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Post by sportsmom on Jan 27, 2009 17:37:41 GMT -5
I am always in the minority on almost all issues, why is that??? However, I LOVE the new school calendar. Our current calendar has 3 weeks of waste in it for high school students - first 2 weeks of Janaury and the week after Memorial Day. And, 1 week of waste for elementary/middle school students - the week after Memorial Day. The 09/10 calendar is truly an "academic" calendar.
Having a senior class of 2010, I was wondering when Memorial Day/Graduation Day??? would be. It is not marked on the calendar so I think there is an error in there . I personally never understood why seniors got out 1 1/2 to 2 weeks before anyone else? What is that all about? I also never understood the 8th grade graduation business and was glad to see that go as well.
I think as parents we all want our kids to have Better than we had. It has taken my experience in Dist 204 to see that I had an incredible education in Bloomington (MN) Public Schools Dist #271. I want my kids to have better.
For families involved in sports, the new calendar is also a plus. Football starts early August and if you got to be at school practicing, you may as well be in school. Will cut down on 2 a days as IHSA determines start date, but 203 had the same issue last year. Also, it's nice to be out end of May when kids are playing baseball/softball. Game nights get late and tournaments are starting. It will be really nice to have the school thing over earlier.
I TOTALLY AGREE ABOUT A/C BEING AN ISSUE IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS AND I WOULD give up all the advantages of an early start to keep the K-5 kids out until after Labor Day. I think no A/C and those horrible carpeted gyms do nothing but breed humidity and mold and increase asthma and mold allergies in our littlest of students.
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Arwen
Master Member
Posts: 933
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Post by Arwen on Jan 27, 2009 17:43:40 GMT -5
My kids agree with you sportsmom. I told them about the school calendar when they came home and they whooped with joy. They are excited to get out in May. (Of course, they will be far less excited when they are in the bus line on August 20th!)
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Post by eb204 on Jan 27, 2009 20:39:29 GMT -5
My kids are usually pretty excited to go back by mid August. Especially my daughter...once the school supplies start hitting shelves, she's ready to go back. She'd probably even go for year round school if it were offered.
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Post by sportsmom on Jan 27, 2009 21:12:10 GMT -5
Interesting thought to see what the kids want??? I read an article not too long ago re: District 203 and possibility of having to go to a late start this fall due to construction at Central. Contractors said it's not an issue (same for Metea, I would guess). The interesting part of the article was that 203 went to an early start based on feedback from the STUDENTS. Wow! I heard from a 204 teacher friend a couple weeks ago that 204 teachers were voting on the 09/10 calendar.
I thought 203 had a very novel idea is asking the students what they wanted.
203=students 204=teachers
Which district puts kids first?
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Post by warriorpride on Jan 27, 2009 22:14:16 GMT -5
Interesting thought to see what the kids want??? I read an article not too long ago re: District 203 and possibility of having to go to a late start this fall due to construction at Central. Contractors said it's not an issue (same for Metea, I would guess). The interesting part of the article was that 203 went to an early start based on feedback from the STUDENTS. Wow! I heard from a 204 teacher friend a couple weeks ago that 204 teachers were voting on the 09/10 calendar. I thought 203 had a very novel idea is asking the students what they wanted. 203=students 204=teachers Which district puts kids first? That's quiet a stretch. Should the students be consulted on everything? How about the snow days, for example?
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Post by warriorpride on Jan 27, 2009 22:28:09 GMT -5
I also can't help but think that this is a slick way for the SB to advance the A/C issue (as everyone will be howling at the mid-August heat). I really see little logic to the proposed calendar. Must everything have an ulterior motive? How about this: the SB is basically doing what other SDs in the area do (I don't know if this is more common - but I know 203 always seems to get out a week earlier) How about this: the semester can be completed before the winter break (I didn't look at the full calendar, but I'm assuming this is the case) - having the HS kids take their 1st semester finals 1 or 2 weeks before the 1st semester sends seems kinda silly - I do understand wanting to get finals completed before winter break, but still, it seems silly - winter break seems like a logical break between semesters (just as it is in many colleges). My daughter has not yet has 2 separate 1-semester classes in a year, but she will next year. How has that worked in the past? They take their semester 1 final, and then do what for one or two weeks, prior to semester 2 starting. How about this: keeping more teachers happy may result in better retention and/or having some leverage/bargaining power when working on the next contract. ETA: wasn't school bound to start somewhere in the Aug 20- Aug 27 range? It's not like they're starting a month sooner than usual - it's a most a week sooner than usual (yes, I understand there's a risk of a week more of hot weather for the ESs without A/C)
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Post by eb204 on Jan 27, 2009 23:20:16 GMT -5
wasn't school bound to start somewhere in the Aug 20- Aug 27 range? It's not like they're starting a month sooner than usual - it's a most a week sooner than usual (yes, I understand there's a risk of a week more of hot weather for the ESs without A/C) As I understood it, it was a choice to start Aug. 20 (Thurs. start) or Aug. 24 (Monday start).
