Does your ES make a huge deal out of 5th grade?

[Anonymous]

Ours does and frankly I think it's to avoid parent apathy in the PTA. My younger is now in 5th and I just feel so done with little kid stuff and am really happy to be moving on to bigger kid life. The suggested contribution for the 5th grade class fund (this did not exist in younger grades) is $150 and that's on top of PTA membership, school supplies, and the classroom wishlist. Is this the same everywhere and I just don't know?

[Anonymous]

My kid's elementary had a program of activities and a graduation ceremony. And the PTA covered costs of a waterpark field trip and graduation ceremony with goodie bag.

In contrast, my last year of elementary, we had a class trip to a non-profit scout camp type of place for a few days. There was a square dance and a field trip to a beach nature reserve. I think parents paid. There was no graduation ceremony.

[Anonymous]

I think it’s fairly normal now (the big deal part; not sure about the money). At our school, 5th graders have a promotion ceremony, a clap out, and a picnic.. but that all takes place the last week of school. I think it’s covered by the PTA and parent donations, though— not a class fee.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I think it helps with the transition to middle school. Our fifth graders have "jobs" around the school (like help walk the youngest kids to/from their classroom before school, man the school store, help teachers decorate, etc) to give them a sense of ownership. They also have.a fun day, clap out, and special field trip toward the end of the year. It's been interesting seeing how psyched my DS is about being a 5th grader even though most of the fun stuff isn't until May; it just seems like a status and traditions thing.

There hasn't been a special PTA call or money requests.

[Anonymous]

Yes but there isn’t some huge monetary ask. They do a couple fundraisers to pay for the party/celebration and we also pay for a special field trip for the kids.

[Anonymous]

It was 6th grade at our school. Totally over the top but the kids love it. It is a nice send off before MS. Many of them have spent 7 years together at school so the move is a big one. But yes, it drove me a bit crazy that year.

[Anonymous]

Don’t worry when your kid gets to middle school, they will basically be forgotten in a big, overcrowded school where the admin is trying to do damage control. Way less parties or celebrations of any kind and far less PTA involvement in general!

[Anonymous]

6th grade in fcps - I don’t remember paying a lot of money, but there are fundraisers for a special end-of-year event (used to be at Dave & Buster’s), promotion ceremony, and a parade through the hallways where all the other grades clap. Middle school is only two years, so they don’t do anything for 8th grade. I think it’s nice.

[Anonymous]

Ours does at 6th, which is the end of ES there.