Parents do not like half day Mondays. It messes up everyone's scheduling. Why won't fcps have a consistent schedule like every other school district in the us? They could shorten every school day by 20-30 minutes making everyday a little better for the teachers and kids. The shortened schooldays might also make it easier to allow high schools to start a bit later, as parents are already fighting for.

Does anyone here LIKE 1/2 day Mondays? Do teachers prefer them? What's the big payoff of having them? I really don't get it.

It makes bus schedules much more difficult too....

Teacher here.
I teach in an elementary school and would not mind doing away with shorter student days on Mondays (they are currently longer than 1/2 a day). Many of my colleagues feel the same way. Mondays are too rushed. Shorten the student day by 1/2 hour T-F and add 2 hours to Monday.

I'd also like to try a modified calendar, but that's a different topic.

Bring it up at the school board meetings. It's completely asinine from the standpoint of.. well, pretty much everybody.

Ask Sharon Boliva to outlaw Monday in the county.

What about the kids? Aren't they more comfortable coming off of break knowing going into the week starts with a half day? I mean it is supposed to be about the kids right?

I like the idea of schooling 12 months out of the year full days. The lazy complaing teachers that are not worth a fart would quit and the US would start to inch ahead once again in the education ranks.

here you go Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I like the idea of schooling 12 months out of the
> year full days. The lazy complaing teachers that
> are not worth a fart would quit and the US would
> start to inch ahead once again in the education
> ranks.


Honestly, I can think of some very good reasons for school six days a week.

Carefull with this talk the teachers union might......

Back in school we did full days, Mon-Fri. Elementary school started at 7:15 and Middle and High started at 8:15. It was a very productive system. Then again, MD has had the best schools roughly five years in a row now.

The idea of half days and late mornings is just weird. I didn't know those things existed until I read this post.

Back in school we did full days, Mon-Fri. Elementary school started at 7:15 and Middle and High started at 8:15. It was a very productive system. Then again, MD has had the best schools roughly five years in a row now.

The idea of half days and late mornings is just weird. I didn't know those things existed until I read this post.

They started that early day thing in FCPS when I was in elementary school. Originally, it was on Wednesdays. That proved so wildly unpopular with folks trying to schedule around it that it was moved to Mondays after a year or two. Don't remember the rationale behind it...teacher work time?

Maybe someone on Facebook could start a grassroots campaign to get the ball rolling.

Here's a link to the fcps page to locate and email your schoolboard member. Scroll down to the bottom.

http://www.fcps.edu/schlbd/members/bdmembers.shtml

ha ha ppl were whining about this a year and a half ago http://lorton.patch.com/articles/early-dismissal-for-students-an-all-day-headache-for-moms
ROFLMAO@ how some parents can complain about being INCONVENIENCED by their kid's learning schedule

@Gettin - you sure about that Wed thing? always been Monday. Maybe yr confusing it with PW who has/had it on Thursdays?

@otter - yes, Maryland schools are notorious for their re-education abilities http://www.wtop.com/46/3254475/Md-school-district-bans-visitor-hugs - cant even IMAGINE how you could see things as "weird" being from Maryland and everything LoLz



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/18/2013 07:36AM by Gordon Blvd.

Wasn't the early release created to give the elementary teachers work time since they don't have free periods?

I say keep it, the kids like it.

The county would have to hire about five hundred more employees to study the issue.

I used to frickin' hate this when I lived in Lorton...I had to get up at 3 am on Mondays to work from 4-noon so I could get home before my kids returned from school. I heard it was to give teachers work time...but then it seemed there were rather frequent teacher work days, too. Oh well, at least I don't have to do that anymore.

Are the teachers supposed to stay at school and work after the kids leave early. I see the teachers getting in their cars and leaving around 1pm

@rain - I dunno - why dont you call a school and ask them and tell us what you find out..............I'm curious as to what you'd get as an answer LoLz

@please - haha ha h haha +1 - you forgot the 8.5 million dollars needed for the study (it'll balloon to 16 million at the end of it LoLz)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/18/2013 08:59AM by Gordon Blvd.

There's no need for a "study". Schools all over the us have had 5 schooldays with consistent hours. Teachers work in their planning time during those hours. What I see is a bunch of teacher inservices scheduled on Monday afternoons so teachers aren't getting planning time, but rather lecture after lecture about how to teach and introductions to new fcps protocols.

I would not want to be a teacher in this county.

It looks like there are some FCPS schools that provide a full day Monday for students under "Project Excel" -- these schools have an extended contract for teachers, where they work for an additional half hour each day and have an additional 7 percent added to their salary. Instead of having a two-hour block of planning time on Monday afternoons, the staff members have an eight-hour contract day, which provides planning time before and after the student day.

These schools were selected having the highest proportion of language minority students and students from low-income families, and are considered to be providing an "enhanced academic program." Even though a full day of school 5 days a week is considered "standard" everywhere else.

So, it all comes down to budget.

It makes it difficult for parents to work when we can't work a whole day on Mondays.