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Post by warriorpride on Jan 27, 2009 23:35:09 GMT -5
wasn't school bound to start somewhere in the Aug 20- Aug 27 range? It's not like they're starting a month sooner than usual - it's a most a week sooner than usual (yes, I understand there's a risk of a week more of hot weather for the ESs without A/C) As I understood it, it was a choice to start Aug. 20 (Thurs. start) or Aug. 24 (Monday start). ok - so, is starting school 2 days earlier worth any sort of discussion or uproar?
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Post by momto4 on Jan 28, 2009 2:38:48 GMT -5
As I understood it, it was a choice to start Aug. 20 (Thurs. start) or Aug. 24 (Monday start). ok - so, is starting school 2 days earlier worth any sort of discussion or uproar? For the majority of the years I've been in the district we've started the last Thursday of August. So the choice should have been, IMO, Mon. the 24th vs. Thurs. the 27th. I may be in the minority considering 8/20 a whole week early for starting. Maybe others aren't as into swimming, going to the beach, lazing in the pool. But early June is rarely good for that and late August almost always is. Which is also why it's a bad time to have the kids in schools without a/c for an extra week (most years).
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Post by sportsmom on Jan 28, 2009 10:32:09 GMT -5
Who is stretching now?? Please read the SUBJECT line. I was only referring to the New School Calendar. Thanks for putting words in my mouth.
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Post by WeNeed3 on Jan 28, 2009 10:47:56 GMT -5
I wonder how many teachers we have in this district that teach in d204 and live in d203 or elsewhere. I know if I was a teacher I would love to be on the same schedule as my children in terms of starting and ending; being in line with what other districts are doing isn't out of line IMO. You're right, it is really in the scheme of things only a few days (it just sounds soooo early) and I'm usually pulling my hair out in August anyway ready for the kids to go back.!!!
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Post by warriorpride on Jan 28, 2009 12:41:10 GMT -5
Who is stretching now?? Please read the SUBJECT line. I was only referring to the New School Calendar. Thanks for putting words in my mouth. didn't put any word in your mouth: Interesting thought to see what the kids want??? I read an article not too long ago re: District 203 and possibility of having to go to a late start this fall due to construction at Central. Contractors said it's not an issue (same for Metea, I would guess). The interesting part of the article was that 203 went to an early start based on feedback from the STUDENTS. Wow! I heard from a 204 teacher friend a couple weeks ago that 204 teachers were voting on the 09/10 calendar. I thought 203 had a very novel idea is asking the students what they wanted. 203=students 204=teachers Which district puts kids first? Are you saying that the calendar decision, alone, demonstrates that 203 "puts kids first"? That is a S T R E T C H, IMO. A few days earlier, with an ability to finish the semester before winter break - that's a BIG deal, and all of a sudden 204 doesnt "put kids first"? That is a S T R E T C H, IMO.
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Post by title1parent on Jan 29, 2009 6:22:16 GMT -5
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/news/1403199,2_1_AU29_IPCALENDAR_S1.article Indian Prairie moves up date to start school January 29, 2009 By TIM WALDORF twaldorf@scn1.com AURORA -- Indian Prairie School District students will have to beat more August heat next year. The Indian Prairie School Board approved the 2009-2010 calendar this week, which has classes beginning on Aug. 20. "It's early, but I don't know if it is the earliest we have ever started," said Kathy Birkett, the district's deputy superintendent. This early start date means students in the district's 19 elementary schools who don't have air conditioning will spend two more sweaty days in school than they did this school year, when classes started Aug. 25. "Do we worry about the air conditioning and how a week earlier it will be hotter?" asked board member Kathy Piehl before the vote of approval. Birkett said this dilemma obviously came to mind as the district developed the calendar. Administrators put two options to a vote of its entire staff, she said, and they overwhelmingly chose this option, which wraps up school May 28 -- before Memorial Day -- over an option that started and ended school later. In response to concerned parents, the district studied what it would take to retrofit the schools with air conditioning systems. The cost was estimated at $32 million to $45 million. The district decided to delay installing air conditioning, but did add screens to classroom windows that lacked them. It also devised a heat policy that allows for early dismissal if buildings are determined to be too hot.
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Post by asmodeus on Jan 29, 2009 7:25:38 GMT -5
These are the kind of things that makes one's blood boil. Instead of simply adjusting the schedule by pushing back the start two weeks, we'll look to retrofit a/c and come up with new dismissal policies when it gets too hot...management at its finest. It's clear to me this is the SB's way of pushing the a/c agenda forward.
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Post by WeNeed3 on Jan 29, 2009 7:51:56 GMT -5
These are the kind of things that makes one blood boil. Instead of simply adjusting the schedule by pushing back the start two weeks, we'll look to retrofit a/c and come up with new dismissal policies when it gets too hot...management at its finest. It's clear to me this is the SB's way of pushing the a/c agenda forward. Asmo, if the SB had an "agenda", don't you think they would have just gone ahead and changed the date without any input? They went to the staff which are the people that are going to be working in all the schools. That staff overwhelming said a few days earlier didn't seem to matter to them. They were the ones willing to work in those conditions. The survey could easily have gone the other way and we would be starting school as usual.
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