Parents not allowed in school

[Anonymous]

In big schools it simply isn't safe to have all those parents milling around, and it really disrupts the start of the day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So the school was always welcoming before. Parents would sit with their kids at breakfast, volunteer in the school day, etc. In the morning, you might have an opportunity to check in with the teacher or nurse if your student had a medical concern. We just got a letter that parents could not enter the building at all except after school. The principal was heavily criticized last year and my guess is that is why the change occured. I am just wondering if it is allowed for the principal to do this at a public school. Also, if parents felt connected parents to the school if your student attends a school like this. Also, how does it work if you have to share medication or pertinent information with staff.

You can still make appointments to talk to your child's teacher at any time, or the administrators, volunteer with the PTA (or whatever your parent org is called).

This really just sounds like they just trying to manage the pop-ins, and unplanned stuff which makes a ton of sense to me.

[Anonymous]

Schools need a few weeks to get the kids settled. Let them do so in peace.

[Anonymous]

It’s a safety concern. There are lots of custody issues in schools and sometimes there are court ordered protection orders. Those can’t be followed if parents are allowed to enter and walk around as they please. Last year a parent was concerned the child’s other parent had access to weapons and would try to find the child at school. You may not be aware of the reasons why and they may not tell you for privacy reasons, but you can be sure safety is a primary reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are in a Montessori charter, and parents are not allowed in the building in the morning, except for the first week of school. Afterward, it's up to the child to promote independence.

Our Montessori charter welcomes parents, has parents walk children to the classroom, has parents come in to observe, etc.

[Anonymous]

In the DCPS handbook it says that schools public buildings and that people are allowed to be inside the school. They would need to check in with the security guard. Between what they say in the handbook and what they actually practice there may be a difference. we also drop off in a lineup outside the school. At the last DCPS school some parents who went outside this system to come in the building were tolerated. Lineup areas can promote a community feel by getting everyone together. We were allowed to drop off in classroom in prek and I agree community feel was better and I believe it helped to enhance the parent connection and was beneficial for the children's education.

[Anonymous]

OP asked about elementary -- not ECE.

[Anonymous]

For drop off? Of course. School is for kids, not parents. Parents inside the building can be very disruptive and intrusive. So many helicopter rotors hovering these days. Let your kid walk into their classroom on their own, for pete's sake!

[Anonymous]

At our school no one is allowed in the buiding without checking in at the office and getting a nametag that must be displayed. I suppose if you wanted to do that in the morning and then walk your kid to their classroom they wouldn't say no, but they'd certainly be annoyed - can you imagine having to scan hundreds of parents' ids and print out name badges for the 30 seconds to walk a kid to the classroom?

If you have a real reason to be in the school - volunteering for something, teacher meeting, etc. then you just go to the office and check in and then you're on your way.

I can't imagine any school in this day allowing unfettered access to the building by any random adult that happens to be walk in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At our school no one is allowed in the buiding without checking in at the office and getting a nametag that must be displayed. I suppose if you wanted to do that in the morning and then walk your kid to their classroom they wouldn't say no, but they'd certainly be annoyed - can you imagine having to scan hundreds of parents' ids and print out name badges for the 30 seconds to walk a kid to the classroom?

If you have a real reason to be in the school - volunteering for something, teacher meeting, etc. then you just go to the office and check in and then you're on your way.

I can't imagine any school in this day allowing unfettered access to the building by any random adult that happens to be walk in.

OP wants to hang out for the school breakfast once in a while, and pop down and chat with the teacher any morning she wants.

I think that's ok, but then you shouldn't be allowed to email the teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At our school no one is allowed in the buiding without checking in at the office and getting a nametag that must be displayed. I suppose if you wanted to do that in the morning and then walk your kid to their classroom they wouldn't say no, but they'd certainly be annoyed - can you imagine having to scan hundreds of parents' ids and print out name badges for the 30 seconds to walk a kid to the classroom?

If you have a real reason to be in the school - volunteering for something, teacher meeting, etc. then you just go to the office and check in and then you're on your way.

