New to school- when do we hear from?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're starting a new school this fall, and I admit I'm a little disappointed at the outreach to new families, or lack thereof. So far, they've scheduled two school-wide meetups at the school but on weekday afternoons, which is hard for families with working parents and kids in camp. At our previous school, the play dates were on weekends and also by grade, which was much more conducive to meeting classmates and their families before school started. And I know private schools (maybe some public schools; I just don't know of any that does this) assign each new family with a buddy family to help them with the transition.

Trying hard not to let this color our first impression of the school, though, because I want my kids to feel welcome! And yes, I do plan to volunteer and become involved with the school community. . .

You will not find a buddy family program at a public school in this region.

Doesn’t SWS have a buddy family program?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Varies by school. Which one will your child attend?

Depends on the school some have tons of welcome new families all summer big back to school events etc in August.
Others you won't hear from until a week or so before school. No before school tours, meet your teacher/see the class room. Because the teacher don't start setting up their classes unitl a week or so before. I think our school Maybe has playground playdate the week before.

But it is Prk3 there isn't much that needs advanced planning. You will probably need a small nap blanket (bathtowel or small throw works well given they don't have much space to store them) and if you want small travel/airplane size pillow. You need a change of clothes with kiddos name (uniform like if your school has uniforms.)
You will get a list of a few basics to pickup for school. A few folders, maybe note books but mostly class room /group supplies. Nothing you can't grab quickly at Target or CVS.

The 1st day will be hard for parents no matter how much prep they gI've or don't give. But this is DCPS you might as well get used to the lack of formal communication and advanced notice for anything!!!

This is a little nuts to me. I need to know about aftercare, etc. and it would be nice to have some lead time on supplies, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Varies by school. Which one will your child attend?

Depends on the school some have tons of welcome new families all summer big back to school events etc in August.
Others you won't hear from until a week or so before school. No before school tours, meet your teacher/see the class room. Because the teacher don't start setting up their classes unitl a week or so before. I think our school Maybe has playground playdate the week before.

But it is Prk3 there isn't much that needs advanced planning. You will probably need a small nap blanket (bathtowel or small throw works well given they don't have much space to store them) and if you want small travel/airplane size pillow. You need a change of clothes with kiddos name (uniform like if your school has uniforms.)
You will get a list of a few basics to pickup for school. A few folders, maybe note books but mostly class room /group supplies. Nothing you can't grab quickly at Target or CVS.

The 1st day will be hard for parents no matter how much prep they gI've or don't give. But this is DCPS you might as well get used to the lack of formal communication and advanced notice for anything!!!

This is a little nuts to me. I need to know about aftercare, etc. and it would be nice to have some lead time on supplies, etc.

You won't need much in the way of supplies for first week or so.

If you have aftercare questions, call the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Varies by school. Which one will your child attend?

Depends on the school some have tons of welcome new families all summer big back to school events etc in August.
Others you won't hear from until a week or so before school. No before school tours, meet your teacher/see the class room. Because the teacher don't start setting up their classes unitl a week or so before. I think our school Maybe has playground playdate the week before.

But it is Prk3 there isn't much that needs advanced planning. You will probably need a small nap blanket (bathtowel or small throw works well given they don't have much space to store them) and if you want small travel/airplane size pillow. You need a change of clothes with kiddos name (uniform like if your school has uniforms.)
You will get a list of a few basics to pickup for school. A few folders, maybe note books but mostly class room /group supplies. Nothing you can't grab quickly at Target or CVS.

The 1st day will be hard for parents no matter how much prep they gI've or don't give. But this is DCPS you might as well get used to the lack of formal communication and advanced notice for anything!!!

This is a little nuts to me. I need to know about aftercare, etc. and it would be nice to have some lead time on supplies, etc.

New poster here but I agree that parents need more lead time and someone to whom we can ask questions when school is not in session. No one will answer at the school in July.
Many of the public schools have a buddy program, that's ridiculous.

You won't need much in the way of supplies for first week or so.

If you have aftercare questions, call the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're starting a new school this fall, and I admit I'm a little disappointed at the outreach to new families, or lack thereof. So far, they've scheduled two school-wide meetups at the school but on weekday afternoons, which is hard for families with working parents and kids in camp. At our previous school, the play dates were on weekends and also by grade, which was much more conducive to meeting classmates and their families before school started. And I know private schools (maybe some public schools; I just don't know of any that does this) assign each new family with a buddy family to help them with the transition.

Trying hard not to let this color our first impression of the school, though, because I want my kids to feel welcome! And yes, I do plan to volunteer and become involved with the school community. . .

You will not find a buddy family program at a public school in this region.

