Annoying lack of communication from the school

Traci_Momof2
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Today is the 4th day of school for the year and we've already been smacked in the face with changes that weren't effectively communicated.

1. Lunch is no longer free for all students. If you want a school lunch you have to give your student ID and it's added to your fees.

2. This school has uniform t-shirts which is basically a solid colored t-shirt with the school logo. But lots of clubs and other groups also give out t-shirts for that particular group. These are called "club shirts". DS17 has one from carpentry class and one from swim team and one other that I can't think of the group right now. In the past club shirts were acceptable as a school shirt. This year they are not acceptable at all. My son got dress-coded yesterday for his club shirt and that's how we found out about the change in policy.

3. Entrance gates that used to be open at start and finish of school day are now locked so that all kids enter through one gate. I only found this out today when I went to drop them off at a side entrance I've always used for the past three years and found that gate to be locked. The reasoning behind this change is a good one - they are working on installing metal detectors - it just still would've been nice to know ahead of time.

And no, none of these problems or changes are a huge issue. We will adapt and do just fine. It's just another annoyance, and this school has proven over the years that they are not good with communication. My oldest is a senior, he's going into his 4th year at this school, and we are starting with the 3rd principal in that same amount of time. Every student every year has an advisory period, and ideally the advisory teacher they start with sticks with them for all years. My sophomore has the same advisory teacher this year as last year. My senior has his 4th advisory teacher in his high school career. Apparently this school is as good at hanging onto staff as they are at communicating.
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mcginnisc
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Oof...yeah, those would be annoying.. rolled with, but annoying.
Claire
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mommy_jules
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Does your kids’ school not have a FB/Twitter account? A automated text/email/phone call service that updates parents on different issues?

Teacher/staff turnover is a big issue at many if not most schools.
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RIZZY
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When I was teaching, we usually communicated all of this directly to the students. Usually, it was in the form of an orientation sometime in the summer or within the first week of school. Every year, the parents wouldn't know because we didn't give the kids any papers to take home. I always thought that was dumb.

Anyway, I would let them know when they send out the district survey. Won't help you now but maybe next year they'll make some changes.
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That would be so annoying! Not the changes but the lack of a heads up!
Traci_Momof2
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mommy_jules wrote: Tue Aug 02, 2022 12:07 pm Does your kids’ school not have a FB/Twitter account? A automated text/email/phone call service that updates parents on different issues?

Teacher/staff turnover is a big issue at many if not most schools.
There is a FB page and the Principal had posted an announcement but I didn't even see it until last night. She mentioned about no more free lunches and that everyone needs to fill out the free/reduced form. She also mentioned about dress code but just said "school shirts" and didn't say a thing about the fact that club shirts aren't allowed anymore.

Maybe it's just me but I think an email to all parents would be more effective. Email you know it's right in front of them. FB is unreliable for knowing that everyone is seeing it in a timely manner.
mommy_jules
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Traci_Momof2 wrote: Tue Aug 02, 2022 2:13 pm
mommy_jules wrote: Tue Aug 02, 2022 12:07 pm Does your kids’ school not have a FB/Twitter account? A automated text/email/phone call service that updates parents on different issues?

Teacher/staff turnover is a big issue at many if not most schools.
There is a FB page and the Principal had posted an announcement but I didn't even see it until last night. She mentioned about no more free lunches and that everyone needs to fill out the free/reduced form. She also mentioned about dress code but just said "school shirts" and didn't say a thing about the fact that club shirts aren't allowed anymore.

Maybe it's just me but I think an email to all parents would be more effective. Email you know it's right in front of them. FB is unreliable for knowing that everyone is seeing it in a timely manner.
I understand that. FB isn’t reliable to happen upon information, because it could be several days before it crosses your newsfeed. That’s why I asked about automated phone calls/texts/emails. We get automated phone calls and texts, and I just assumed that was common practice now.
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LiveWhatULove
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I was so bummed to read about the ending of federally funded lunches!

My boys bring their lunches anyway. But my DD — it was nice not to have to worry about her lunch account.
cgd5112
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Yes. Yes, it would annoy me. My son's school has an app called Talking points. I like it. It lists all his teachers, school nurses, etc. You can direct message them, like a text. It also gives you district and school related messages.

The thing is that not everyone is on Facebook or Twitter. And parents or families should not have to sign up for either to get information that directly affects their child(ren).

If a change in dress code is to take effect it should be communicated via email blast to make sure everyone gets the information in a timely manner (regardless of social media usage).

Also, the school lunch thing ... I remember when the schools were shouting from the rooftops to let every family know it was free for everyone. Why can't they do it now to let everyone know it's over?

And the Entrance thing? I agree that it should be communicated via all platforms.

We can all roll with it, but it's still annoying.
BlueMonday94
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I understand. We've been dealing with the same things. My kids school last year was just as bad. And it wouldnt have been a big issue if the school didnt make it a big issue. They acted like it was the parents fault for their non communication. As if we should have all instinctively known exactly what schools supplies to purchase without being given a list, or knowing that the pick up times had been changed and staggard out by 10 minutes. And now Im finding the same issues this year with their new school. Last year I could understand some of the issues as that school was over capacity and the teachers were stretched to their limit. But I dont know what this schools problem is, as its a much smaller school of 560 students, and a student/teacher ratio of 6-10/1. Our school starts tomorrow, I still dont have a school supply list, dont know when the start times are, dont know who their teachers are and no schedule for my middle and high school students. Ive looked on their website which hasnt been updated since the start of summer, and tried calling the schools and left messages with no call back. Ive gone up there and the only person there to talk to was the receptionist and she couldnt give me any information other than she thinks the elementary is starting at 8:10 this year and a basic supply list (which I already new to get) but she said each teacher has a different list of what they needed. I registered my kids at this school before the end of school last year.
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