Those dreaded Early Release Days--VENT

chiam margalit wrote:

I'm just thinking out loud here about my least favorite part of
school, the early release day.


They drive me a bit nutso too. We have half days
every Monday. It's not horrible with 1st-6th grade, but
it's horrible in kindergarten. I wish for kindy that
they'd just alternate so that AM kindy went for the entire
half day one week and PM kindy went for the entire half
day the next week (or something like that). It seems
they've no sooner left than they're coming back home!
Anyway, the main thing I wanted to mention is
that there's a really lovely program around here that
I'd almost certainly be taking advantage of if I needed
coverage. One of the local martial arts studios runs
an after school program. They pick your kids up from
school, take them to the studio, sit them down to do
their homework, give them their martial arts lesson,
and then they have time to play games or whatever
until you pick them up at something like 6-6:30pm.
Better yet, whenever there's an early closing (like
every Monday, teacher work days, or whatever else),
they pick your kids up whenever school lets out--
FOR NO ADDITIONAL FEE! And the program is only
something like $80/week! (That's very reasonable
for around here--you'd be hard pressed to find
after school care for any less, and it likely wouldn't
include help with homework, daily martial arts lessons,
or additional time for early release.) I was quite
impressed with the program. And having seen some
of the kids perform at the talent show, I'm pretty
darned impressed with the kids' martial arts
abilities as well! Seems like you could use one
of those programs in your area, or something similar.

Best wishes,
Ericka

"Beth Kevles" wrote in message
...
:
: Hi -
:
: I'm actually in favor of banning early release days, unless they are
: scheduled on the same day every week of the school year. Sure, for
: parents who use a daycare that runs on the school calendar, early
: release is no big deal. And for many parents (like me) who have
: flexible jobs or who are at home, early release can be fun, extra time
: with the kids. But I wind up with quite a few children over for
: playdates because their parents have after-school arrangements with
: caregivers who are NOT on the school schedule, or parents who get home
: from work when school lets out. For these parents, early release is a
: nightmare. (So are snow days, and early release or late start due to
: weather, but most employers are far more understanding about
: weather-related childcare issues.)

You all are probably going to hate this, but my district--the largest school
district in Colorado--is actually considering a 2-day furlough for all
district employees this year. This is due to severe budget shortfalls, and
one of the reasonings behind this decision is that it *will* put it in the
parents' faces, it *will* inconvenience them, and in the end they'll
*notice* that our district is so out of money that it has to completely shut
down for 2 days this year.

Believe it or not, the teachers are actually supporting this decision--hey,
it will mean a cut in my paycheck, but maybe it's time the tight-fisted "no
more tax increases" crowd start to notice things like this. Hell, we
haven't bought new biology books since 1989--we can't even afford to buy a
classroom set for each biology classroom, so we continue to use books that
are so outdated it's embarassing.

Of course, don't get me started on all the **other** budget issues....
--
ColoradoSkiBum

Jenn wrote in message ...
In article ,
Banty wrote:

My school district arranged with a local community college to have an
after-school program, but of course it wasnt' free.

Problem was, though, for early release, the after school program didnt' run on
those days. School was out - school was out. It had to do with the need to
have a certain number school personnel around during the program (custodial,
etc.)

Banty


when my kids were in elementary and middle school the after school
programs ran on early release days and snow days -- pretty much any non
school day -- they were not free -- the program required parents to pay
for the care and I imagine that there was an extra charge for those days
[can't remember]

The providers of aftercare in my district - who are not really
affiliated with the schools themselves - just this year started
providing care for early release and even for some of the days off for
staff development. Well, they did have the rare day of care last year
and the year before. It was sporadic and it was usually at only one
out of the 6 elementary schools in the district.

I guess the demand for extended care and all-day care has gone up
because now they have care at nearly all of the elementary schools and
it seems to be for nearly all of the early release and other
non-standard days off.

