I agree there is an excessive amount of holidays.. and grade prep days and early release, the list goes on.. Plus shortened elementary days during covid...

It seems APS has a goal of minimizing learning time for our kids.

So in New England where I lived for 10 years before coming here, it is very common to have 1 week winter break around Christmas to New Years and then mid year break a week in February around Presidents day, and then a week in April for spring break. This I think breaks things down a bit easier and spreads out the time off. I agree with all the new holidays as we need to culturally inclusive,but do see how this is challenging for those who work outside of home especially this year. I also think if we arent getting out earlier, why start back 8/30 and have 1 chopped up first week, and then another a week later? After Labor day start may have been better with new schedule......cut some early release days and get us out at the same time as planned. Just a thought.

Anonymous wrote:Yes!!!! Please please please align FCPS and APS calendars. At least for the long breaks. Please. It’s torture on families who have parent in one and kid in the other. Not everyday needs to align. But this year is insane. Virtually no overlap except for winter break.

FCPS really screwed over their families and staff when the switched last minute, after all the other local districts published their calendars.

Anonymous wrote:Yes!!!! Please please please align FCPS and APS calendars. At least for the long breaks. Please. It’s torture on families who have parent in one and kid in the other. Not everyday needs to align. But this year is insane. Virtually no overlap except for winter break.

As a teacher who struggles to pay the mortgage in Arlington, I disagree. I don’t think the local school districts should have same calendar to accommodate staff.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just can’t imagine why people are staring into their screens, shaking their fists about this.

Because some of us have to work - outside the home - and this large number of random days off mid-week is a big inconvenience. I get that school isn't childcare, I really do, but it seems like the constant interruptions would make it difficult for teachers to establish a routine and for kids to learn. I would be happy to trade off a religious holiday or two for minority faiths in exchange for holidays like Columbus Day or President's Day.

Plenty of us who work outside the home have zero problems with this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK obviously I should have paid attention to this earlier, but I'm looking at the calendar and there's a 5-day weekend around Labor Day? We now have schools closed for both Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur? This is the first year this has happened, right? I'm curious about what proportion of Arlington students observe these holidays. There are also days off for Diwali and Eid al-Fitr. Do we still have the same number of school days in the year? For the record I'm agnostic but culturally Christian, I would be more than happy to swap out existing Christian-based holidays for any of these other religious observances.

So it's only ok to observe these holidays as a school system if a certain proportion (defined by you) culturally observes?

I'm just curious if that factored into the decision. Is there a certain cutoff point above which it's considered appropriate to shut down an entire school system for a religious observance? I imagine there are quite a few Orthodox living in Arlington, for instance. They celebrate Christmas in January when schools are normally open.

Rumor has it the other school systems looked at FCPS’s calendar—which was in draft and had these select religious holidays included—but because FCPS was busy with everything else, they never finalized their calendar until really late. I think their lawyers got involved and because of their not being the numbers able to support closing down school on those days for religious reasons, they marked them on their calendars as “O” where there cannot be tests or special events (homecoming) on those observance dates. Their spring break is now a fixed week vs attached to Easter, as well.

Separation of church & state and all.

I think this is partially true. FCPS had the holidays in the draft calendar so other systems copied it. APS and LCPS do want to be on a similar calendar as FCPS due to staff living and working in different systems. I don't think lawyers were involved- their isn't a law about # of students of a religion to have that holiday as a school holiday. I think it was super lame that after other systems adopted their calendars, FCPS was like actually here's our completely different calendar. Maybe for next year, they can align them a bit more. I teach in APS and live in Arlington, I considered finding a job in FCPS this year for more $$ but the calendar is too different from my kids in APS.

Yeah, stuff like that is why I also teach and live in Arlington

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m fine with the extra holidays, but what’s up with the grade prep day on a Tuesday with Diwali on Thursday. Why couldn’t grade prep happen on Friday for a less disruptive week? Wouldn’t kids get more done Mon-Wed instead of M/W/F?

OP here, this is my issue. As a working parent (not among the lucky teleworkers) it's incredibly hard to have to constantly take random days off in the middle of the week. I absolutely want to supports others' right to celebrate, but it's just a lot. Not to mention all the teacher work days and conference days, etc. In this example, why couldn't the 99.9% of APS teachers who do NOT observe Diwali do their grade prep on that day, rather than taking a whole other day for it?

