Communication with parents

[Anonymous]

How long should we expect it to take for a school employee to reply to our email? In this case, the school counselor at our ES. It’s been over two days, and I don’t want to be pushy, but I am concerned that my communication is lost in the ether. Are these expectations set by school or by county? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

48 hours (not including weekends or holidays) is the guidelines given to staff

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How long should we expect it to take for a school employee to reply to our email? In this case, the school counselor at our ES. It’s been over two days, and I don’t want to be pushy, but I am concerned that my communication is lost in the ether. Are these expectations set by school or by county? Thanks!

The guidance from MCPS is 48 hours not including weekends/holidays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How long should we expect it to take for a school employee to reply to our email? In this case, the school counselor at our ES. It’s been over two days, and I don’t want to be pushy, but I am concerned that my communication is lost in the ether. Are these expectations set by school or by county? Thanks!

Copy their boss if you are not getting a reply.

[Anonymous]

No idea who their boss would be, but that’s a good idea.

[Anonymous]

48 hours is enough time to follow up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No idea who their boss would be, but that’s a good idea.[/quote

A counselor's? Copy Assistant Principal or Principal.

[Anonymous]

Some will not will respond at all. Normal is 2-3 days.

[Anonymous]

The crazier your email, the longer it will take.

[Anonymous]

Some can't even bother to give a quick reply to even a not-crazy email.

[Anonymous]

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1225402.page

[Anonymous]

Counselor isn't their boss, but I've looped them in before, citing a request for information (could be about a school policy or something or could simply be that you think you don't have the right contact info for the teacher). The teacher was more responsive and more reasonable with another person on the email, even if it wasn't their "boss." (Their boss is the resource teacher in the same department, but I feel like including the counselor with an excuse is less confrontational than including the resource teacher, which is sort of tattling.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The crazier your email, the longer it will take.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some will not will respond at all. Normal is 2-3 days.

That's where you know mcps has crap admins. If you work any other job and decide not to respond to emails, you can kids your ass goodbye but it's 50/50 any given teacher will decide to respond to your email.. especially middle and high school level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How long should we expect it to take for a school employee to reply to our email? In this case, the school counselor at our ES. It’s been over two days, and I don’t want to be pushy, but I am concerned that my communication is lost in the ether. Are these expectations set by school or by county? Thanks!

It is typically one counselor for the entire elementary school and if it a large ES, maybe 1 counselor and another 0.5 counselor. If you don’t hear from her after a few days, I would just send her another follow up.