Anonymous
Post 08/05/2012 18:01     Subject: Re:Elementary school starts at 9:15?!?! Rant
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:But PP (or are you OP) if school starts at 8:15 then it is out at about 2:15. Would't most people still need aftercare? Even if you go to work at 8 you wouldn't be home till 4 or 4:30 with commuting time....

Are you thinking it would be better for kids to only need aftercare but not before care?

Or are you trying to stagger schedules?


Let's face it. Relying on after care is so much less stressful than relying on before care.



Why? That isn't my experience.
Anonymous
Post 08/05/2012 17:57     Subject: Elementary school starts at 9:15?!?! Rant
questioning the policy -- the question you will have to raise is what order should the schools start. current order is High School, Middle School, Elementary School. There is only one fleet of buses, and the three levels need to be staggered. There is a whole lot of ripple effects of changing the school start / finish times -- athletic practices change times, arts & drama change times, etc. etc. I think you will get a couple people to nod, that is all
Anonymous
Post 08/05/2012 17:41     Subject: Re:Elementary school starts at 9:15?!?! Rant
Why are you so hung up about the start time? If they did start earlier and there was no need for before school care, they would be in aftercare for longer. What difference does it make then? The time in childcare is the same.
Anonymous
Post 08/05/2012 17:13     Subject: Re:Elementary school starts at 9:15?!?! Rant
Anonymous wrote:OP there are worse case scenarios. Because of some cuts my friend's kid was only going to school 4.5 days a week. Mondays the kids got out at 12:15. This wasn't some rural school in the middle of nowhere. It's a local elementary school in NOVA.

When I was in school we had 7-8 hour days. I lived in 4 different states during my elementary years so that's why the length is different. Most of those extra hours was filled with recess and music/art/PE. Those are the areas of the most frequent budget cuts. I would like the day to be longer so the kids would get longer breaks in. Kids weren't made to sit at a desk all day.

When I went to school in TX we did morning calisthenics every day before classes started.


OP here, thanks for the comments but the point of my thread is not to say there are not worse scenarios... I'll be okay.. The point is that it is mind boggling to me as to why school starts precisely after most jobs begin. This obligates before care regardless if you need to do after care or not. To me this seems a simple fix realizing that perhaps I don't have all the info.

In the midst of all this discussion in real life I've been working on my on personal situation I may be able to squeak through without doing the before or after care after all with the help of some friends but it still will not stop me questioning a policy that makes no sense and hurts many parents.
Anonymous
Post 08/05/2012 16:59     Subject: Elementary school starts at 9:15?!?! Rant
In our school in MoCo all of the kids want to go to Kids After Hours. Program is great and. I know kids who were excited their mom got a job so they could go.
Anonymous
Post 08/05/2012 16:20     Subject: Re:Elementary school starts at 9:15?!?! Rant
OP there are worse case scenarios. Because of some cuts my friend's kid was only going to school 4.5 days a week. Mondays the kids got out at 12:15. This wasn't some rural school in the middle of nowhere. It's a local elementary school in NOVA.

When I was in school we had 7-8 hour days. I lived in 4 different states during my elementary years so that's why the length is different. Most of those extra hours was filled with recess and music/art/PE. Those are the areas of the most frequent budget cuts. I would like the day to be longer so the kids would get longer breaks in. Kids weren't made to sit at a desk all day.

When I went to school in TX we did morning calisthenics every day before classes started.
Anonymous
Post 08/05/2012 12:59     Subject: Elementary school starts at 9:15?!?! Rant
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Kids in aftercare are looked down upon by the kids who go home at normal dismissal time, my children tell me. They were panicked last year when dw was considering going back to work that they would be lumped in with "those kids."


What crap school is this?


I've found this way in both schools my children have attended.

One was one of the better Alexandria City schools. The aftercare was run by the Campagna Center, and being one of the "Campagna kids" is apparently a bit stigmatizing. We had to work with our children to disabuse them of this notion, but they arrived at it independently.

We're now in a North Arlington school, and it's kind of the same thing. It's also weird b/c there's a difference between being in "aftercare" and participating in the after-school enrichment programs that last for like an hour.
Anonymous
Post 08/05/2012 12:56     Subject: Elementary school starts at 9:15?!?! Rant
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Kids in aftercare are looked down upon by the kids who go home at normal dismissal time, my children tell me. They were panicked last year when dw was considering going back to work that they would be lumped in with "those kids."


