<p>Remember why we have no school during the summer? Those days of harvest times are all over, and I think we should extend the school year. When I was little, we also didn’t have a day off for this, a day off for that during the fall nor did we have a week off in February plus a week off in April. What’s worse, parents did not take their kids out of school for extended vacations like they do now. (One of my students told me today that she was in Florida for two whole weeks.)</p>
<p>So my solution to make up the lost snow days: take away one of those extra weeks off in April. Sure parents may object, but not all the parents. Some parents actually want their children to learn.</p>
<p>And xiggi: asking kids to do more homework is a terrible idea. The parents of elementary age kids would end up doing all the work. And high school kids would cheat ore than they do already. It just sends a really bad message.</p>
<p>One problem with taking away spring break:
In our state (and maybe others?) student attendance is tied to state funding. An absent kid = about $37 per day deducted from the district by the state. Asking families to change spring break plans can cost you dearly. Families go anyway because they have bought tickets/made plans, and the district can lose enough money over those few days to be equal to several teacher’s salaries.
Same with trying to extend school into summer break. If funding is tied to attendance, you can’t schedule days when you know kids won’t come.</p>
<p>MedSchHopeful: what would a student do at your school if they had no internet access in their home? I don’t mean because of blackouts, but because their family cannot afford it or chooses not to have it. I would estimate that half our student body does not have internet access in their home.</p>
<p>It is not MORE homework. It is work that represent the equivalent of the missed days. What is better … four days to make up by extending the “season” or adding 30 minutes to a bunch of days compared to simply doing the equivalent of say, 20 hours of work. </p>
<p>Why would one assume that the kids do not cheat on regular work, but would cheat on this extra work. I also mentioned that the work should be an opportunity to check how well previously covered is remembered and give the opportunity to teachers to convey clearly to the parents where their kids stand.</p>
<p>Our school district builds in five snow days and ends earlier if we don’t use them up. So far this year we have had seven snow days. One day was taken back from a too long Presidents day weekend and another was taken back from a teachers Professional service day when the kids were to have been off, so we’re back on track. I like the way that was done. </p>
<p>I also like the option that someone mentioned with having the kids take home their books and then giving them work to do at home. Since our storms happened at the end of the semester there was a lot of work that was put off. Seven instructional days off is quite a bit for an AP program and just tacking that time to the end of the year is wasted time since the test will have been administered a month before that.</p>
<p>I like the idea of snow day packets-if a certain amount of kids complete the packets apparently the school can count that as a school day. However, I don’t know what the procedure is if it an unexpected snow day. But this year, we knew this storm was coming for days before the snow started. I can tell you after being stuck in the house with my kids for 9 days I would have welcomed the work…which they would have done themselves.</p>
<p>Ohio has had 5 days in the past, went to 3 days this year. Our district has had 4 days off so far, and most districts around us are many more than that. </p>
<p>The distance learning option is interesting. </p>
<p>In my dream world, here’s what I’d like to see.</p>
<p>K-4
Parents or caregivers home with the child would take the “day off” and do activities together - do an art project and then “show and tell” it when they go back to school, search Itunes and listen to different types of music - make a list of what you listened to and why you liked it or didn’t like it, search for a recipe (reading) and cook it together (math), read a couple of books together (language arts), go out and shovel (physical education.<br>
4-8 grade
If possible, plan ahead of a snow day. The day before teachers should assign extra math problems, additional reading material from a novel they might be reading etc. Then do the above as well - the cooking, music/art, and shoveling on a bigger kid level.</p>
<p>8-12
You know these kids have work they can do! Surely there is a test looming, paper due, SOMETHING! Get ahead and stop procrastinating! Sleep in a bit, then shower and make something of your day! Do a good deed and go shovel a neighbor’s walk. Distance learning or extra assignments should be posted online and updated by teacher’s from home. </p>
<p>Thanks to all of your for jinxing our weather with this thread. It was 61 degrees and beautiful yesterday here in Missouri. Now it is snowing hard; we are under a winter storm warning; and school is dismissing two hours early.</p>
<p>As we say around here: if you don’t like the weather, stick around an hour or so and it will change.</p>
<p>Regarding the minimum number of days and tacking on 30 minutes. I’ve found out from serving on a couple of school district committees that although you hear 180 days as the minimum requirement, it’s actually 990 hours for grades 7- 12, and lesser amounts for the other grades [022</a> Pa. Code §<em>11.3.</em>Minimum required hours.](<a href=“http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/022/chapter11/s11.3.html]022”>http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/022/chapter11/s11.3.html) They just say 180 days to make it easier to understand. So adding 30 minutes a day really does make sense.</p>
<p>The one thing I want as a parent is to know, for sure, what the absolute last possible day of the school year will be. Otherwise, how can I plan for summer programs that begin in June?</p>
<p>I don’t know what your school might do, but it’s simply not a problem here. Everyone either has internet access or lives within walking distance of a library or internet cafe where they can go. And most people have a usual way since they have to go online to download lecture notes or extra copies of assignments even when school isn’t out.</p>
<p>At the elementary grade level, I can find you five days from the Spring curriculum: St. Patricks Day, Easter egg coloring/drawing bunny rabbits, and about half of the last week of school when books are being packed and bulletin boards taken down during classroom hours. Instead, teach basic curriculum on those days. On the final day of the year, teach until the last hour and have a party, as compared to an all-day wind-down. If the weather might be very bad, get ahead of it by eliminating the all-day lessons to teach the following days (and schoolwide assemblies) where nothing is learned: Hallowe’en, ChristmaChanuKwanzaa, and maybe Valentine’s Day (I’m on the fence about Valentine’s Day since it helps with friendships and has writing). </p>
