clear those that are unshoveled. If the owners are fined by end of Mon they have end of Tues to clear or get fined. Then students can walk on the sidewalks Wed morning with a delayed opening. But more snow is expected mid week right?

Snow covered sidewalks aren't impassable. What makes these impassable?
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2026 22:27     Subject: What schools still aren’t plowed?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I read earlier today that the sidewalks from Newport Mill MS to Einstein are impassable. Poster said several houses have snow surrounding cars, making the road essentially one lane. Poster noted the difficulty of hundreds of students (apparently around 70% of students walk to school, with few buses) walking on a one lane road with buses and cars moving in both directions.


Then make Newport Mill Rd one-way. I know that's annoying, but certainly better than closing school.


One way from which direction? And for how long a stretch of that street? I have a kid at Einstein and Newport Mill routinely backs up for a few blocks at dismissal time, and that's with both lanes clear. Every bit of on street parking is also used, by neighbors and students.


I'd be inclined to pick one-way eastbound, but either could work. Between College View Dr and the traffic circle.
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2026 22:10     Subject: What schools still aren’t plowed?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I read earlier today that the sidewalks from Newport Mill MS to Einstein are impassable. Poster said several houses have snow surrounding cars, making the road essentially one lane. Poster noted the difficulty of hundreds of students (apparently around 70% of students walk to school, with few buses) walking on a one lane road with buses and cars moving in both directions.


Then make Newport Mill Rd one-way. I know that's annoying, but certainly better than closing school.


One way from which direction? And for how long a stretch of that street? I have a kid at Einstein and Newport Mill routinely backs up for a few blocks at dismissal time, and that's with both lanes clear. Every bit of on street parking is also used, by neighbors and students.
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2026 22:09     Subject: What schools still aren’t plowed?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I read earlier today that the sidewalks from Newport Mill MS to Einstein are impassable. Poster said several houses have snow surrounding cars, making the road essentially one lane. Poster noted the difficulty of hundreds of students (apparently around 70% of students walk to school, with few buses) walking on a one lane road with buses and cars moving in both directions.


I'd love to see pictures of these allegedly "impassable" sidewalks.


County to start enforcing shoveling of sidewalks which was extended from 24 to 48 hours after the end of this storm. County should clear those that are unshoveled. If the owners are fined by end of Mon they have end of Tues to clear or get fined. Then students can walk on the sidewalks Wed morning with a delayed opening. But more snow is expected mid week right?
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2026 22:01     Subject: What schools still aren’t plowed?
Anonymous wrote:I read earlier today that the sidewalks from Newport Mill MS to Einstein are impassable. Poster said several houses have snow surrounding cars, making the road essentially one lane. Poster noted the difficulty of hundreds of students (apparently around 70% of students walk to school, with few buses) walking on a one lane road with buses and cars moving in both directions.


Then make Newport Mill Rd one-way. I know that's annoying, but certainly better than closing school.
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2026 21:57     Subject: What schools still aren’t plowed?
Anonymous wrote:I read earlier today that the sidewalks from Newport Mill MS to Einstein are impassable. Poster said several houses have snow surrounding cars, making the road essentially one lane. Poster noted the difficulty of hundreds of students (apparently around 70% of students walk to school, with few buses) walking on a one lane road with buses and cars moving in both directions.


I'd love to see pictures of these allegedly "impassable" sidewalks.
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2026 21:55     Subject: What schools still aren’t plowed?
I read earlier today that the sidewalks from Newport Mill MS to Einstein are impassable. Poster said several houses have snow surrounding cars, making the road essentially one lane. Poster noted the difficulty of hundreds of students (apparently around 70% of students walk to school, with few buses) walking on a one lane road with buses and cars moving in both directions.
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2026 21:42     Subject: What schools still aren’t plowed?
Use this other thread to rant about Monday's possible closure
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1311892.page
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2026 21:29     Subject: What schools still aren’t plowed?
Can we please get back on the topic of what schools still haven’t been plowed.

I know there are a handful of you that like to bicker, but your bickering has zero to do with the question asked.

Signed, the original poster of this question.
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2026 20:57     Subject: Re:What schools still aren’t plowed?
The drop off loop at Pyle looks OK but not in great condition. The sidewalks near the school on the side of the school are completely unshoveled.
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2026 20:22     Subject: What schools still aren’t plowed?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I'm appreciative that they were slow to reopen for the reasons described in this thread. But more time out of school just isn't tenable. It's going to be below zero all week. The problems present now will also be there a week from now.

