if you send an email to a teacher, how long do you expect to hear back from the teacher?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I’ve sent 2 emails and not gotten response, I would make sure they aren’t out of the school sick or anything. And then email HOS.

I did this once and it turns out the teacher thought she had addressed my questions by speaking to my kid instead of replying via email to me. Not a big deal; everyone was fine about it. I know teachers are busy teaching and email is not always the top priority. But my kid is my top priority and needed help, so I found a way to get a response.

Thank you all for the kind replies. I guess that I never had this kind of experience before. So far, I have not heard back from this teacher. I will wait till Thursday and then email HoS. Nothing too dreadful I hope. I thought it would have been an easy email. I triple checked today to make sure the email address is correct.

Wait! Have you emailed the teacher a second time? If not, send a brief email "hi! Just circling back on this..." don't report the teacher to the HOS. You're going to appear crazy and the teacher won't be super pleased with you. Give the second email 24 hours--Then email the divisional head.

[Anonymous]

I think you should email the next level above the teacher if you do not hear back. If your school has division heads or department heads go there before HOS.

A good HOS will forward the email to the appropriate supervisor, but some will cause more trouble for the teacher than you probably have in mind.

If you have reason to believe that the teacher is intentionally ignoring you, by all means go nuclear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I’ve sent 2 emails and not gotten response, I would make sure they aren’t out of the school sick or anything. And then email HOS.

I did this once and it turns out the teacher thought she had addressed my questions by speaking to my kid instead of replying via email to me. Not a big deal; everyone was fine about it. I know teachers are busy teaching and email is not always the top priority. But my kid is my top priority and needed help, so I found a way to get a response.

Thank you all for the kind replies. I guess that I never had this kind of experience before. So far, I have not heard back from this teacher. I will wait till Thursday and then email HoS. Nothing too dreadful I hope. I thought it would have been an easy email. I triple checked today to make sure the email address is correct.

Wait! Have you emailed the teacher a second time? If not, send a brief email "hi! Just circling back on this..." don't report the teacher to the HOS. You're going to appear crazy and the teacher won't be super pleased with you. Give the second email 24 hours--Then email the divisional head.

OP said they sent the first email Thurs. am and a second email on Monday. An email on Thursday to a division head or HOS (I’d suggest a division head, I think they are more likely to be aware of things and able to respond in a timely manner) would be a reasonable next step. I’ve definitely had a teacher lose track of a first email, but they always responded to a follow up quickly and apologetically for not replying sooner to the first. Hearing nothing after two emails is weird unless the teacher is out unexpectedly. Your kid ought to be able to confirm whether the teacher has been in school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you should email the next level above the teacher if you do not hear back. If your school has division heads or department heads go there before HOS.

A good HOS will forward the email to the appropriate supervisor, but some will cause more trouble for the teacher than you probably have in mind.

If you have reason to believe that the teacher is intentionally ignoring you, by all means go nuclear.

Please don’t go nuclear. This is why we lose teachers.

I’m a teacher. I get 25-30 emails a day, most of which require developed responses. I get 45 minutes of free time a day, which includes my lunch. It’s also the only time at work I have to call parents, plan lessons, and grade papers.

I do most of my work in the evenings and on weekends. I schedule email responses to send the following morning because I don’t want parents to know I’m writing responses at 10:30pm or 12:30am.

Please be kind to teachers right now. We’re overworked. I’m not excusing teachers who don’t respond, but I’m hoping to shed light on what many of us are facing.

[Anonymous]

Op here. No, I am not trying to go nuclear. I would go for the division head. Yes, the teacher is working and I asked my kid today.

I am not sure what’s going on. I checked both of my emails and made sure there is nothing harsh. I would wait for Thursday. Given the rain today and last week was the first week back, she might have a lot to catch up. But being ignored like this, to be honest, is not a good feeling.

[Anonymous]

I truly think the teacher is a good teacher. That’s why I am not sure what is going on and did not want to act like a weirdo harassing her. I would prefer to have a response and move on. No drama but just get the job done.

[Anonymous]

Many places have a 48 hour response guideline in the employee handbook. Giving a few days grace beyond that is standard and fair.
You have waited longer than that already and should go to the next step without any guilt. Teacher should understand and hopefully will apologize (most people would).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not sure what is the common expectation to hear back from a teacher? Is it a few business days or a week?

Thanks.