<p>Let Hallmark and families handle the holidays. Big time-gobbler, IMHO.</p>
<p>At the senior high level, give students a choice: do an academic assignment at home OR shovel snow/babysit/play board games for free for shut-in/low capacity neighbors and at senior homes, proving the hours were put in by cellphone photo of the activity with both people in the picture… as community service.</p>
<p>Some of the student’s posts seem so out of touch with much of America:
Quote:
MedSchHopeful: what would a student do at your school if they had no internet access in their home? I don’t mean because of blackouts, but because their family cannot afford it or chooses not to have it. I would estimate that half our student body does not have internet access in their home.<br>
But then you read:
I don’t know what your school might do, but it’s simply not a problem here. Everyone either has internet access or lives within walking distance of a library or internet cafe where they can go. And most people have a usual way since they have to go online to download lecture notes or extra copies of assignments even when school isn’t out.</p>
<p>Not only is Internet access a problem for our school district, but snow days also create a problem for low-income hourly wage workers regarding childcare for younger children. Every parent who works at Burger King, etc. has to find someone to take care of their kids at the last minute. Not all businesses were closed when we had ice storms. Our church opens up its doors and gymnasium every time we have a snow day so that parents can drop off kids. (BTW, we also have a computer lab at the church so kids can come by after school to do their homework!) Our district cannot do “late arrival” or “early release” days because of working parents.</p>
<p>I really detest when days are added on to the end of the year. There will never be instruction on that added day, just like there never is on the last day of school. But nothing will get done on the original last day of school either, since anyone who made plans based on that original schedule won’t show for the extra day(s). Also, since they don’t ever re-schedule graduation, seniors will have already graduated on the original last day and won’t show and the district will still lose money for absences. Or else the school will have to make seniors come in for a breakfast and diploma pick-up on that extra day when they return from their all-night graduation party. Costly, ridiculous, and doesn’t follow the spirit of the law, just the letter. In addition, since our district gives off for all the holidays of every minority, school already extends almost to the end of June. It’s hard enough for high schoolers to compete with college students for summer jobs without making them lose that final week of June. Last year, the last day of school was a Monday, which was terrible for work and camps. </p>
<p>One thing that irritated me this year was that the district couldn’t take back the students’ day off on the Friday before President’s Day, since that was an optional in-service day for those teachers who still needed to complete hours. Why even offer an optional day? Make everyone go when you say they have to. The school parking lots were practically empty, so clearly the teachers got in their training on the other optional days and planned a long ski vacation for that weekend.</p>
<p>I’m sorry if I seemed callous. I just meant to explain why it worked for my school - everyone is expected to have internet access already because most of the courses are set up with online homework even if you attend a physical class. I’m not saying it’s a perfect solution, I’m just telling how my school (and most of the schools in my area, public and private) survived 7 snow days.</p>
<p>Our county, down here in the south, went to what they called a “balanced calendar” last year, which meant more breaks throughout the year (in fact they are off this week), but a ridiculously early start date (this upcoming year students were scheduled to start school on Aug 2, and its pretty darned hot around here then!) The advantage was that they are able to deal with the excessive snow days by taking a day from a scheduled holiday, but first took from a teacher work day and an early release day, so the school year wan’t extended:
School ends in late May, and there are 2 “student holidays” tacked onto the end of the academic year where students are out but staff are in, so IMO an extra school day could be added there as well without it causing much difficulty on graduation or other holiday plans. I don’t personally like the idea of trying to make up missed days on a weekend and I definitley think an extra 30’ tacked onto the day is a waste of time, won’t be used for instruction, and could cause problems for the bus drivers in rush hour traffic trying to get all their routes in (drivers sometimes drive 3 runs, for elementary, middle and HS) and afterschool activities. All this said, I am not a big fan of this “balanced calendar”. Parents protested at a recent School Board meeting, and were able to convince the board to adjust the calendar and start school 2 weeks later this upcoming year, on Aug 15. Still pretty early, IMO. LAst year teachers/staff went back on July 29!</p>
<p>MedSchHopeful: you must live in an affluent area if the schools “expect” everyone to have internet access. And/or a very urban area if you have internet cafes and libraries within walking distance.</p>
<p>Just to give you a look at how much of the country lives: Two-thirds of our school district qualifies for free and reduced lunch. Many have no phones except for a pay-as-you-go cell phone so paying a monthly fee for internet access is not an option. Our libraries have computers but they are underfunded so they are not open on Sundays any longer. And only two of the four libraries are within walking distance of residential areas.</p>
<p>As you work toward becoming a doctor (guessing from your handle), I hope you’ll spend some time in a public hospital setting in a non-affluent area so you can get a perspective on the working class poor. Living in a district with a wide range of socio-economic situations has been a wonderful education for our children. It made them very grateful for their opportunties.</p>
<p>Here in the Capital Region (near Albany) our school district is infamous for closing. The rumor is that if they see a snowflake they close. If I go to a multi-district event and our school district is identified, invariably I hear, “Oh your school district is the one that always closes. My kids always wish they live in your area.” I think if a school district goes over the allocated snow days, even with the extras built in to the calendar, if it is a region wide overage then the days should be forgiven. If it is only one or two districts then extending the school year or cancelling some days off may make sense for state/federal funding purposes (not that anymore learning will necessarily happen but maybe I am cynical).</p>