New High School Schedule. Mondays kids are released at 1:50pm

[midwestfisherman]

errrr. not sure how i feel about this, apparently this is for all schools in the district. Every Monday all kids are being released at 1:50, then T-F released at the normal time 3:45.

the reason is below, cut and paste from the district website.

What are the primary reasons for implementing an Early-Release schedule on Mondays?
The primary reasons for implementing early release Mondays are professional development for our faculty and staff and improving student achievement. The federal and state governments have increased mandates on educators in the past few years by changing learning standards and requiring
more rigorous, high-stakes assessments. In order to effectively implement these changes, educators require time to learn new information and collaboratively work together to determine how best to implement changes. Regular professional development opportunities show better results than one-day trainings occurring at distant intervals in time across the calendar. The result of professionally developing our staff is improving outcomes for our students.


But hey why didnt the school board get parents input?

Was the public explicitly asked to provide input on the school calendar?
The development of the school calendar has historically been a decision made at the recommendation of school staff. Community input has not been sought in the past. Given the nature of the change to the calendar, district administration felt it was necessary to communicate and solicit feedback yet not lead people to believe that this was a decision made by the public. Thus, the district chose to solicit feedback from the District Accountability Committee, School Accountability Committees, PTOs, and have the
information on the website with an avenue for commenting or asking questions. School principals were also asked to use avenues of communication that they felt would be appropriate for their community of parents.

school should be 8am - 6pm to better align with parent's work schedule.

School should be 8am - 8pm. Parents deserve a couple of hours of peace and quiet when they get home. And then maybe we would be better than 38th in math and 35th in science.

Here's a news flash, schools don't exist to babysit your kids!

 

[Markbnj]

You have no idea how many teachers would rather not be getting some of these inservices & would much rather be in their classroom teaching.

I'm sure that's true. I think a lot of this stuff is driven by state and federal mandates.

 

[BudAshes]

I got out at 1245 every day my senior year. We were allowed to build our schedule however we wanted after softmore year.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Here's a news flash, schools don't exist to babysit your kids!

Here's a news flash, they're doing a shitty job of educating kids. So why exactly do they exist?

 

[Mai72]

I have mixed feelings about professional development days. Yes, they can be worthwhile and stimulating. Teachers can learn new strategies that they can take with them into the classroom. Still, why do they need to disrupt student learning by giving them reduced hours in the classroom? Compared to other countries our children spend a lot less time in the classroom.

I've been to these professional development classes. The teachers that go treat them as a day off. They get paid to sit in a classroom someone lectures on about behavioral management that we've heard before. Most don't even take these classes seriously. It's just another day off.

Our education system needs an overhaul. I don't know why the teacher's union is opposed to doing what's best for our children.

 

[Mai72]

We had half days on Wednesday. Then when you were in high school half the damn sophomores and seniors had half block and went home. No wonder why this country is dumb!

I had half days during my senior year. That was a long time ago. Times were much different. We weren't competing for jobs with people from other countries. Now, competition is fierce. We have foreigners seeking employment in America, and their skill set is more advanced and fine tuned than most young Americans.

All the great paying jobs will continue to be given to foreigners, and in turn this will create resentment and jealousy. We should instead look at our education system and make the much needed repairs before it's too late.

Tell me what country gets 2 months off for Summer? My little niece has off and is she studying? Nope! She's on Facebook and Instagram all day. Children need play but they also need discipline. She needs to hit the books for 4 hours a day! It may sound harsh but in the end all that work will pay off for her.

 

[Regs]

The fact that they don't ask for parents input shows how much esteem that have for parents and their ways of educating their own children. Though some times, when you leave it up to the parents I feel like nothing will be decided on in a timely fashion. If you met some of these parents you might be inclined to let these people decide for us!

 

[zerocool84]

You have no idea how many teachers would rather not be getting some of these inservices & would much rather be in their classroom teaching.

Well here in California, the opposite has shown to be true.

 

[Jimzz]

I agree. Teachers are always complaining about how little they get paid, why don't we just pay them more and have something for them to do year round? They'll get 2-4 weeks off just like everyone else. We can also lengthen the school year so that only August is off.

And many times they have to take classes, certifications, etc... in those "free" periods. Let alone they have to work very late many times or follow up with parents on their time etc...

If teachers have it so easy, sign up to be one.

 

[cronos]

Mondays have always been early release ~2pm around here. It's how the school hours have been setup when I registered my son for Kindergarten, so it's all I know.

I agree though, to do something as important as changing school hours somewhat dramatically you really have to include parents in the discussion.

