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Ok I guess one person seemed to suggest they had a schedule so unique there was no way to accommodate it and I'm honestly not sure what scheduling that person thinks is appropriate.
But the OP's post/vent was about an activity scheduled during a standard working day, not something where there were evening hours to accommodate working parents. Personally, I think for something like intake, meet the teacher, etc. there should always be evening hours. There are also going to be things where they do occur during routine business hours - volunteering in the classroom, chaperoning field trips, assemblies and so on. At that point, it will be up to the parent to decide whether or not they consider it worth taking PTO for. But most people have a limited amount of PTO, and it's also not uncommon to have to take it in full day increments. Meeting the teacher and handing off school supplies wouldn't be as worth using limited PTO on as taking off a full day to be able to chaperone a field trip IMO. And the reality is that for many working parents, they will end up having to choose one over the other because they don't have enough PTO to cover both.
ETA: I'm a single income family because I'm a single parent. So ALL of it has to come out of my single person's allocation of PTO, which also has to cover all the many, many, many days that schools are closed but regular workplaces are not.
Most parents I know as in our friends are two income families. My DH and I grew up in the same 2-income families and are bringing up or kids in a 2 income family. You really aren't special. You say you want the best for you kid yet can't make anytime to meet the teacher.
What do you or your wife do if your child is sick and needs a dr appointment or you yourself is sick. Do you not somehow find time to do this?
In my child's school, open house is in the evening. In fact, I had a open house and a kindergarten round up on the same day. Kinder was in the morning 10-11:30 and open house for rest of the school was in the evening from 6pm. Would have been great if kinder round up was in the evening too seeing as are in the 2 income family camp but it wasnt. More than 100 other kids were also starting kindergarten. is my schedule somehow more important than theirs? These 2 events were important to us and we made time for it.
If these events are important to you, you will make time. If not, then you won't make time. Seems pretty binary to me.
Instead of special snowflake children, now we have special snowflake parents.
Dual income here, in the area of the country with the longest commute per capita -- 1.5 hours minimum. Leaving at 7:30am and getting home at 8:15pm is a GOOD day and everyone does it.
No one here is moaning about their kids' school and teachers not dovetailing with their snowflake work schedule here. They. Figure. It. Out.
My daughter is preparing to enter kindergarten, and I'm getting the impression that the fact that we're a two income family, and deal with the school through e-mails and hand-mailed letters is working very well.
We got a letter from the school saying we had a intake appointment for our daughter to meet her teacher in the middle of the day. That time didn't work for us, so I called to change. The latest appointment was still in the middle of the day, which still doesn't work for us. Then the person answering the phone says that she is just the appointment setter and I need to e-mail the teacher, whose e-mail address is conveniently not provided on the letter. I did manage to get it and am working to see if the teacher is available sometime that will accommodate us as being a two income family.
I've mailed in forms to them, only to get e-mails saying the forms never got turned in. Turns out, the school system takes 3 - 7 days to process letters, and they actually received it but was sitting in the mailing room. It was made clear that if I dropped it off it'd be processed much faster, but of course they are only open while my wife and I work.
Education is important to me. We both hold bachelors degrees, and I have a masters degree. We each have completed several certificate programs. We want to support the school, but they're making it hard.
I am nervous about how many middle-of-the-day appointments they will expect we attend in the future.
How does or doesn't your child's school accommodate two income families?
Most families are two income. Not sure why you brought that up at all. You handle these just like doctor's appointments or other appointments that require you to be there during business hours. Period.
I haven't had a child entering school in 18 yrs, but I DO know how much it means to the children to have a parent show up for these activities. I've been to plenty of elementary school festivities where one or more child is in tears because their parents are working and couldn't make it.
I feel for the school administrators. They plan things to involve parents, only to find out working parents can't attend, despite their efforts. If they scale back, then the often available parents wonder why they aren't welcome.
Are there any school administrators here that can tell us about that fine line they are expected to walk each year?
I have a daughter entering kinder too. maybe the problem is too many meetings or activities that parents are involved? why not just limit it to the first day of school to meet the teacher to exchange phone or email? then maybe another meeting to report personally on the pupils progress after 5 months? then at the end of the school year for the final report?