I can't imagine any school in this day allowing unfettered access to the building by any random adult that happens to be walk in.

OP wants to hang out for the school breakfast once in a while, and pop down and chat with the teacher any morning she wants.

I think that's ok, but then you shouldn't be allowed to email the teachers.

The issue with popping down and chatting with the teacher is that there are 20 something kids in the class and if everyone did that it would take a lot of time. That’s time the teacher isn’t with the students. Just send an email or set up a meeting if it’s something that needs to be in person. Imagine if you had 20 something people (or even 10) coming to chat for a few minutes each—how would you be able to do your actual job?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nooooo OP that's crazy.

+100. There is nothing reasonable about this.

[Anonymous]

Our school used to be more lax at drop off but tightened up after Parkland. It was felt that it was not a good idea to have a bunch of adults wandering through the building and made it too difficult to identify who should and shouldn’t be there, because not every staff member knows every parent and you might assume someone unknown was a parent when it really wasn’t. Unfortunately these are the times we live in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At our school no one is allowed in the buiding without checking in at the office and getting a nametag that must be displayed. I suppose if you wanted to do that in the morning and then walk your kid to their classroom they wouldn't say no, but they'd certainly be annoyed - can you imagine having to scan hundreds of parents' ids and print out name badges for the 30 seconds to walk a kid to the classroom?

If you have a real reason to be in the school - volunteering for something, teacher meeting, etc. then you just go to the office and check in and then you're on your way.

I can't imagine any school in this day allowing unfettered access to the building by any random adult that happens to be walk in.

OP wants to hang out for the school breakfast once in a while, and pop down and chat with the teacher any morning she wants.

The school functioned fine the previous way before. It is a small DCPS school. Most parents left as soon as their child walked in. The letter sent home states that no one but ECE parents can come inside in the morning no exceptions. For pick up, no one can come in before school ends. The school website never contains information and one major issue that parents had with the school in previous years is a severe lack of communication. We don't get consistent e mails from the principal, office staff, school sanctioned listservs, etc. As I said before, this principal was heavily criticized last year for many things and some people were trying to get her removed. I think that that is the reason for the change. However, it is good to know that this happens at other schools. I have never seen it personally. I am just wondering how communication will work now. Our PTA did not share information either. Most teachers did not share their e mail address. We really got our info from our child which is very unreliable or when we walked in we might see a sign posted or catch a teacher or administrator and ask them a question. This goes way beyond patents who just want to pop in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At our school no one is allowed in the buiding without checking in at the office and getting a nametag that must be displayed. I suppose if you wanted to do that in the morning and then walk your kid to their classroom they wouldn't say no, but they'd certainly be annoyed - can you imagine having to scan hundreds of parents' ids and print out name badges for the 30 seconds to walk a kid to the classroom?

If you have a real reason to be in the school - volunteering for something, teacher meeting, etc. then you just go to the office and check in and then you're on your way.

I can't imagine any school in this day allowing unfettered access to the building by any random adult that happens to be walk in.

OP wants to hang out for the school breakfast once in a while, and pop down and chat with the teacher any morning she wants.

The school functioned fine the previous way before. It is a small DCPS school. Most parents left as soon as their child walked in. The letter sent home states that no one but ECE parents can come inside in the morning no exceptions. For pick up, no one can come in before school ends. The school website never contains information and one major issue that parents had with the school in previous years is a severe lack of communication. We don't get consistent e mails from the principal, office staff, school sanctioned listservs, etc. As I said before, this principal was heavily criticized last year for many things and some people were trying to get her removed. I think that that is the reason for the change. However, it is good to know that this happens at other schools. I have never seen it personally. I am just wondering how communication will work now. Our PTA did not share information either. Most teachers did not share their e mail address. We really got our info from our child which is very unreliable or when we walked in we might see a sign posted or catch a teacher or administrator and ask them a question. This goes way beyond patents who just want to pop in.

Then schedule an appointment with the principal and ask these questions.