Depends on when you send it...Friday afternoon? Monday

[Anonymous]

There’s a strong possibility your email is going to spam. I am a teacher and recently discovered emails sent from parents in my spam folder. I was mortified and got back to the parents right away.

[Anonymous]

I am a teacher too.
Weird question: Are you sure you started a dialogue?

Some parents have sent me messages this year that say things like, "Thank you for all you do. If you and your family have the time, (my child) has a game at XYZ arena this weekend (or is in a play, or will be singing at a Christmas church service) and admission is free. We hope to see you there!!

Then I see the parents and they saw it is an invite while I saw it as "for your situational awareness".

Others ask, "Is Tuesday PE uniform day" and I see it Wednesday, so....

One strategy I don't hate is when people call the office, and say, "I am not sure Mrs. AwesomeTeacher saw my email, but I am calling to tell her the dog ate my kid's math book," and that gets stuck in my mailbox or delivered.

Our policy is 24 hours (on work days) and I try to adhere to that. I don't respond to emails where parents ask me to donate money to a cause/sign a petition or to buy something to support their child's extracurricular activities.

I will ask the child about their interests, but I don't use my pay to subsidize luxury interests.

OP: Not trying to put you in the hot seat, but some well-intentioned emails can be hard collect the most polite words with which to respond.

Other times I did not respond right away: Covid (2nd time), brain injury (no screens), funeral, my own family member being in crisis, when I knew they asked the same question of a colleague and were setting me up for fight without telling me.

[Anonymous]

Two business/school days

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher too.
Weird question: Are you sure you started a dialogue?

Some parents have sent me messages this year that say things like, "Thank you for all you do. If you and your family have the time, (my child) has a game at XYZ arena this weekend (or is in a play, or will be singing at a Christmas church service) and admission is free. We hope to see you there!!

Then I see the parents and they saw it is an invite while I saw it as "for your situational awareness".

Others ask, "Is Tuesday PE uniform day" and I see it Wednesday, so....

One strategy I don't hate is when people call the office, and say, "I am not sure Mrs. AwesomeTeacher saw my email, but I am calling to tell her the dog ate my kid's math book," and that gets stuck in my mailbox or delivered.

Our policy is 24 hours (on work days) and I try to adhere to that. I don't respond to emails where parents ask me to donate money to a cause/sign a petition or to buy something to support their child's extracurricular activities.

I will ask the child about their interests, but I don't use my pay to subsidize luxury interests.

OP: Not trying to put you in the hot seat, but some well-intentioned emails can be hard collect the most polite words with which to respond.

Other times I did not respond right away: Covid (2nd time), brain injury (no screens), funeral, my own family member being in crisis, when I knew they asked the same question of a colleague and were setting me up for fight without telling me.

I surely hope you are not working in my kids’ school. Keep blaming parents.

[Anonymous]

I would call the front desk or email the division director and ask them to let the teacher know you are trying to get in touch with them and could they reach out to you. Our school has super strong firewalls and sometimes very innocuous parents emails end up on the wrong side. It happens.

[Anonymous]

If that's what happened, IT would need to clear your email address in the system ^

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher too.
Weird question: Are you sure you started a dialogue?

Some parents have sent me messages this year that say things like, "Thank you for all you do. If you and your family have the time, (my child) has a game at XYZ arena this weekend (or is in a play, or will be singing at a Christmas church service) and admission is free. We hope to see you there!!

Then I see the parents and they saw it is an invite while I saw it as "for your situational awareness".

Others ask, "Is Tuesday PE uniform day" and I see it Wednesday, so....

One strategy I don't hate is when people call the office, and say, "I am not sure Mrs. AwesomeTeacher saw my email, but I am calling to tell her the dog ate my kid's math book," and that gets stuck in my mailbox or delivered.

Our policy is 24 hours (on work days) and I try to adhere to that. I don't respond to emails where parents ask me to donate money to a cause/sign a petition or to buy something to support their child's extracurricular activities.

I will ask the child about their interests, but I don't use my pay to subsidize luxury interests.

OP: Not trying to put you in the hot seat, but some well-intentioned emails can be hard collect the most polite words with which to respond.

Other times I did not respond right away: Covid (2nd time), brain injury (no screens), funeral, my own family member being in crisis, when I knew they asked the same question of a colleague and were setting me up for fight without telling me.

I surely hope you are not working in my kids’ school. Keep blaming parents.

I’m a DP. What’s wrong with this teacher’s response? I don’t see where she is blaming parents at all.