 

[CPA]

How about scheduling "teacher development" in the summer?

And don't give me nonsense about all the extra time teacher's put in. All professions put in extra time, yet no other profession gets three months off during the summer, 2 weeks off during Christmas, one week of for "Spring Break", all the major holidays and then some.

 

[waggy]

School should be 8am - 8pm. Parents deserve a couple of hours of peace and quiet when they get home. And then maybe we would be better than 38th in math and 35th in science.

more hours does not translate into better scores. In fact some studies show that kids are in school to much as it is.

It's not the hours but how we try to teach kids.

You have no idea how many teachers would rather not be getting some of these inservices & would much rather be in their classroom teaching.

heh my wife complained about it a lot. Also my wife's younger sister is a teacher (3rd year) she is amazed at how much time they waste in "idiotic training" (her words)

How about scheduling "teacher development" in the summer?

And don't give me nonsense about all the extra time teacher's put in. All professions put in extra time, yet no other profession gets three months off during the summer, 2 weeks off during Christmas, one week of for "Spring Break", all the major holidays and then some.

they do put in time during the summer. they also don't always get paid for them. in fact many times they have to pay out of pocket for it.

The comparison between teachers and others is not exactly equal. Even during Christmas, spring break ect. my wife was always working. it wasn't free time for her. She always had stuff for school that needed to be done.

 

[lupi]

Here they have a teacher workday (no classes) about every other month.

 

[SunnyD]

Next they will decide that teacher training is more important than educating the kids. Hmmm... doesn't sound too good to me. Why *every* Monday, why not just whenever it's needed?

A lot of teachers these days don't even teach the kids. They put together (or rather "acquire") a curriculum, acquire the books and materials, throw it at the kids and say, "Do it. Come back when you've learned it. There's a test on Tuesday."

That was my experience with the newer teachers when I was finishing up school. The good older teachers not so much. And that's been my experience with most of the teachers my kids have these days.

 

[nageov3t]

why should parent input have been sought? I don't get it.

these are high school kids, it's not like the parents now need to pay for extra daycare or hire a babysitter.

 

[slag]

They do this for grades 1-12 in Lawrence already and have since we've had kids in school (at least the past 8 years). It's not really a big deal. People accomodate, employers understand, and the situation quickly becomes a non issue.

Our short day is Wednesday. Kids get out at 1:30.

 

[OutHouse]

why should parent input have been sought? I don't get it.

these are high school kids, it's not like the parents now need to pay for extra daycare or hire a babysitter.

Its all schools in the district, elementary-high school

 

[Markbnj]

A lot of teachers these days don't even teach the kids. They put together (or rather "acquire") a curriculum, acquire the books and materials, throw it at the kids and say, "Do it. Come back when you've learned it. There's a test on Tuesday."

I had some teachers like that 45 years ago. We had this one semi-crazed science teacher in 5th grade who would give us a list of five "concepts" on a mimeographed sheet, each consisting of a paragraph. We spent the week memorizing them and then had to recite them back on Friday. That was how he ran the whole year. I still remember his name: Mr. Harding. I think he was like 22. What an asshole.

 

[crownjules]

Here's a news flash, they're doing a shitty job of educating kids. So why exactly do they exist?

I'll take shitty parenting not putting an emphasis on education for $2000, Alex.

High school for me was 7:45A - 1:45P. I loved getting out in the early afternoon. After school activities would be done by 5-6PM leaving plenty of evening for homework and/or messing around.

 

[jaedaliu]

they do put in time during the summer. they also don't always get paid for them. in fact many times they have to pay out of pocket for it.

The comparison between teachers and others is not exactly equal. Even during Christmas, spring break ect. my wife was always working. it wasn't free time for her. She always had stuff for school that needed to be done.

It's easy to spot the teachers. At the little league game, the boating festival, the coffee shop, anywhere. They're the ones grading the stack of papers with 4 more stacks in their bag.

 

[disappoint]

School should be 8am - 8pm. Parents deserve a couple of hours of peace and quiet when they get home. And then maybe we would be better than 38th in math and 35th in science.

35th in science? Wow, I'm impressed. That's pretty good for these wild eyed pistol wavers.

 

[ElFenix]

I'm sure that's true. I think a lot of this stuff is driven by state and federal mandates.

yup. it's busy-body administrators justifying their jobs by coming up with crap to throw against the wall.

 

[SP33Demon]

They should just have no classes, not some abomination of a schedule.

 

[jpiniero]

#breederproblems

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Actually now that I think about it, in high school we used to have delayed starts every other Wednesday for teacher meetings. Class would start at 10am I believe.