It does cost extra and it is held at the school buildings. I'm not
certain if custodial staff must be there. (When we have our evening
neighborhood association meetings at the elementary school, the
*principal* lets us in and out! I think she works 24 hours a day...)

However, this is all at the elementary school level. I have no idea
what I'm going to do in middle school. Heh...bus my older child to the
elementary school where the younger ones are so that he can "help" the
extended care staff, maybe? Saaayyy, not a bad idea.

- Bev

"ColoradoSkiBum" wrote in message
...
You all are probably going to hate this, but my district--the largest
school
district in Colorado--is actually considering a 2-day furlough for all
district employees this year. This is due to severe budget shortfalls,
and
one of the reasonings behind this decision is that it *will* put it in the
parents' faces, it *will* inconvenience them, and in the end they'll
*notice* that our district is so out of money that it has to completely
shut
down for 2 days this year.

Believe it or not, the teachers are actually supporting this
decision--hey,
it will mean a cut in my paycheck, but maybe it's time the tight-fisted
"no
more tax increases" crowd start to notice things like this.

our state (and some others) had a teacher's strike recently. it's funny, you
would not find a parent who thinks teacher's pay shouldn't be increased, yet
at the same time some parents interviewed for the media were also saying how
inconvenient it was. i'd suggest to them you can't have it both ways - if
there's a need for radical action to solve a problem, the parents of the
children seeking an education have to be supportive of that whether it
inconveniences them or not - they are the ones who benefit in the end, after
all.

this half-day thing from the o.p. otoh - i've got no idea what that's
supposed to be about. (?)
kylie
--
www.rdj.com.au

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

In article , Ericka Kammerer says...

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.

Yeah - I was thinking of some jobs where it would be worse to have the 1/2
scheduled on a certain day of the week, rather than better.

We have some full days, but they're scheduled, and all parents get a school
calednar at the beginning of the year.

*Our* bugaboo here in upstate New York is wintertime unscheduled closures - snow
days, delayed openings due to weather and road conditions, and early dismissal
due to weather and road conditions (including *anticipated* weather and road
conditions). If there are a lot of snow days being taken, our school district
goes to early dismissal and delayed openings whenever possible since somehow
these don't count as 'snow days', even in combination (although of course
instructional time is lost).

Which leaves us parents hugging radios and checking websites if there is so much
as a frozen sprinkle overnight.

That is such a large and unpredictable scheduling reality that around here every
parent has to have some kind of plan in place for having the kids at home.
Scheduled 1/2 days is just peanuts.

Banty

"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).

On Thu, 30 Oct 2003 23:13:16 -0500, Ericka Kammerer
wrote:

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

The school systems I've been involved with print a calendar at the
beginning of the year listing all the holidays, teacher workdays, etc.
I always marked them on my calendar to avoid surprises.

"Ericka Kammerer" wrote in message
...

In our district,
elementary school classes are only half days every Monday so
that the teachers have half a day for planning.

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?


I have no idea. It wouldn't surprise me to find that
we don't *have* any state mandates ;-) But it would be a
bit easier on many parents if they just figured planning
time into every day.


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.


Here, the teachers usually get two days at the end of
the grading period. For instance, the kids have next Monday
and Tuesday off for teacher workdays, teacher conferences,
and voting (many of the polls are in elementary schools).

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.


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!

Best wishes,
Ericka

On Fri, 31 Oct 2003, Ericka Kammerer wrote:

"Ericka Kammerer" wrote in message
...

In our district,
elementary school classes are only half days every Monday so
that the teachers have half a day for planning.

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?


I have no idea. It wouldn't surprise me to find that
we don't *have* any state mandates ;-) But it would be a
bit easier on many parents if they just figured planning
time into every day.


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.


Here, the teachers usually get two days at the end of
the grading period. For instance, the kids have next Monday
and Tuesday off for teacher workdays, teacher conferences,
and voting (many of the polls are in elementary schools).

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.


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!


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.