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#21
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Those dreaded Early Release Days--VENT
In article ,
"Donna Metler" wrote: "Ericka Kammerer" wrote in message ... 0tterbot wrote: this half-day thing from the o.p. otoh - i've got no idea what that's supposed to be about. (?) I'm not sure about precisely what her situation is--it sounds like her half day thing is sporadic. In our district, elementary school classes are only half days every Monday so that the teachers have half a day for planning. I'm all for teachers having planning time, but the half day on Monday thing is a *royal* PITA for parents. Personally, I'd rather they took the same amount of time and spread it around so that there were standard start and end times. I've been getting better at dealing with it, though. Best wishes, Ericka That seems excessive to me-why not just have the kids come an hour later every day? I almost wonder if they've cut back on support classes so there isn't enough planning time available in the school day to make state mandates? In my district, we're given 1/2 day at the end of every grading period to get grades and records together. Which means 5 a year. Parent conference and other administrative days and holidays are full days. And, except for weather (which could occasionally force early release, if the A/C breaks in a school), all of these are announced not only from the beginning of the year, but a year in advance. So there's really no excuse for not having made plans in advance for scheduled days. And, in general, the community centers, Y's, JCC, etc here which have afterschool programs for older kids tend to have special activities on those days, as do some businesses like Putt-putt, Chuck-E-Cheese's, and movie theatres (which would let one parent handle a whole bunch of kids, and take the burden of entertainment off the parent). I now live in an area where there are MANY school districts within a fairly small geographical area -- and they are all on different schedules. Heck, *I* live in two different districts: one for K-8, and a different district that combines several of those districts for high school. (Yes, completely different districts with distinct school boards and funding and everything.) They are not even on exactly the same schedule when it comes to things like early release days or days off, creating an interesting problem for folks who want to rely on older kids to be responsible for younger kids -- siblings or babysitters -- on those days. I don't know if there are organizations that schedule special things for ALL of the various schedules. It's hard enough for me to try to schedule church events: after scheduling an August camping trip for my middle school kids, I discovered that one of the kids was in a school district that was starting more than a week earlier than anyone else (he started mid-August), and a couple of kids who were entering new schools got VERY late letters that they had to come in for a one day orientation about a week before school started, so they had to miss the camping trip. (And this orientation day was NOT something the parents had been informed about in advance.) Except for Thanksgiving and the week between Christmas and New Year's, the kids never seem to all be off at the same time, and there seem to be huge stretches where at least one is off for a week. meh meh -- Children won't care how much you know until they know how much you care |
#22
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Those dreaded Early Release Days--VENT
In article , Joni
Rathbun says... On Fri, 31 Oct 2003, Ericka Kammerer wrote: Aside from weather and emergencies, we do know about the early release days in advance, which I'm sure is a huge improvement over having them sprung on you! Is that the OP's situation, or wasn't she compaining about the 1/2 days themselves? This is my experience too. The school calendar is approved the spring of the year before. I know when I leave school in June exactly what the schedule is for the following year. Sure, but when do the parents at large get it? As a part of the Cub Scout committe, I'd see it the June before because a couple other committee members worked with the school district. But otherwise I'd only see it in September. Banty |
#23
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Those dreaded Early Release Days--VENT
On 31 Oct 2003, Banty wrote: In article , Joni Rathbun says... On Fri, 31 Oct 2003, Ericka Kammerer wrote: Aside from weather and emergencies, we do know about the early release days in advance, which I'm sure is a huge improvement over having them sprung on you! Is that the OP's situation, or wasn't she compaining about the 1/2 days themselves? This is my experience too. The school calendar is approved the spring of the year before. I know when I leave school in June exactly what the schedule is for the following year. Sure, but when do the parents at large get it? As a part of the Cub Scout committe, I'd see it the June before because a couple other committee members worked with the school district. But otherwise I'd only see it in September. Banty Well, in my case... it's posted on the web, printed in the newspaper, and available to anyone who calls and asks. It might also go home in the end of the year newsletter but I wouldn't swear to it. I suspect that is an individual school decision. My previous district decided one year to change the calendar and add some half-day planning days. The decision was made in October after receiving some grant money to fund part of the project. A new calendar went out (but they had to plan for the whole year; they didn't just add new off-times as the year progressed). I'm sure some districts somewhere have done so but most have to deal with contracts and such and will have a school year calendar approved in advance. |
#24
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Those dreaded Early Release Days--VENT
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#25
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Those dreaded Early Release Days--VENT
"Banty" wrote in message ... In article , Joni Rathbun says... This is my experience too. The school calendar is approved the spring of the year before. I know when I leave school in June exactly what the schedule is for the following year. Sure, but when do the parents at large get it? As a part of the Cub Scout committe, I'd see it the June before because a couple other committee members worked with the school district. But otherwise I'd only see it in September. Ours is available online. Our local newspaper, though, tends to not it until close to the beginning of the school year. But any parent that wants one earlier can get one. P. Tierney |
#26
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Those dreaded Early Release Days--VENT
In article giAob.53107$mZ5.320909@attbi_s54, P. Tierney says...
