Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Protest of MCPS Innovative School Calendar
Strain on Working Families: The unconventional calendar throws childcare arrangements into disarray, forcing working parents to scramble for solutions during half-days and closures that do not align with the traditional MCPS school calendar. The ISY program has been especially burdensome for parents with children at Roscoe Nix (Pre-K - 2) and its partner school, Cresthaven (3-5), which follows a traditional calendar. This creates undue stress and financial burdens for families, potentially impacting employment and overall well-being.

https://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2024/01/breaking-roscoe-nix-elementary-parents.html

The teachers letter

https://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2024/01/part-iii-55-roscoe-r-nix-elementary.html?m=1

This letter is pretty damning. I'd recommend folks on this thread read it, because as someone who has been pushing for answers about why ISY isn't working, and who was not impressed with the OP's first post, I find myself frustrated on behalf of the teachers and families represented by that later letter.

So much of what is described there tracks with my overall experience with MCPS Central Office, but magnified. There just does not seem to be anyone in that office with strong executive function and forward planning skills. For example, it is absolutely someone's job to make sure the transportation office is aware of the ISY schedule so that kids can get to school, but it didn't happen. Ditto the HVAC and the login credentials.

As I said, this is just an amplified version of the lack of forward planning that is constantly on display with MCPS CO. It's like they can't plan more than one step ahead. I have no idea what the answer is, but I'd be outraged if my kids were subjected to the lack of care that is on display in those ISY schools.

Yup. The rampant amount of incompetence and failures in coordination and communication within MCPS is just mind boggling. It seems like so few people in the system actually think critically? Which is even more concerning since they work in the field of education, where you'd think critical thinkers would be plentiful.....

I actually don't know whether the answer is critical thinking. Maybe that's one facet, but the other facet is just around organization.

Let's say you know that the ISY school starts on July 18 (or whatever). Okay, let's move backward from there. That means teachers start in the building on July 11 (or whatever).

By June 18, Transportation needs to confirm that they understand the timeline and have buses ready to go, and Operations needs to confirm they also understand the timeline and that HVAC is ready to function in the height of summer.

By July 4, there need to be login credentials generated for every student and staff member.

Year over year, someone should be keeping track of what went wrong, and creating a calendar that looks at what needs to happen 4 weeks out, 3 weeks out, 2 weeks out, 1 week out, and on Day One.

Unlike a lot of skills, including critical thinking, this is a skills that can be taught. Take two to three PD days and make every single Assistant Superintendent go through a training on project planning. Buy a planning tool if they need scaffolding and can't do it on Google Calendar like the rest of us.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Protest of MCPS Innovative School Calendar
Strain on Working Families: The unconventional calendar throws childcare arrangements into disarray, forcing working parents to scramble for solutions during half-days and closures that do not align with the traditional MCPS school calendar. The ISY program has been especially burdensome for parents with children at Roscoe Nix (Pre-K - 2) and its partner school, Cresthaven (3-5), which follows a traditional calendar. This creates undue stress and financial burdens for families, potentially impacting employment and overall well-being.

https://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2024/01/breaking-roscoe-nix-elementary-parents.html

The teachers letter

https://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2024/01/part-iii-55-roscoe-r-nix-elementary.html?m=1

This letter is pretty damning. I'd recommend folks on this thread read it, because as someone who has been pushing for answers about why ISY isn't working, and who was not impressed with the OP's first post, I find myself frustrated on behalf of the teachers and families represented by that later letter.

So much of what is described there tracks with my overall experience with MCPS Central Office, but magnified. There just does not seem to be anyone in that office with strong executive function and forward planning skills. For example, it is absolutely someone's job to make sure the transportation office is aware of the ISY schedule so that kids can get to school, but it didn't happen. Ditto the HVAC and the login credentials.

As I said, this is just an amplified version of the lack of forward planning that is constantly on display with MCPS CO. It's like they can't plan more than one step ahead. I have no idea what the answer is, but I'd be outraged if my kids were subjected to the lack of care that is on display in those ISY schools.

Yup. The rampant amount of incompetence and failures in coordination and communication within MCPS is just mind boggling. It seems like so few people in the system actually think critically? Which is even more concerning since they work in the field of education, where you'd think critical thinkers would be plentiful.....

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Protest of MCPS Innovative School Calendar
Strain on Working Families: The unconventional calendar throws childcare arrangements into disarray, forcing working parents to scramble for solutions during half-days and closures that do not align with the traditional MCPS school calendar. The ISY program has been especially burdensome for parents with children at Roscoe Nix (Pre-K - 2) and its partner school, Cresthaven (3-5), which follows a traditional calendar. This creates undue stress and financial burdens for families, potentially impacting employment and overall well-being.

https://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2024/01/breaking-roscoe-nix-elementary-parents.html

The teachers letter

https://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2024/01/part-iii-55-roscoe-r-nix-elementary.html?m=1

This letter is pretty damning. I'd recommend folks on this thread read it, because as someone who has been pushing for answers about why ISY isn't working, and who was not impressed with the OP's first post, I find myself frustrated on behalf of the teachers and families represented by that later letter.

So much of what is described there tracks with my overall experience with MCPS Central Office, but magnified. There just does not seem to be anyone in that office with strong executive function and forward planning skills. For example, it is absolutely someone's job to make sure the transportation office is aware of the ISY schedule so that kids can get to school, but it didn't happen. Ditto the HVAC and the login credentials.

As I said, this is just an amplified version of the lack of forward planning that is constantly on display with MCPS CO. It's like they can't plan more than one step ahead. I have no idea what the answer is, but I'd be outraged if my kids were subjected to the lack of care that is on display in those ISY schools.