And people wonder why the mommy wars will never go away. What a shitty thing to say.


I'm just telling you how the school dynamics themselves are. I didn't make this up.


Look, kids only think this because parents like you are telling your kids things like this. It's the parents fault, why should the kids even care unless their parents are being assholes about it?


Give kids a little more credit. They arrive at these conclusions on their own. They see how the kids in aftercare tend to behave. And they know they're getting less time with their own parents.
Anonymous
Post 08/05/2012 12:53     Subject: Elementary school starts at 9:15?!?! Rant
Anonymous wrote:Kids in aftercare are looked down upon by the kids who go home at normal dismissal time, my children tell me. They were panicked last year when dw was considering going back to work that they would be lumped in with "those kids."


At our school "those kids" were the rich kids because both parents worked. I am pretty sure they weren't looked down upon and my kids always wanted to go to aftercare.
Anonymous
Post 08/05/2012 12:48     Subject: Elementary school starts at 9:15?!?! Rant
Anonymous wrote:You all are annoying. OP was just venting a bit.


+1 Honestly, I've never met so many angry, bitter parents. True, there may be reasons why this present system for schools cannot change. It may be the best of many imperfect solutions... the lesser of all evils. Does that mean someone's not allowed to come on here and express frustration? And after all, just because elementary schools in MoCo have been starting late for many years doesn't mean it has to stay that way or is even the best idea for today's working families.

The lack of civility some of the posters here demonstrate is appalling to me.
Anonymous
Post 08/05/2012 12:39     Subject: Elementary school starts at 9:15?!?! Rant
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Kids in aftercare are looked down upon by the kids who go home at normal dismissal time, my children tell me. They were panicked last year when dw was considering going back to work that they would be lumped in with "those kids."


And people wonder why the mommy wars will never go away. What a shitty thing to say.


I work PT. So my kids aren't in after care, but they BEG to stay every so often. So I do! It gives me extra time to run errands, make dinner, etc., and they have a ball.

no stigma to it at all at our school
Anonymous
Post 08/05/2012 12:38     Subject: Elementary school starts at 9:15?!?! Rant
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Kids in aftercare are looked down upon by the kids who go home at normal dismissal time, my children tell me. They were panicked last year when dw was considering going back to work that they would be lumped in with "those kids."


And people wonder why the mommy wars will never go away. What a shitty thing to say.


I'm just telling you how the school dynamics themselves are. I didn't make this up.


Look, kids only think this because parents like you are telling your kids things like this. It's the parents fault, why should the kids even care unless their parents are being assholes about it?


Kids are not as dumb as you imagine them to be. They can think, observe and come up with opinions on their own. Bottom line being in after care is not a glorious position to be in.
Anonymous
Post 08/05/2012 12:03     Subject: Elementary school starts at 9:15?!?! Rant
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Kids in aftercare are looked down upon by the kids who go home at normal dismissal time, my children tell me. They were panicked last year when dw was considering going back to work that they would be lumped in with "those kids."


And people wonder why the mommy wars will never go away. What a shitty thing to say.


I'm just telling you how the school dynamics themselves are. I didn't make this up.


Look, kids only think this because parents like you are telling your kids things like this. It's the parents fault, why should the kids even care unless their parents are being assholes about it?


^^ pretty much. another elitist comment. sigh


My kids think any woman who can't make her own way in the world is a slave. And, wants to beat up your kids
Anonymous
Post 08/05/2012 12:01     Subject: Elementary school starts at 9:15?!?! Rant
Anonymous wrote:Kids in aftercare are looked down upon by the kids who go home at normal dismissal time, my children tell me. They were panicked last year when dw was considering going back to work that they would be lumped in with "those kids."


What crap school is this?
Anonymous
Post 08/05/2012 11:55     Subject: Elementary school starts at 9:15?!?! Rant
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Kids in aftercare are looked down upon by the kids who go home at normal dismissal time, my children tell me. They were panicked last year when dw was considering going back to work that they would be lumped in with "those kids."


And people wonder why the mommy wars will never go away. What a shitty thing to say.


I'm just telling you how the school dynamics themselves are. I didn't make this up.


Look, kids only think this because parents like you are telling your kids things like this. It's the parents fault, why should the kids even care unless their parents are being assholes about it?


^^ pretty much. another elitist comment. sigh