Too many teach work days right after Halloween. Yikes! (Fairfax: home, neighborhood)

[normie]

I can't believe the kids are off school for a second day in a row. Personally, I'd like to wring the neck of the fool who thought they should let kids stay off school two days in a row right after Halloween, when they still are hyper from candy. I have never seen the kids in my neighborhood this wired. They're screaming, screeching, running into the street, etc.

The parents are trying to keep them under control, but at the same they're trying to get some work done on their lap tops because it's very hard on working parents to have to take time off work--and two days in a row is a particular hardship.

What do schools do during these teacher work days that so important, anyway? Couldn't they get it all done in one day? Soon enough the kids will be off because an inch of snow has fallen and they're scared to run school buses--couldn't they make those the teacher work days?

Sorry for the rant, but it seems like a bad idea to have kids running around two days in a row like this. And it seems very hard on the parents.

[roninsedge]

The teacher work days serve two functions. The first is to give teachers a chance to finalize grades for the end of the first quarter of school. The second is that the majority of polling places are in elementary schools and the end of the quarter coincides with the elections. As for the kids running around all cracked out on sugar from Halloween, it only happens every few years.

[momtotwoboys]

I know ffx county has the parent teacher conferences set up for yesterday and today.

[HereinVA]

Sorry, but I gotta disagree.
I know in PWC, this second day off of school for the kids is important for two reasons 1) It's election Day, and many schools are used as the polling place. It's not a good idea to have thousands of members of the public moving in and out of the school as class is going on. 2) Parent teacher conferences are going on today.

Also, it's really not the school's responsiblity to "make things easier on the parents". It's the parents responsibility to parent--including finding appropriate childcare if necessary, and rationing/eliminating candy if it makes their kids hyper to the point of no control.

[normie]

I just don't remember it taking two days in a row when my kids were young. It seems like too much, to me. Of course, maybe it's just that the kids are really wild today. I don't know what's gotten into them but they're all screaming at the top of their lungs and running into the street without looking and doing other crazy things. Oh well, I suppose the good news is at least they're not fighting. They're having fun, they're just overly hyper for some reason.

[mdcrim]

Don't forget, Loudoun schools are also closed the entire week of Thanksgiving...

[OrangeFish]

Originally Posted by mdcrim

Don't forget, Loudoun schools are also closed the entire week of Thanksgiving...

Wow. I am thankful I live in Fairfax County!

[HokieFan]

Originally Posted by normie

I can't believe the kids are off school for a second day in a row. Personally, I'd like to wring the neck of the fool who thought they should let kids stay off school two days in a row right after Halloween, when they still are hyper from candy. I have never seen the kids in my neighborhood this wired. They're screaming, screeching, running into the street, etc.

The parents are trying to keep them under control, but at the same they're trying to get some work done on their lap tops because it's very hard on working parents to have to take time off work--and two days in a row is a particular hardship.

What do schools do during these teacher work days that so important, anyway? Couldn't they get it all done in one day? Soon enough the kids will be off because an inch of snow has fallen and they're scared to run school buses--couldn't they make those the teacher work days?

Sorry for the rant, but it seems like a bad idea to have kids running around two days in a row like this. And it seems very hard on the parents.

Normie,

I usually agree with your posts and thoroughly enjoy reading your opinions and the advice you have to offer.

But I think your rant against the school system is a little unfair.

I know that the teachers in our school (which is private and pretty small) have multiple roles other than just teaching. These roles include department chairs, sponsoring after-school clubs, after school tutoring, various 'duties' such as recess duty, lunch duty, etc. etc.

Their days do not end at student dismissal. They have meetings to attend (multiple ones depending on now many roles), parent meetings/questions/concerns that require attention, papers to be graded and grades to be recorded, lessons to be planned.

I know that many of them greatly appreciate the "student holidays". I can't speak for all teachers, but the ones I know of are here working. They are not sitting at home enjoying a day off.

As for scheduling work days on snow days, those are unpredictable and it's just unrealistic to think educators should wait until we may or may not have a snow day to have teacher work days.

I agree with another poster who said it's up to the parents to arrange for care for their children (especially when days off are scheduled ahead of time) and to monitor their child's sugar intake.

Why should a teacher have to deal with 25 hyper-sugar-laden kids in a small classroom when their parents don't even want to deal with their one or two kids? They probably wouldn't learn very much, so should they just serve as babysitters?

If having kids stay home for a couple of days is hard on the parents, then maybe they shouldn't have had kids.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program....

[normie]

LOL OK OK you guys are right. For some reason the kids are just wildly out of control today and it's getting on my nerves--but you're right that it's the parent's problem, not the school's problem. I still think that the schools close way too many days of the year, but I've been thinking that for years. That's just a sign that I'm getting old, LOL. Sure, things have changed since I had kids, but newer ways are just how things have to be done now for a variety of reasons.

Meanwhile, the good news is about ten minutes ago the parents rounded up most of the kids and took them somewhere. I hope it's someplace they can burn off all this energy.

[michgc]

Remember, even if the schools close many days throughout the year, the children still go to school the same number of days by law - unless the law changes. So they just start earlier or end later in the year with more breaks in between. I actually like it, but I'm not a working mom.