I am a working parent as well, and as SOON as the next school year's calendar is out I put in my own calendar. Which is this case was MONTHS ago (I think in February?). That way I was surprised by the 5 day weekend 6 months ago, and now have child care lined up so I don't have to take off.

Looking at the calendar 2 weeks before schools starts is a rookie move!

Anonymous wrote:I just can’t imagine why people are staring into their screens, shaking their fists about this.

Because some of us have to work - outside the home - and this large number of random days off mid-week is a big inconvenience. I get that school isn't childcare, I really do, but it seems like the constant interruptions would make it difficult for teachers to establish a routine and for kids to learn. I would be happy to trade off a religious holiday or two for minority faiths in exchange for holidays like Columbus Day or President's Day.

Yes!!!! Please please please align FCPS and APS calendars. At least for the long breaks. Please. It’s torture on families who have parent in one and kid in the other. Not everyday needs to align. But this year is insane. Virtually no overlap except for winter break.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK obviously I should have paid attention to this earlier, but I'm looking at the calendar and there's a 5-day weekend around Labor Day? We now have schools closed for both Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur? This is the first year this has happened, right? I'm curious about what proportion of Arlington students observe these holidays. There are also days off for Diwali and Eid al-Fitr. Do we still have the same number of school days in the year? For the record I'm agnostic but culturally Christian, I would be more than happy to swap out existing Christian-based holidays for any of these other religious observances.

So it's only ok to observe these holidays as a school system if a certain proportion (defined by you) culturally observes?

I'm just curious if that factored into the decision. Is there a certain cutoff point above which it's considered appropriate to shut down an entire school system for a religious observance? I imagine there are quite a few Orthodox living in Arlington, for instance. They celebrate Christmas in January when schools are normally open.

Rumor has it the other school systems looked at FCPS’s calendar—which was in draft and had these select religious holidays included—but because FCPS was busy with everything else, they never finalized their calendar until really late. I think their lawyers got involved and because of their not being the numbers able to support closing down school on those days for religious reasons, they marked them on their calendars as “O” where there cannot be tests or special events (homecoming) on those observance dates. Their spring break is now a fixed week vs attached to Easter, as well.

Separation of church & state and all.

I think this is partially true. FCPS had the holidays in the draft calendar so other systems copied it. APS and LCPS do want to be on a similar calendar as FCPS due to staff living and working in different systems. I don't think lawyers were involved- their isn't a law about # of students of a religion to have that holiday as a school holiday. I think it was super lame that after other systems adopted their calendars, FCPS was like actually here's our completely different calendar. Maybe for next year, they can align them a bit more. I teach in APS and live in Arlington, I considered finding a job in FCPS this year for more $$ but the calendar is too different from my kids in APS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK obviously I should have paid attention to this earlier, but I'm looking at the calendar and there's a 5-day weekend around Labor Day? We now have schools closed for both Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur? This is the first year this has happened, right? I'm curious about what proportion of Arlington students observe these holidays. There are also days off for Diwali and Eid al-Fitr. Do we still have the same number of school days in the year? For the record I'm agnostic but culturally Christian, I would be more than happy to swap out existing Christian-based holidays for any of these other religious observances.

So it's only ok to observe these holidays as a school system if a certain proportion (defined by you) culturally observes?

I'm just curious if that factored into the decision. Is there a certain cutoff point above which it's considered appropriate to shut down an entire school system for a religious observance? I imagine there are quite a few Orthodox living in Arlington, for instance. They celebrate Christmas in January when schools are normally open.

Rumor has it the other school systems looked at FCPS’s calendar—which was in draft and had these select religious holidays included—but because FCPS was busy with everything else, they never finalized their calendar until really late. I think their lawyers got involved and because of their not being the numbers able to support closing down school on those days for religious reasons, they marked them on their calendars as “O” where there cannot be tests or special events (homecoming) on those observance dates. Their spring break is now a fixed week vs attached to Easter, as well.

Separation of church & state and all.

That's not really what separation of church and State means.