Lets be honest here - only some parents legitimately feel that short Mondays aren't a good thing for their child's education. The majority of people whining about it and those that want all year schooling and even those who want schooling 6 days per week - CANT HANDLE BEING AROUND THEIR OWN KIDS! They would do boarding school if it didn't cost so much money. These parents suck and to cater the system to these types of parents (and there are a log of them as you can see by this thread) would be stupid. The funniest thing about these parents that hate raising their kids and want a longer school day - they already leave their kids in SAC till 6pm anyway! They pick their kid up at 6, feed em McDonslds, let em watch TV and then put then to bed for the night. And then these parents blame the teachers for everything their kid does wrong. Too funny!

@honest - OMG WHAT THE HECK DID YOU JUST DO!?!?!


HAHAHA HAHHAAAHHAHA!!!!! every elitst fk parent in the county doing this right now after reading that! :)
Attachments:

Gordon Blvd Wrote:
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> @Gettin - you sure about that Wed thing? always
> been Monday. Maybe yr confusing it with PW who
> has/had it on Thursdays?



No, I went to FCPS the whole time. It started out as a Wed thing in the early 70s and changed to Mon before I left elem.

I gotcha :)

My kids, and myself included, like the Monday half day. I enjoy getting to spend that extra time with my children, especially after a very busy weekend. We aren't the only school system in the country that do this either.I know of a lot of states that have a half day. School days are much longer now then when I was a child, School is also a lot more stressful now then way back when. They are lucky now if they get 15 minutes of recess and also have to rugh thru lunch where as it used to be a hour lunch break. But welcome to Northern Virginia where people are going to complain no matter what. Yay for living in a country where all our kids can even get a education!!

Tamara Wrote:
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> My kids, and myself included, like the Monday half
> day. I enjoy getting to spend that extra time with
> my children, especially after a very busy weekend.
> We aren't the only school system in the country
> that do this either.I know of a lot of states that
> have a half day. School days are much longer now
> then when I was a child, School is also a lot more
> stressful now then way back when. They are lucky
> now if they get 15 minutes of recess and also have
> to rugh thru lunch where as it used to be a hour
> lunch break. But welcome to Northern Virginia
> where people are going to complain no matter what.
> Yay for living in a country where all our kids can
> even get a education!!


You're not allowed to be thankful for what is there, That's un-American! or at least un-internet. :-)

You're not allowed to be thankful for what is there, That's un-American! or at least un-internet. :-)

HA! You caught me. Shame on me for pissing on the internet :-)

GettinOld Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Gordon Blvd Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > @Gettin - you sure about that Wed thing?
> always
> > been Monday. Maybe yr confusing it with PW who
> > has/had it on Thursdays?
>
>
>
> No, I went to FCPS the whole time. It started out
> as a Wed thing in the early 70s and changed to Mon
> before I left elem.


hmmmm. i went to fcps in the early-mid 70s and i recall that it started out on Fridays. no fooling.

and speaking of Fridays, you guys remember that show on ABC in the early 80s that was like a rip-off of SNL? i miss good comedy tv. SCTV was always a treat as well.

tgbwc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Teacher here.
.... Shorten the student day by 1/2 hour
> T-F and add 2 hours to Monday.
>
> I'd also like to try a modified calendar, but
> that's a different topic.

How about you just work five full days? You know, work more, have higher expectations? Does it need to be a trade off? Are you a trained professional or an hourly worker?

thought it started on Fridays Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> hmmmm. i went to fcps in the early-mid 70s and i
> recall that it started out on Fridays. no
> fooling.

You're waking up a distant memory here. I wonder if it started out with schools being able to pick the day for themselves, and the county had to put everybody on the same page, so went to Monday? Can't really say, but that comes to mind.

@gettin, thought - whelp, I dunno about all that - but apparently only two days ago, the head of the Fairfax Education Association was on a chat and..............well:

A few elementary schools implemented Monday early dismissals in the early 1970’s. The school board did not actually vote to allow this or to allow more schools to switch to this schedule, as can be seen from these excerpts from the minutes of a meeting held February 25, 1971:

“Summary of Actions Taken

Length of School Day.

It was the consensus of the Board that the Superintendent and staff could assist schools in moving to a modified schedule where desired (no motion by the Board)…. “Mr. Davis made some … remarks to the report on the modified elementary school day, indicating that several elementary schools that have extended their day are closing one-half day early per week. He stated he had not realized before the extent to which this adds to the clerical and administrative burden of these staffs… Mr. Harold Ford, Area IV Superintendent, presented the details of the report regarding the elementary school day, indicating it was desirable from the standpoint of bringing about the program going on in the elementary schools…The present regular elementary school schedule contains 30 hours and 50 minutes per week, while the modified schedule calls for 31 hours per week. The modified schedule runes from 8:30 a.m., to 3:00 p.m., except one day per week from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m….”

Originally only 1 ½ hours were cut from the Monday schedule. Before the switch, the elementary school week was 30 hours and 50 minutes long–the same length it is today.

more here: http://www.fullschooldays.org/
you gotta scroll down but apparently, the tl/dr is that most ppl are cool with early Monday according to them.