I think they should institute some flexibility. For instance, starting 2 hours late but allowing drop off from normal start time until the delayed start time to reduce traffic. Maybe even putting busses on a different schedule spanning that full window (though this may be difficult given that they haven't telegraphed it ahead of time).

I wonder if they could enlist MOCO law enforcement to do traffic control for the morning and afternoon hours?

Ideally, MCPS will use this opportunity to come up with an emergency plan for severe weather in the coming year-- for instance, building it into some employees' contracts that on certain emergency days they are assigned crossing guard duty or bus stop duty to keep kids safe in the morning before school.


I'm not sure about all of these suggestions (teachers as crossing guards seems wrong to me) but I agree that some creative ideas are necessary. How about permitting Zoom school for HS students, all of whom have chrome books? Allow teachers to require asychronous work (esp for AP classes)?

The biggest problem I see - living a few blocks from an elementary school - is that there are GIANT piles of snow and ice at every intersection that reduce visibility. Just yesterday a dump truck T-boned a small car about a block away from the elementary school on my street (NCC.) Most of the neighborhood streets are down to one way (and drivers seem completely unwilling to drive more slowly despite that fact.) I'm not a snowflake but I recognize that there are real risks to 160k+++ kids trying to walk to schools and busstops often before the sun is up with large snow/ice piles blocking visibility.


Virtual simply isn't an option. We can debate some other time whether it should be in the future, but it isn't this year. It is unproductive to keep bringing that up.

The AP scenario seems particularly strange. If your child is too immature to be able to walk, ride a bus, or drive to school in these conditions, then they have no business in an AP class. College is going to be a shock to them. You're expected to be able to take care of yourself.


Ok you weird hostile PP, get over yourself. Clearly you know nothing about MCPS HS coursework. AP exams take place in May. It is already a crunch to fit all the material in prior to the exams, and frankly not much else happens in those classes after the exams. I'd much rather that my HS junior who has 5 AP classes has assignments to ensure that the curriculum can progress as intended.

And I never said my kid can't walk or ride a bus or drive. I did say that the giant snowbanks in my neighborhood would make it unsafe for the elementary kids to get to the school down the street. Why is that so hard for you to understand?


It actually isn’t a crunch to fit all the material. An AP class is supposed to resemble a college class in both pace and depth. The average college semester is 15wks including midterms and finals. A year long AP class represents two semesters of a subject. So essentially late August to early/mid May. The reality is that most kids should not be taking AP classes in 9th and 10th grade and instead should be taking Honors classes to develop the study skills, note taking, and depth of content to prepare them for AP classes in upper grades. Why we pushed this down grades further and further and have kids completing12-15 APs I fail to understand.
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2026 20:10     Subject: What schools still aren’t plowed?
Anonymous wrote:Every time I read one of these teacher bashing posts it makes me want to drop the grades of all of my students by a letter grade and maybe get to keep some of their kids out of good colleges.


lol. You realize you're demonstrating why teachers' reputations have taken such a hit, right?
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2026 20:05     Subject: What schools still aren’t plowed?
Every time I read one of these teacher bashing posts it makes me want to drop the grades of all of my students by a letter grade and maybe get to keep some of their kids out of good colleges.
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2026 20:02     Subject: What schools still aren’t plowed?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The threads the last few days have made me really happy I got out of teaching last year. Nothing like being told how lazy you are when you give these kids everything you have.


*just so long as "everything" doesn't include shoveling or feeling cold during the commute.


You're such an awful person and I'm disgusted you exist in my community.


DP. Ignore them. There are posters on this site who take every opportunity to insult teachers. It’s not worth engaging. They’ll just fly back with more insults as absurd as the one above. (Really? I’m supposed to shovel out my school?)


No, shovel your car so you can drive to school. The schools are already clear.
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2026 20:00     Subject: What schools still aren’t plowed?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The threads the last few days have made me really happy I got out of teaching last year. Nothing like being told how lazy you are when you give these kids everything you have.


*just so long as "everything" doesn't include shoveling or feeling cold during the commute.


You're such an awful person and I'm disgusted you exist in my community.


DP. Ignore them. There are posters on this site who take every opportunity to insult teachers. It’s not worth engaging. They’ll just fly back with more insults as absurd as the one above. (Really? I’m supposed to shovel out my school?)