Sending your child to school where you teach

[Anonymous]

Anyone here teach in a district that allows children of faculty to attend? If so do you take advantage of this perk? If so what are pros/cons? Any drawbacks??
Thanks!

[Anonymous]

The drawback is that when you teach in a school, you know ALLLLL the crap. When my kids started school, I knew that I could never work at the same school my kids' attended. I have been in the profession long enough to know that schools everywhere are really, really screwed up (private, public, charter, all of them) and I needed to be able to be in a certain amount of denial and NOT know the specifics. Otherwise it would drive me crazy.

[Anonymous]

My siblings and I went to the high school where my mom taught and even had her as a teacher. I'm sure we might have gotten some special treatment for being a teacher's kids, but also we were all excellent students and on our best behavior at school, so that probably didn't come into play too much. My mom was also a tough but well-liked teacher, so there wasn't negative social backlash for me.

[Anonymous]

Many of my colleagues have kids at the school where I teach, as did I. Saved me a lot in day care costs, and is very common in our district.

[Anonymous]

It’s great in elementary school. So convenient! Seems more complicated for older kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The drawback is that when you teach in a school, you know ALLLLL the crap. When my kids started school, I knew that I could never work at the same school my kids' attended. I have been in the profession long enough to know that schools everywhere are really, really screwed up (private, public, charter, all of them) and I needed to be able to be in a certain amount of denial and NOT know the specifics. Otherwise it would drive me crazy.

This is so true. I was warned about this, ignored it, and couldn’t stand many of my child’s teachers because I knew too much about them (I was an admin).

[Anonymous]

I had the option at one point and turned it down. I wanted the nice school close to home with a great team. The problem was not so much my own kid, but I didn't want to be teaching all my friends' kids and kid's friends. Kids I work with also hanging out at my house? Didn't seem like a good idea. I don't need to know all the gossip and drama as a parent or as a teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The drawback is that when you teach in a school, you know ALLLLL the crap. When my kids started school, I knew that I could never work at the same school my kids' attended. I have been in the profession long enough to know that schools everywhere are really, really screwed up (private, public, charter, all of them) and I needed to be able to be in a certain amount of denial and NOT know the specifics. Otherwise it would drive me crazy.

Examples?

[Anonymous]

My son has been at school with me since Kinder (he's now upper elem), and I love it! His teachers have been great. With one of his teachers, I have taught one of her kids and she has taught mine. This year, his teacher is a good friend of mine, and I was worried it would be awkward, but it's been fine.

He has combined type ADHD with some impulsivity, so it can be a bumpy road, but I think it helps that he's at my school (I know what's happening more than I would if he were at our zoned school).

It saves us childcare costs, but for me I also think we're closer than we would have been otherwise. The drive to and from school together, and time together in my classroom before/after school, winds up fostering a lot of conversations.

I would NOT do it if I didn't have a good relationship with my administration and know they were cool about teacher's kids. Also, with younger kids you have to think about where to put them during meetings, etc. Fortunately I was able to have a teacher's kid who was older informally babysit my son during faculty meetings when he was younger. (This is why supportive admin is important-- technically both of them should have been supervised by an adult. Practically, they were across the hall from the meeting and completely fine.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The drawback is that when you teach in a school, you know ALLLLL the crap. When my kids started school, I knew that I could never work at the same school my kids' attended. I have been in the profession long enough to know that schools everywhere are really, really screwed up (private, public, charter, all of them) and I needed to be able to be in a certain amount of denial and NOT know the specifics. Otherwise it would drive me crazy.

Examples?

Sure. I didn't want to know about:
1) The specifics on the copious amount of over testing at a specific school
2) The behavior issues of classmates that disrupt learning
3) All the stupid paperwork and meetings that the teachers have to do that means they have less time to actually work with children
4) The weaknesses of staff. Listen, I have my own weaknesses as a teacher. We all have them. But I don't want to know specifics on each staff member's weaknesses. Better to just enjoy all the good stuff and put my head in the sand more or less.

[Anonymous]

I didn't bring my kid to my Title 1 school. He was advanced academically and I don't think it's a good thing to be at the top of your class without needing to really do much work at all.

[Anonymous]

Being a teacher alone makes it hard for me with any school my kid attends because their excuses don’t work for me. I would only want my child to attend a school where I teach if I know it’s the best school available.