I started second grade in Fairfax Cunty Public schools in the 1976-77 school year. Monday was early closing and it was also my Brownie Meeting day! I remember everything!

Of course,I remember how to spell county !!!

Gordon Blvd Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------


> Length of School Day.
>
> It was the consensus of the Board that the
> Superintendent and staff could assist schools in
> moving to a modified schedule where desired (no
> motion by the Board)…. “Mr. Davis made some
> … remarks to the report on the modified
> elementary school day, indicating that several
> elementary schools that have extended their day
> are closing one-half day early per week. He stated
> he had not realized before the extent to which
> this adds to the clerical and administrative
> burden of these staffs… Mr. Harold Ford, Area IV
> Superintendent, presented the details of the
> report regarding the elementary school day,
> indicating it was desirable from the standpoint of
> bringing about the program going on in the
> elementary schools…The present regular
> elementary school schedule contains 30 hours and
> 50 minutes per week, while the modified schedule
> calls for 31 hours per week. The modified schedule
> runes from 8:30 a.m., to 3:00 p.m., except one day
> per week from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m….”
>

Yeah, look at the wording of this part, doesn't say anything about which day of the week, and the last sentence uses that 'except one day per week'. You think they'd have just said Monday, or the first day of the week. Looks like people are filling in the gaps and assuming it started on Monday. I'm sticking with my theory about different schools using different days until the county settled on Monday.

Gordon Blvd Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> @rain - I dunno - why dont you call a school and
> ask them and tell us what you find
> out..............I'm curious as to what you'd get
> as an answer LoLz


why dont you get a job instead of posting on here all day. You either work for the government or are on some kind of phony disability. Which is it?

Quote

how some parents can complain about being INCONVENIENCED by their kid's learning schedule

not complaining about the learning schedule. complaining about the send them home after a few hours, one day a week, just for the hell of it schedule. this generates daycare nightmares and makes it monumentally more difficult to satisfy a work schedule for the parent. you'll understand when you have kids.

FCPS needs to get with the times. We no longer need 1/2 Mondays. Absurd for all involved. Monday's have just added to the mindless meetings from Gatehouse for teachers. Our kids have only fifteen minutes for recess and daycare Mondays are awful for working parents. Maybe with Jack Dale out of the picture we can have real reform within our troubled school system.

I have hope that in the near future REAL reform will come.

God knows FCPS needs help. Will it come soon enough?

Just close school on Mondays and give the teachers another raise. That should fix things

project excel ended a few years ago (budget) my kids Elem school was 5 full days up until then. we were one of a handful in the county. it did exactly what they hoped (raised scores), so of course we should kill it when $ is tight. sigh.

Honest Abe Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Lets be honest here - only some parents
> legitimately feel that short Mondays aren't a good
> thing for their child's education. The majority of
> people whining about it and those that want all
> year schooling and even those who want schooling 6
> days per week - CANT HANDLE BEING AROUND THEIR OWN
> KIDS! They would do boarding school if it didn't
> cost so much money. These parents suck and to
> cater the system to these types of parents (and
> there are a log of them as you can see by this
> thread) would be stupid. The funniest thing about
> these parents that hate raising their kids and
> want a longer school day - they already leave
> their kids in SAC till 6pm anyway! They pick their
> kid up at 6, feed em McDonslds, let em watch TV
> and then put then to bed for the night. And then
> these parents blame the teachers for everything
> their kid does wrong. Too funny!

It's not an issue of avoiding children. Our students tend to spend so little time outside of school doing work that a six-day week would be beneficial for all students.

Do that half day on Friday, not Monday. Get a head start on a long weekend.

I can see how it messes with working parents' schedules. The SACC in-school daycare covers that anyway.


I have the perfect use for that Monday afternoon. We did it today... My son's birthday party! Now we don't screw up everybody's weekend schedules where they're trying to do sports and other stuff.

Two reasons that this has continued for almost 40 years:

The teachers like it and the Pope likes it.

The Catholics have been scheduling CCD for Mondays since the switch in the 70's and you will never win an argument with the Pope and his minions here in Fairfax.

I recently moved here from Ohio. This early out Monday is not needed. In northern Ohio, the only teachers to get planning days were preschoolers teachers. So they could clean and bleach toys and plan lessons on Fridays. All the other teachers in elementary school did planning on their own time. God forbid any teachers do this down here for free!! I can't believe how easy the teachers have it down here. No wonder there's a waiting list to work in FCPS.

Gatehouse does not tolerate exogenous suggestions for change.

All proponents for change of any kind will be destroyed.

You exist for Gatehouse's enrichment.

Those, opposing FCPS policies are clearly pedophiles and should be locked up.

FCPS, the school board and high priestess Karen Garza never make mistakes.

Our schools are the finest in the world if not the solar system and galaxy.

Where else would you find a luminary such as Ryan McElveen, who could have been ambassador to Mauritania, serving on a school board?

And, we need our turf. Science and math are hard, we don't need them. We're starting to think foreign languages are hard and useless too. Everyone speaks English.

We'd like to see schools that are nothing but football and the student council.