Longer days for middle school students in Prince George’s County (home, college)

[UrbanScholar]

This is a step in the right direction......

Longer days for middle school students in Prince George’s County - The Washington Post

[adelphi_sky]

Originally Posted by UrbanScholar

This is a step in the right direction......

Longer days for middle school students in Prince George’s County - The Washington Post

Yes. A step in the right direction, but not far enough. I'd go for a full hour. We'll see if it helps.

[UrbanScholar]

Originally Posted by adelphi_sky

Yes. A step in the right direction, but not far enough. I'd go for a full hour. We'll see if it helps.

I would agree but I think if the went too far to the extreme, they would receive a lot of push back. It would be ideal if they had year-round programs (with 2-4 week breaks) to really fortify the educational experience and truly prepare them for college/global competitiveness but that won't happen in the near term. But aside from the structure I think that one of the biggest problems U.S. education has is that students (and parents for that matter) don't appreciate and feel that checking the box is going to give you a golden ticket. Until that changes there is always going to be a struggle with achieving academic excellence in PG's system.

[justtitans]

I posted the proposal a few days ago. Here is my problem:

Under a route-sharing plan, which officials say will save the system $5 million a year when it is fully in place, middle school students will ride buses with high school students, which means the middle schoolers will either starting their day 40 minutes earlier or returning home 40 minutes later. The number of bus routes for middle and high schools will drop from 2,135 to 1,710, according to school officials. The plan also requires some elementary school students to be in school an additional 10 minutes.

Given the amount of bullying that this school system (and others for that matter) has, this is a nightmare waiting to happen. The school system is just trying to save money and not really looking at the best interest of the kids here. Having middle school kids with high school kids is an awful idea. I can't even begin to tell you how bad of an idea this is. Does anyone at this school system even care?

[UrbanScholar]

Originally Posted by pgtitans

I posted the proposal a few days ago. Here is my problem:



Given the amount of bullying that this school system (and others for that matter) has, this is a nightmare waiting to happen. The school system is just trying to save money and not really looking at the best interest of the kids here. Having middle school kids with high school kids is an awful idea. I can't even begin to tell you how bad of an idea this is. Does anyone at this school system even care?

Although I agree that sharing the same bus is a recipe for disaster, the need for longer school days/years is something that should have been implemented a long time ago.

[badchad]

This doesn't sound like a well-thought out plan. The article mentions several other counties with similar school day lengths, so by itself, it doesn't seem like an additional 40 minutes will do much.

[adelphi_sky]

Originally Posted by UrbanScholar

I would agree but I think if the went too far to the extreme, they would receive a lot of push back. It would be ideal if they had year-round programs (with 2-4 week breaks) to really fortify the educational experience and truly prepare them for college/global competitiveness but that won't happen in the near term. But aside from the structure I think that one of the biggest problems U.S. education has is that students (and parents for that matter) don't appreciate and feel that checking the box is going to give you a golden ticket. Until that changes there is always going to be a struggle with achieving academic excellence in PG's system.

That's what my wife keeps arguing. Says our current schedule is an agrarian schedule. Well, no one really farms anymore so kids don't have to be out of school in the summer to help with the harvest. When you have school year round, there's no learning drop off for three months. Kids will always be engaged with learning. You can have breaks for Thanksgiving, Christmas/New Years, Spring, Summer, and then a fall break.

[justtitans]

Originally Posted by adelphi_sky

That's what my wife keeps arguing. Says our current schedule is an agrarian schedule. Well, no one really farms anymore so kids don't have to be out of school in the summer to help with the harvest. When you have school year round, there's no learning drop off for three months. Kids will always be engaged with learning. You can have breaks for Thanksgiving, Christmas/New Years, Spring, Summer, and then a fall break.

I think it would be beneficial too but the school system is concerned about the cost. To me, it may also keep the young ones out of trouble too because they won't have so much idol time to get in trouble.