OP, I think the way the meeting was scheduled was bad. Using snail mail and choosing the time for you is not a good way to encourage parents to attend. Our teachers have sent editable google docs or signup genius pages so parents can choose their own time. As soon as I see that e-mail, I'm on it to make sure I get the best time slot possible for my schedule and to make sure both kids are on the same day, in close time slots.
I suggest that you keep informed and involved at the school, so that you can make suggestions about how to handle this kind of thing in the future. And no, suggesting it all be done in the evening is not what I have in mind; but letting the parents choose the time would help.
Ultimately, there will be a lot of things that happen during the school day, and you and your spouse will have to decide which ones are worth taking time off and which ones aren't. That's up to you, not the school. Personally, I think starting kindergarten off on the right foot is worth it.
I share your frustration, but I think it is up to you to figure it out, not up to the school to work around you.
I have a daughter entering kinder too. maybe the problem is too many meetings or activities that parents are involved? why not just limit it to the first day of school to meet the teacher to exchange phone or email? then maybe another meeting to report personally on the pupils progress after 5 months? then at the end of the school year for the final report?
I don't really see how that would help. The parents would still need to take time off, whether it's the first day or before school starts. Not to mention the chaos of trying to meet 20+ sets of parents while also dealing with the kids. Phone numbers and e-mails are on record at the school, and teacher info is on the school website, so there is no need to physically give them to the teacher. The point is to acquaint the KID with the classroom and the teacher before the busy first day.
We have 2 conferences/year, which are held in the evening.
Back to school night is where the teacher tells the parents what to expect in their class. That's in the evening.
None of this is mandatory. If you care about your kid's education, though, you go.
ETA - you and the OP have kindergartners. How can you even say there are too many meetings when you haven't even started yet?
Instead of special snowflake children, now we have special snowflake parents.
Dual income here, in the area of the country with the longest commute per capita -- 1.5 hours minimum. Leaving at 7:30am and getting home at 8:15pm is a GOOD day and everyone does it.
No one here is moaning about their kids' school and teachers not dovetailing with their snowflake work schedule here. They. Figure. It. Out.
You got kids? You make it work.
Next.
Exactly!!! The school can't accommodate every parents schedule every time. If it's important to you, you'll make the time work.
It may be a good idea but it should have been communicated to families more than 2 weeks ahead of time that it would the schedule for the first week. School shouldn't be considered childcare but it's still a reality that if you know your child is going to be in school during certain scheduled hours, you don't arrange for childcare during those hours.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Frostnip
Not saying that this is the case with this poster, but I can tell you from personal experience that it's possible to announce something in a letter, an email. a text alert, a voicemail message, on the website, in the local paper, on a sign, in smoke signals, and via singing candygram and STILL have people complain they weren't informed
.
My school district prepares tentative school calendars three years in advance and post them on their website. They finalize the school calendar six to nine months before the start of school and post it on the school website, publish it in the local newspaper, etc. They send home school calendars, often multiple copies in multiple ways, months before the first day of school.
It is hard to believe that the parent only had two weeks notice of the school schedule.
I'll share a true story about notice of school events. I remember one time when our school secretary got totally fed up with all of the parents who claimed that they "were never told" that it was an early dismissal day. She put together copies of all of the notices that went home from the school office (school calendar sent home in June for the next year, school calendar sent home the first day of school, the separate list just of early dismissal dates, monthly hot lunch schedule with early dismissal dates listed, monthly office newsletter and the notice sent home from the office the day before the early dismissal day) plus a calendar sent by central office to each home just before school started (also included the bus schedule). Seven notices sent home from the office/CO alone with the early dismissal date.
In addition, the secretary asked a few of the teachers (who had parents who regularly "forgot" about early dismissal days) for their class newsletters and notices of the upcoming early dismissal days. Some of the teachers had listed it three or four times in various notices or newsletters.
When parents did not pick up their children on time and were called to pick them up and then claimed that they "were never informed" that it was an early dismissal day the secretary silently handed them the huge stack of notices, with that date highlighted. The secretary got into big trouble for doing that (parents complained) but most of those parents did not forget the next early dismissal date.
Last edited by germaine2626; 08-26-2016 at 06:23 PM..
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Phone numbers and e-mails are on record at the school, and teacher info is on the school website, so there is no need to physically give them to the teacher. The point is to acquaint the KID with the classroom and the teacher before the busy first day.