I was told by administrators at Janney that they have one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're starting a new school this fall, and I admit I'm a little disappointed at the outreach to new families, or lack thereof. So far, they've scheduled two school-wide meetups at the school but on weekday afternoons, which is hard for families with working parents and kids in camp. At our previous school, the play dates were on weekends and also by grade, which was much more conducive to meeting classmates and their families before school started. And I know private schools (maybe some public schools; I just don't know of any that does this) assign each new family with a buddy family to help them with the transition.

Trying hard not to let this color our first impression of the school, though, because I want my kids to feel welcome! And yes, I do plan to volunteer and become involved with the school community. . .

You will not find a buddy family program at a public school in this region.

Doesn’t SWS have a buddy family program?

Lee Montessori has one too. At least I was given one.

[Anonymous]

My DS goes to EL Haynes, which has an earlier start date than all other DCPCS and DCPS schools (8/6), and we just got a packet today with information about staggered PK start, supply list, and aftercare forms. This is not our first year at the school, so I've seen all these papers before. We typically find out classroom assignment about a week before the start of school when the teacher calls to schedule a home visit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're starting a new school this fall, and I admit I'm a little disappointed at the outreach to new families, or lack thereof. So far, they've scheduled two school-wide meetups at the school but on weekday afternoons, which is hard for families with working parents and kids in camp. At our previous school, the play dates were on weekends and also by grade, which was much more conducive to meeting classmates and their families before school started. And I know private schools (maybe some public schools; I just don't know of any that does this) assign each new family with a buddy family to help them with the transition.

Trying hard not to let this color our first impression of the school, though, because I want my kids to feel welcome! And yes, I do plan to volunteer and become involved with the school community. . .

You will not find a buddy family program at a public school in this region.

Are you saying the school does not have buddy families - or DC schools do not have buddy families? B/C our DCPS does so I am not sure if you made the statement based on guessing the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're starting a new school this fall, and I admit I'm a little disappointed at the outreach to new families, or lack thereof. So far, they've scheduled two school-wide meetups at the school but on weekday afternoons, which is hard for families with working parents and kids in camp. At our previous school, the play dates were on weekends and also by grade, which was much more conducive to meeting classmates and their families before school started. And I know private schools (maybe some public schools; I just don't know of any that does this) assign each new family with a buddy family to help them with the transition.

Trying hard not to let this color our first impression of the school, though, because I want my kids to feel welcome! And yes, I do plan to volunteer and become involved with the school community. . .

So why are you changing schools?

The commute, mostly. The buddy family program might be too much to ask for, but it wouldn't be that hard for room parents to reach out to the few, if any, incoming families in that grade (and I say this as a former room parent).

This assumes the room parents have the info. The PTA needs to set up the program, working with the school registrar to get new family data.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're starting a new school this fall, and I admit I'm a little disappointed at the outreach to new families, or lack thereof. So far, they've scheduled two school-wide meetups at the school but on weekday afternoons, which is hard for families with working parents and kids in camp. At our previous school, the play dates were on weekends and also by grade, which was much more conducive to meeting classmates and their families before school started. And I know private schools (maybe some public schools; I just don't know of any that does this) assign each new family with a buddy family to help them with the transition.

Trying hard not to let this color our first impression of the school, though, because I want my kids to feel welcome! And yes, I do plan to volunteer and become involved with the school community. . .

You will not find a buddy family program at a public school in this region.

Are you saying the school does not have buddy families - or DC schools do not have buddy families? B/C our DCPS does so I am not sure if you made the statement based on guessing the school.

Clearly the PP was going even further, asserting that you wouldn't find such a program in this *region*. I honestly don't know on what basis anyone can make such a broad statement with such confidence. But I guess such are the times.

[Anonymous]

It's possible the posters on here haven't signed up to be contacted by the PTA or similar. If you tell us what schools you are entering, we might be able to help you with who to contact.

Also, re: aftercare-- have you gone to the school's website? That is something you need to be on top of ASAP.

[Anonymous]

Can anyone provide information on Hyde?

[Anonymous]

Im starting PreK3 at LAMB and have not heard anything. In fact I didn’t get a school calendar until some nice person here on DCUM shared it! (It is finally posted on the website and so are the supply lists. But I do find it odd that they wouldn’t send out an email letting us know that.)

But I know the school is not great with communications, I am prepared.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone provide information on Hyde?

not a parent there, but here's some info:

aftercare: https://www.hydeaddisondc.org/before-after-care/

Popsicles on the playground on July 20 and Aug. 10 https://www.hydeaddisondc.org/calendar/?view=calendar&month=July-2018

I don't see a pta contact, but if you go to the popsicles thing, I am sure you will meet them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Im starting PreK3 at LAMB and have not heard anything. In fact I didn’t get a school calendar until some nice person here on DCUM shared it! (It is finally posted on the website and so are the supply lists. But I do find it odd that they wouldn’t send out an email letting us know that.)

But I know the school is not great with communications, I am prepared.

This seems like the person to email

Director of Family Engagement and Student Information
betsy @ lambpcs.org (I added spaces)
202.726.6200