Being ghosted by a MoCo school

[Anonymous]

Dear forum members, I have just moved from Europe, my children are elementary school age, and they were enrolled via the international admissions office into one of the schools in Montgomery County. And this school keeps ghosting me already for a month. I was in touch with a secretary, she said she will get in touch with me and keeps ghosting me. I never received admissions confirmation or anything. What would you advise me to do?

[Anonymous]

Keep calling. Show up at their door with birth certificates and leases or pepco bills.

[Anonymous]

I would forward the last email you have with the secretary to the principal and assistant principals, who will be listed in the school’s online staff directory, with a cc to the secretary with a message along the lines of : “Hi there. As discussed with [name of secretary], we moved to the x school district this summer and are looking forward to [kid name and grade] starting classes on Y date. We don’t seem to have been added to the school’s automatic messaging system and have no schedule yet. Is there any further information you need from us? Please let me know. I can be reached at the following numbers and email address. Thank you.”

[Anonymous]

Go in person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would forward the last email you have with the secretary to the principal and assistant principals, who will be listed in the school’s online staff directory, with a cc to the secretary with a message along the lines of : “Hi there. As discussed with [name of secretary], we moved to the x school district this summer and are looking forward to [kid name and grade] starting classes on Y date. We don’t seem to have been added to the school’s automatic messaging system and have no schedule yet. Is there any further information you need from us? Please let me know. I can be reached at the following numbers and email address. Thank you.”

wonderful, thanks

[Anonymous]

Which school is this? PP's script for an email is great, but in the meantime, you can seek out the Parent Teacher Association. Ours has an active private Facebook group for parents to ask questions and post about events. While waiting for the school staff to get it together, it would give you a chance to get to know more about the school.

Also, know that next Friday is generally Open House for MCPS elementary schools--find out the time for that, and you will be able to go in and see your children's classrooms, meet the teacher, etc.

[Anonymous]

Fwiw our elementary school hasn’t done anything yet that let you know you were enrolled. No class assignments, nothing other than an email home with the information about open house next week. It is possible your kid is already enrolled unless you haven’t filled out the paperwork yet. If you havent done that, show up in person today and get it done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Go in person.

This. You may need to go to the school to fill out paperwork anyway. Just show up. I'd go in the morning. Bring birth certificates and proof of residency (rental agreement, utitliy bills). I'd also print out correspondence from the international office confirming they placed you in a school--I'm assuming this school is your in-bounds school. As a PP stated, not much has come out from schools yet, but, open houses will be soon, so you'll want that information.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like you already enrolled, providing proof of residency, etc. So that piece is all complete, yes?

Now you are "in the system" but the truth is that schools aren't communicating with anyone at this point in the summer. You can go on the website and get the supplies list, and find out the Open House date, but you aren't going to get a hand-engraved invitation to attend your local public school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like you already enrolled, providing proof of residency, etc. So that piece is all complete, yes?

Now you are "in the system" but the truth is that schools aren't communicating with anyone at this point in the summer. You can go on the website and get the supplies list, and find out the Open House date, but you aren't going to get a hand-engraved invitation to attend your local public school.

Indeed, I have already submitted tons of paperwork, everything they required, via international admissions, so that part is done, we are IB for that school and lease and everything is okay. My kids already have student ID numbers assigned. I do have an open house date right before the school year starts, but was getting nervous that we are cutting it so close and I have no official confirmation yet and the secretary is clearly avoiding me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like you already enrolled, providing proof of residency, etc. So that piece is all complete, yes?

Now you are "in the system" but the truth is that schools aren't communicating with anyone at this point in the summer. You can go on the website and get the supplies list, and find out the Open House date, but you aren't going to get a hand-engraved invitation to attend your local public school.

Indeed, all the paperwork was already submitted and reviewed by the international admissions, my kids have student ID numbers assigned. So, what's the official protocol at MoCo - do you just start attending without any formal letter? I never received a single note from them and the secretary keeps avoiding me.

[Anonymous]

OP bear in mind it will be busy over the summer with a reduced staff. If they are ignoring you it's probably because you sent too many emails. You will want to be super polite and back off. It's different here to Europe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP bear in mind it will be busy over the summer with a reduced staff. If they are ignoring you it's probably because you sent too many emails. You will want to be super polite and back off. It's different here to Europe.

+1 Yeah, don't antagonize everyone by writing the principal like a previous poster said. Just go in person one day. (And also, I don't think you know what ghosting really means.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like you already enrolled, providing proof of residency, etc. So that piece is all complete, yes?

Now you are "in the system" but the truth is that schools aren't communicating with anyone at this point in the summer. You can go on the website and get the supplies list, and find out the Open House date, but you aren't going to get a hand-engraved invitation to attend your local public school.

Indeed, all the paperwork was already submitted and reviewed by the international admissions, my kids have student ID numbers assigned. So, what's the official protocol at MoCo - do you just start attending without any formal letter? I never received a single note from them and the secretary keeps avoiding me.

Correct. There is no formal letter of attendance. You might get a packet in the mail, but you might not. If you are nervous, show up in person next week and just ask the school to check the system for your child's class assignment to be sure they've been assigned.

But, honestly, this sounds like a cultural difference. Even if your child somehow slipped through the cracks and isn't on the list at Open House, you haven't lost any chances. Your child is guaranteed a spot in their home school. If they got missed, they'll get added. But it sounds like everything is fine.

[Anonymous]

Schools mostly shut down for the summer, so it is typical for staff to be more responsive once the school year starts.