"Banty" wrote in message ... In article , Joni Rathbun says... This is my experience too. The school calendar is approved the spring of the year before. I know when I leave school in June exactly what the schedule is for the following year. Sure, but when do the parents at large get it? As a part of the Cub Scout committe, I'd see it the June before because a couple other committee members worked with the school district. But otherwise I'd only see it in September. Ours is available online. Our local newspaper, though, tends to not it until close to the beginning of the school year. But any parent that wants one earlier can get one. P. Tierney OK, if they have a computer and know it's online and know the URL or how to search and know there are 1/2 days and know that they'd be set already at a certain point... I never considered that sort of thing 'making available to parents at large'. I'd say, if they sent the next years' schedule home with the kids on the last day of school, the school district could reasonably say that the parents should have an opportunity to plan for it when it was available. Banty |
#27
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Those dreaded Early Release Days--VENT
"Banty" wrote in message ... In article , Joni Rathbun says... On Fri, 31 Oct 2003, Ericka Kammerer wrote: Aside from weather and emergencies, we do know about the early release days in advance, which I'm sure is a huge improvement over having them sprung on you! Is that the OP's situation, or wasn't she compaining about the 1/2 days themselves? This is my experience too. The school calendar is approved the spring of the year before. I know when I leave school in June exactly what the schedule is for the following year. Sure, but when do the parents at large get it? As a part of the Cub Scout committe, I'd see it the June before because a couple other committee members worked with the school district. But otherwise I'd only see it in September. Banty Ours is on the district web site, and is up by the time school is out the previous year. And since the schools have them, a parent could call the school and get the calendar if they so desired. We already have next year's projected calendar in the school-the idea is that any objections should be filed now, and it will be officially adopted in April. |
#28
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Those dreaded Early Release Days--VENT
In article , Donna Metler says...
"Banty" wrote in message ... In article , Joni Rathbun says... On Fri, 31 Oct 2003, Ericka Kammerer wrote: Aside from weather and emergencies, we do know about the early release days in advance, which I'm sure is a huge improvement over having them sprung on you! Is that the OP's situation, or wasn't she compaining about the 1/2 days themselves? This is my experience too. The school calendar is approved the spring of the year before. I know when I leave school in June exactly what the schedule is for the following year. Sure, but when do the parents at large get it? As a part of the Cub Scout committe, I'd see it the June before because a couple other committee members worked with the school district. But otherwise I'd only see it in September. Banty Ours is on the district web site, and is up by the time school is out the previous year. And since the schools have them, a parent could call the school and get the calendar if they so desired. We already have next year's projected calendar in the school-the idea is that any objections should be filed now, and it will be officially adopted in April. OK, but like I said in another post, I just don't consider "yeah you can get it if you know how and know it's available and that it's available already and also already have some idea why you should care" to be particularly informative. It was a surprise to me to see them at the Cub Scout committee meeting that first June, for example - I didn't know they were available; it would never have occurred to me to go search for them already. Send flyers home with the kids about a week before school lets out. Not the very last day because then they'll get lost with the rest of the clean-out-desk stuff. What - say can't afford it? How about just ONE less flyer per year to tell the parents about each school bond election :-) Banty |
#29
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Those dreaded Early Release Days--VENT
"Banty" wrote: OK, but like I said in another post, I just don't consider "yeah you can get it if you know how and know it's available and that it's available already and also already have some idea why you should care" to be particularly informative. It isn't a particularly complicated maze to travel. Parents only need to call the district, or any school, to get the information that they want. Since most parents have a phone, the technology is out there. ;-) P. Tierney |
#30
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Those dreaded Early Release Days--VENT
"Banty" wrote in message ... In article giAob.53107$mZ5.320909@attbi_s54, P. Tierney says... OK, if they have a computer and know it's online and know the URL or how to search and know there are 1/2 days and know that they'd be set already at a certain point... As I wrote elsewhere, they only need to call the school or district. It need not be nearly as complicated as you are making it out to be. I never considered that sort of thing 'making available to parents at large'. I'd say, if they sent the next years' schedule home with the kids on the last day of school, the school district could reasonably say that the parents should have an opportunity to plan for it when it was available. We likely would have done this is the parents had wanted it. But they didn't. Those that who wanted it accessed it or picked up a copy from school. Those who didn't know which specific days we had off well in advance did not. Addressing the needs of the parents in such a situation isn't a dificult thing. However, if only a minority needed such information, then it wouldn't be necessary to send it home to everyone. If the majority wants it, however, then they need to be sure to make their voice heard, either en masse or via a parent representative (or four, as we had) on the school board committee. Or through the PTA. Communication is a two-way street. P. Tierney |
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