I just can’t imagine why people are staring into their screens, shaking their fists about this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK obviously I should have paid attention to this earlier, but I'm looking at the calendar and there's a 5-day weekend around Labor Day? We now have schools closed for both Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur? This is the first year this has happened, right? I'm curious about what proportion of Arlington students observe these holidays. There are also days off for Diwali and Eid al-Fitr. Do we still have the same number of school days in the year? For the record I'm agnostic but culturally Christian, I would be more than happy to swap out existing Christian-based holidays for any of these other religious observances.

So it's only ok to observe these holidays as a school system if a certain proportion (defined by you) culturally observes?

I'm just curious if that factored into the decision. Is there a certain cutoff point above which it's considered appropriate to shut down an entire school system for a religious observance? I imagine there are quite a few Orthodox living in Arlington, for instance. They celebrate Christmas in January when schools are normally open.

Rumor has it the other school systems looked at FCPS’s calendar—which was in draft and had these select religious holidays included—but because FCPS was busy with everything else, they never finalized their calendar until really late. I think their lawyers got involved and because of their not being the numbers able to support closing down school on those days for religious reasons, they marked them on their calendars as “O” where there cannot be tests or special events (homecoming) on those observance dates. Their spring break is now a fixed week vs attached to Easter, as well.

Separation of church & state and all.

No one is making you observe someone else's holy day jfc

You can shove your jfc up your a**. It has to do with selecting certain religious holidays and not others. I’m sure every family following xyz religion would like their religious holidays off, but it doesn’t mean the other 99.6% of the school system that does not observe it needs to be off school that day. The inclusions were selective based on no absentee data.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK obviously I should have paid attention to this earlier, but I'm looking at the calendar and there's a 5-day weekend around Labor Day? We now have schools closed for both Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur? This is the first year this has happened, right? I'm curious about what proportion of Arlington students observe these holidays. There are also days off for Diwali and Eid al-Fitr. Do we still have the same number of school days in the year? For the record I'm agnostic but culturally Christian, I would be more than happy to swap out existing Christian-based holidays for any of these other religious observances.

So it's only ok to observe these holidays as a school system if a certain proportion (defined by you) culturally observes?

I'm just curious if that factored into the decision. Is there a certain cutoff point above which it's considered appropriate to shut down an entire school system for a religious observance? I imagine there are quite a few Orthodox living in Arlington, for instance. They celebrate Christmas in January when schools are normally open.

Rumor has it the other school systems looked at FCPS’s calendar—which was in draft and had these select religious holidays included—but because FCPS was busy with everything else, they never finalized their calendar until really late. I think their lawyers got involved and because of their not being the numbers able to support closing down school on those days for religious reasons, they marked them on their calendars as “O” where there cannot be tests or special events (homecoming) on those observance dates. Their spring break is now a fixed week vs attached to Easter, as well.

Separation of church & state and all.

No one is making you observe someone else's holy day jfc

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK obviously I should have paid attention to this earlier, but I'm looking at the calendar and there's a 5-day weekend around Labor Day? We now have schools closed for both Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur? This is the first year this has happened, right? I'm curious about what proportion of Arlington students observe these holidays. There are also days off for Diwali and Eid al-Fitr. Do we still have the same number of school days in the year? For the record I'm agnostic but culturally Christian, I would be more than happy to swap out existing Christian-based holidays for any of these other religious observances.

So it's only ok to observe these holidays as a school system if a certain proportion (defined by you) culturally observes?

I'm just curious if that factored into the decision. Is there a certain cutoff point above which it's considered appropriate to shut down an entire school system for a religious observance? I imagine there are quite a few Orthodox living in Arlington, for instance. They celebrate Christmas in January when schools are normally open.

Rumor has it the other school systems looked at FCPS’s calendar—which was in draft and had these select religious holidays included—but because FCPS was busy with everything else, they never finalized their calendar until really late. I think their lawyers got involved and because of their not being the numbers able to support closing down school on those days for religious reasons, they marked them on their calendars as “O” where there cannot be tests or special events (homecoming) on those observance dates. Their spring break is now a fixed week vs attached to Easter, as well.

Separation of church & state and all.